Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Ajahn Brahm discusses the cultivation and importance of wise friends on the path, the essential role the Bhikkhuni Sangha plays in increasing the longevity of the Buddha’s teachings, and how the four-fold community of Dhamma practitioners can support each other on our journey towards awakening. Recorded at the Thames Buddhist Vihara on the 27^th July 2016.

This event was part of Ajahn Brahm's UK tour 2016 - "Buddhism in the 21st Century" in support of Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project, of which Ajahn is Spiritual Adviser. Donations towards Anukampa's aim to develop a nuns' monastery in England are extremely welcome. Please visit https://anukampaproject.org/donate/

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIlbFmhEAY&list=PLPxfnU-O-ZyeLHWATLqHA2_g13_MLhGPa&index=3 (YouTube Channel: Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project)

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Ajahn Vayama guides a meditation for approximately thirty minutes. 

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Ajahn Brahm talks about the Buddhist practice of mindfulness and how to use it in our daily lives, including how to use mindfulness to improve our relationships with others and ourselves.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Vayama reflects upon aspects of the Dhamma, namely that it refers to the truth of how nature and the mind work, as well as being a path that leads beyond suffering.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Bhante started the night by asking the group if there was a particular subject or topic that he might use to base the evening’s meditation and talk on. One member asked for a meditation with Metta whilst another suggested a meditation dealing with physical pain. Bhante, after careful and clever consideration, was able to deliver a talk which combined both subjects. Gratitude, as described by Bhante, is the airbag we need when things aren't going well, or to our liking, in our lives. Bhante described the two darts of suffering as one being a physical pain, for which we might seek relief with medication, and the other as a mental pain. Many of us sadly use our mental suffering to make our physical pain so much worse than it need be. A good meditation can most certainly help. We humans often don't separate the two which leads us to make our physical pain so much worse with an increasingly negative mind set.

Bhante then led the group in a guided meditation on gratitude that went a little longer than usual. By focusing on gratitude for everything from the simplest smiles of family or friends to the big events in our lives, we build an airbag to cushion us against adversity and pain.

After the meditation Bhante continued his discourse on gratitude. He pointed out to us the many ways we can build up our resistance to both bad situations and physical pain, by remembering those times and things that we are grateful for.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Armadale Meditation Group Teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the AMG teaching you want, then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for approximately thirty minutes. 

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Ajahn Brahm briefly explains how to meditate: first we need to relax our body, so that we can sit comfortably and then we need to relax our mind, because when our mind becomes more relaxed and peaceful, our mindfulness and energy increases. 

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Are you looking for a partner in life, your true love? Ajahn Brahm inspires us to find true love inside ourselves and explains that true love is being able to embrace imperfections and love life as it is.

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for about half an hour. 

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Ajahn Khemavaro gives a talk on the subject of observing the emotional states of the mind as they arise and pass and how we can let go of attachment to these states and develop peace and stillness in the mind. A talk given at the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV).

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5cADRIWHxU (YouTube Channel: BSV Dhamma Talks)

Please visit the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV) Podcast Channel: https://bsv.podbean.com/ and YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BSVWeeklyDTEng/featured

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Ajahn Brahm addresses the question of whether our future will be directed more by science or religion.

Read the paper attached by Ajahn Brahm based on this talk about Buddhism and Science.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahmali guides a meditation for about half an hour. 

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Pride and arrogance cause all sorts of problems in life – for those who have to put up with it AND for those who are purveyors of it! Ajahn Brahm talks about the many manifestations of conceit, and the cure to conceit and arrogance: humility.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Appi started with an in-depth explanation of meditation for beginners. He outlined many of the benefits that can be gained from a regular meditation practice, such as peacefulness and a resistance to stress, anger, anxiety and many of the garden variety feelings that we as humans encounter in our daily lives. Ajahn continued his explanation until meditation time, touching on how each of us will be individually affected by a continued practice, with the main benefits being an improved wisdom and emotional outlook on life.

Ajahn then lead the group in three different techniques of meditation. The first meditation which is five minutes, is to use the darkness we have present in our minds when we close our eyes and begin to meditate. This is done to draw our attention away from thinking.

The second five minute meditation focuses our attention on our breath moving out of our bodies, then in, all the way to our abdomen, and then out again. This method of following a moving object is recommended for less experienced meditators as it is easier to follow a moving object than a stationary one.

The third meditation is twenty minutes and asks us to focus our attention on the very fine feelings, or rather sensations, that arise at the edges of our mouths and/or nostrils when we breath. Ajahn also recommends doing these meditations in a dull or darkened environment. This helps us turn our focus inward rather than be distracted by external events.

After meditation Ajahn opened to Q&A and then gave us a talk on the hindrances for beginners. Ajahn briefly touched on Karma, and how it can accumulate and affect our daily lives.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Armadale Meditation Group Teachings, visit the BSWA teachings
page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the AMG teaching you want, then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Ajahn Brahm reflects upon the causes of conflict in the world, and offers a Buddhist approach to resolving conflict within society, and within ourselves.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for about half an hour.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Ajahn Brahm discusses the meaning of love from a Buddhist perspective.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for approximately half an hour. 

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for approximately half an hour. 

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

In our daily life, because we have so many things that occupy our mind our meditation can unfortunately be an unpleasant and restless experience. Therefore Ajahn Brahmali teaches us, that one way to still our mind is to develop the perception that what we’re chasing in life is endless and unsatisfactory, and real contentment can only be found inside from our meditation practice.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.