Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Ajahn Brahm gives us the means to practise the art which we call meditation. During these four ‘Introduction to Meditation’ sessions Ajahn expands on the different types of meditation, their purpose and the way to practise them.

Part 1 - Ajahn Brahm begins by teaching us to meditate on the breath which he says is used to carry people into very relaxed, peaceful and clear states of mind and is a very old type of meditation used by the Buddha himself.

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Believe it or not the mind is naturally still, says Ajahn Brahm. It only moves because we want something or want to get rid of something. Ajahn teaches us how to relax and be kind in order to still the mind.

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Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for approximately 30 minutes. 

Sol spoke to us on meditation by relating his own experience over many years.  He explains meditation in a way that is different to what we normally hear from our regular Monks.  His experience ranges from a rock star to a monk and now a high school teacher.  He has dealt with his own health issues as well as the issues we all face throughout our lives.  He explains how he used meditation to simply accept those circumstances and issues for what they are, then move on.

Sol then led us through a very relaxing 30 minute meditation after which he gave a dharma talk.  At the end of the talk, he opened the floor to questions.

Relax, it's all out of control.  It's ok.  It doesn't matter so much what happens to us, it matters how we react to it and how we accept it.

Ajahn regaled us with his usual wit and humour for the final time before the Rains Retreat.  We look forward to his return in three months.

Ajahn used his stories and jokes to both relax us and move us to a more happy state of mind before leading us in a beginners meditation.

Ajahn used his stories to show us what we unconsciously do to ourselves all day, every day, especially when we are dealing with stressful situations and or health issues.

Following the meditation Ajahn talked about anxiety, relating it to his annual visit to the Cancer Clinic in Cottesloe.  Ajahn explained to us that our anxiety is our own mind imagining what may, or may not, happen in the future.  We focus our attention on our own "two bad bricks" to such an extent that we don't see all the other perfectly laid bricks.  We spend so much time trying to control our minds and being unkind to ourselves that we don't see what's good in life.

As Ajahn has said to us many times “Stop looking into the past, reliving bad things that have happened, or imagining a future that may never happen, and live in the moment”.

Often, we try to make peace and joy in our meditation but that does not happen. Venerable Nitho teaches us to be passive and let everything slowly calm down all by itself, so that then you will experience peace and joy.

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Jacob Meddin a lay Buddhist offers a guided meditation for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and/ or Fibromyalgia.

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Jacob Meddin a lay Buddhist guides a twenty minute meditation for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and/ or Fibromyalgia. This meditation is designed to help us to become calmer, peaceful and easier to live with; both with ourselves and other people.

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Bhante Sangharatana talked to us about mindfullness and breath meditation encouraging us to see the difference between the two. Mindfulness being our attention to the meditation object or focus on, for example, our breath.  Bhante further explains that mindfulness is of itself not meditation.

Bhante then explained for the beginners amongst us, the need for meditation or why we meditate.  He further explained the technique used for a simple but successful breath meditation.  Bhante then guided us through a 30min beginners breath meditation after which he opened the floor to questions.

Ajahn Santutthi teaches us how to calm the mind and encourages us to be patient and aware of how things unfold in the mind.

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USA CIA with Venerable Bodhidhaja.  USA is an acronym for unburden settle arrive.  CIA is an acronym for the mind or central intelligence agency.  Venerable used these acronyms to get us interested and grab our attention.  Venerable then described the basics of meditation in terms easily understood by all beginners and experienced alike.  Venerable then guided us through a 30 minute meditation well suited to beginners encouraging us to treat each thought that arose by saying to it "I value your presence" and then let it go.

Venerable then opened to questions giving very detailed answers using synonyms and practical examples.

Venerable JR lead a relaxed evening of breath meditation encouraging us to not pressure ourselves by looking for success in the stages of our practice.  But rather to simply accept our progress and continue to practice.  So, don't treat your practice as a video game, win the level and then move on.  Be happy with your progress and continue to practice.

Venerable also gave a practical demonstration of walking meditation, demonstrating the different speeds and so showing us that we need not all keep the same pace.  Some of us will walk slowly and some will walk a little quicker.

Venerable then led a very relaxed breath meditation.  After the meditation Venerable encouraged us to stretch our practice times.  For those of us just learning, 5 or 10  minutes seems a long time to sit and meditate.  As we progress in our practice it does become easier to stretch our meditation time to much longer periods.  Or, try more regular small sessions in one day.

Are you pushing through pain during meditation? Ajahn Brahm teaches not to force ourselves but to relax and let go. 

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Ajahn joined us again this week at The Armadale Meditation Group.  He suggested that we spend much time in our busy daily lives collecting rubbish within our minds and meditation is the means to get rid of it, empty the garbage.

Ajahn then guided us through a meditation with relaxation of our bodies first.  The focus of our meditation was our breath or breathing.  Ajahn then opened the floor to questions.  Following Q&A Ajahn told us of his recent visit to Thailand were he met with Ajahn Gunhah, the original happy monk.

Have you ever felt tired after a meditation? Venerable Hasapanna points out that one reason could be you are trying too hard to focus on the breath. Venerable explains how to train our mind gently.

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Venerable Upasama gave us a dharma talk before meditation on dukkha and being happy.  Dukkha (Pāli - Sanskrit) is an important Buddhist concept, commonly translated as "suffering", "pain" or "unsatisfactoriness".

Following the dharma talk Venerable Upasama guided us through a meditation well suited to beginners and experienced meditators.  The meditation was different in that he guided us through the beginning with a story to trigger our imaginations.

Following the meditation Venerable opened the floor to questions on any
subject.  His answers were detailed in that he provided examples.

Ajahn explains the importance of being relaxed, patient and enjoying yourself in meditation. Ajahn points out that being relaxed and patient is the opposite of the will of the mind, the doing activity of the mind and it is an aspect of letting go.

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Ajahn explains to us our compulsion to own everything.  We see the news, read the newspaper and engage in discussion, we involve ourselves so much that we own it.  We need to have the courage to say "this is not my business".  We need to leave it all behind before we meditate.

Ajahn then guided us through a 30 minute meditation well suited to beginners, encouriging us to free ourselves from the compulsion to "own it" with the small mantra of "this is none of my business".

Ajahn then gave us a dharma talk on love and kindness followed by a Q&A.

Ajahn Brahm teaches the way to experience peace in meditation is by having a "this is good enough" attitude. Ajahn explains how when we make peace we experience peace. We apologise a few minutes of the end of this recording had to be removed due to the audio not working.

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Ajahn Brahmali talked to us about happiness and comfort before and during our meditation.  Meditation should not be a task, a duty, something we have to do.  We need to be patient with ourselves and allow ourselves to become peaceful, comfortable and happy to be in that moment.  A positive attitude [not forced], comfortable position and being happy will make for a good meditation.

After our guided beginners meditation Ajahn used his wit, humor and experience to answer our questions.  In answering our questions, Ajahn had us all on the edge of our seats for the rest of the evening.

All to soon it was time to go.