Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Ajahn Brahm talks about how Buddhism can solve all sorts of problems in the world.

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Most people who come to see Ajahn Brahm don't come to talk about Buddhism, they come to talk about all their problems and troubles in life. Oftentimes people ask themselves when they are suffering, "Why me?" In this talk, Ajahn Brahm offers an answer to this question.

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Ajahn Brahm talks about his life as a forest monk in the jungles of Thailand.

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Are you listening to what the other person is saying, or are you listening to what you think the other person is saying? Ajahn Brahm teaches us how to listen with wisdom and compassion.

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Ajahn Brahm talks about how wisdom stems not from thinking, but from the deep well of silence that comes from a mind still in meditation.

Given to an audience Buddhist Maha Vihara in 2012

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Ajahn Brahm talks about the challenges of teaching Buddhism to modern audiences.

Given to an audience in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in 2014.

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Ajahn Brahm explains how generosity isn't just about sacrifice. It's about generating happiness not only for the receiver of the gift, but also joy for the giver of the gift also. He relates several stories of how generosity bring joy into our lives.

This talk was given to a large audience in Singapore organised by the Buddhist Fellowship.

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Ajahn Brahm shares with us his spooky real stories about cats and discusses how we can learn about love, kindness and wisdom from cats.

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Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for approximately 30 minutes.

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The Buddhist Society of Western Australia is delighted to have guest speaker Bhikkhuni Kusuma give a Dhamma talk. Bhikkhuni Kusuma talks about The Four Noble Truths, in particular the second noble truth, which says the cause of dukkha (unsatisfactoriness or suffering) is attachment. Venerable contemplates what attachment is, why it causes us suffering and how we can get out of suffering.

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Never have you imagined that bananas could be so profound. 

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It was Vesak day on Tuesday and Ajahn Cittapalo joined us at AMG.  Vesak Day commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha in the Theravada or southern tradition.  Ajahn having attended Vesak celebrations at Dhammaloka on Sunday, where many people took refuge by becoming Buddhist, noticed that for many, the five precepts are hard and fast rules.  Many of us do the same when we meditate.  We try too hard and become disenchanted when we fail.

Ajahn would never say that it is ok to consume alcohol, rather that we consider that we really should try to stop.  So it is with our meditations.  When random thoughts occur, we should simply let them come and go.  Don't get entangled, but don't try too hard and be overly critical that the thoughts continue.  Over time the ability to simply stand back in your mind and watch will grow and the thoughts will be come less frequent.  The same will happen with alcohol, each time we consume it, we consider it and do it less until we don't do it at all.

Ajahn tells us that our intentions matter more in all things.  When we meditate, it is our intention to gain a peaceful mind that matters.  Not being overly self critical for having thoughts.  Just as with the five precepts, it is our intentions that matter.

Ajahn led us in a body scan to relax us then a very peaceful silent meditation.

After the meditation Ajahn continued his talk on our intentions, cautioning us all to not be too critical of our efforts both in life and meditation.  After Ajahn concluded he joined the group in celebrating Vesak day.


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Question and Answers session with Ajahn Brahm, Venerable Hasapanna and the Sangha panel. Followed by taking the three refuges and five precepts.

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As a novice monk in Thailand, Ajahn Brahm often got sleepy during meditation and felt hopeless until one day he realised it wasn’t his fault. Ajahn Brahm teaches us to not blame ourselves because our difficulties are great learning opportunities.

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Ajahn Brahm starts with the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and explains how this is a road map finding happiness in life.

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Ajahn Brahm reflects upon how for most of us, most of the time, happiness seems to be just over the horizon, but rarely here and now. He goes on to try to help us understand that the origin of suffering is in within ourselves, and our way of looking at life. And rather than thinking of happiness as being somewhere over the rainbow, it's here and now, when we know how to look at the present through the lens of peace, compassion and wisdom.

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Ajahn Brahm talks to a crowd at the Buddhist Maha Vihara about how to develop mindfulness, how to develop it and the results of developing it. He also emphasises the need to combine compassion with mindfulness to make it effective for by oneself, and for others.

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Often rites and rituals are performed without knowing their significance. Whether it is a marriage ceremony or the upcoming Vesak, Ajahn Brahm encourages us to dig deeper to know the meaning of ceremonies and to perform them with our heart.

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Confronted with the recent revelations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, Ajahn Brahm responds by sharing ways in which people who have been abused as children may be able to deal with this hurt and pain. For more information on the Royal Commission go here: http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/ This talk was given on 22^nd May 2015.

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Who are you? Who do you take yourself to be? Are you there at all? Ajahn Brahm addresses one of the deepest question of all with insight and humour.

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