Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Bhante Mudito is a monk orginally from Finland who has trained with Ajahn Brahm for many years. In this, one of his first ever public talks, he discusses the role of inspiration in the practice and how to cultivate it.

This talk was recorded by the Buddhist Society of Victoria. You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

Bhante Buddharakkhita leads a guided contemplation on gratitude and goes on to explain how reflecting with gratitude on the good that has been done to us can be the basis for a perception of abundance, and to help us to not feel like we need to acquire more things in our lives.

This talk was recorded by the Buddhist Society of Victoria. You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

Bhante Sujato has been absent from Australia for 2 1/2 years, so when he arrived at Armadale Meditation Group (AMG) on Tuesday everyone was interested to know where he'd been and what he’d been doing. Therefore, this session is quite different to our normal AMG evenings. Bhante gladly started the evening by recounting his time spent on a tiny island in the South China seas just off the coast of Taiwan for 2 1/2 years, translating the Buddha’s texts into plain English.

To see and read the good work being done by Bhante Sujato and his team, please visit Sutta Central.

Bhante, having spoken very little during his time away, started to lose his voice early in the evening and so the meditation, rather than the usual guided meditation, was a silent one. With the majority of us, on the night, well practised, this was a chance for us to do, as a group, our own favourite meditations. Some prefer breath meditation while others prefer metta meditation. It made for a very pleasant meditation greatly appreciated by all.

After the meditation Bhante opened to questions relating to meditation and gave us a talk on the five hindrances that the Buddha detailed in the very early suttas. Very sadly all too soon we ran out of time. We would all have happily stayed for several more hours. One doubts whether Bhante's voice would have held out that long though.  Especially when we consider that since returning to Australia, he has had to speak a great deal.  Bhante was recently on ABC Radio National, to listen to or download his interview, please click here.

An excellent evening with Bhante Sujato appreciated by all and one we hope Bhante will be willing and able to to repeat soon.

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Ajahn Brahm teaches us about how to program our mind and Ajahn instructs us to mindfully give ourselves a clear instruction three times.

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Ajahn Brahm says, "Fear is looking into the future with a negative mind." Fear makes you fail and sick. Ajahn advises us how to be fearless and have fun.

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Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for approximately 30 minutes.

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Where does an understanding of truth come from? Ajahn Brahm describes how it comes from the contemplation which is based on stillness, because when you are still you can see deeply and it does not come from thinking; if you think too much you only see the surface and superficial. Hence to really understand things deeply and find their true meaning you must train your mind to be still, so that it can penetrate deeply into the nature of things. Ajahn points out that it’s not what your taught which makes you wise, it is what you see that makes you wise.

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Ajahn Brahmavamso gives a talk at the Buddhist Society of Victoria on a weekend retreat on how to meditate with loving-kindness.

This talk was recorded by the Buddhist Society of Victoria. You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

In this talk to students in Melbourne, Ajahn Brahm offers some novel and unexpected ideas on how to deal with stress.

This talk was recorded by the Buddhist Society of Victoria. You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

Ajahn begins by explaining what meditation is likely to be to beginners, those of us that have never meditated before.  Ajahn brings our attention to our attitude when we wish to meditate, if our mind isn't settled or is in the negative, we struggle.  Ajahn further explains some of the hindranses that cause us to lose our focus during meditation.  The clock on the wall, the traffic going past.  Ajahn encourages us to simply be an observer and not to engage in these distractions.

To start the meditation, Ajahn encouraged us to relax, get comfortable and just be.  Ajahn guided us through a full body scan before guiding us in a 30 minute meditation.  Just be here, beautifully cool room, nice people around us.

After meditation Ajahn gave us a talk and opened to questions after bringing us all to laughter with light hearted humour.

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Meditation guided by Ajahn Brahm. We apologise the introductory talk was accidently not recorded.

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Worrying never stops bad things from happening, but it stops you from enjoying the present moment. Ajahn Brahm teaches us how to relax and not overreact to stressful situations.

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Ajahn Brahm guides a meditation for approximately 30 minutes.

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

Ajahn Vayama responds to the request to talk about the Nun’s life; where they begin, their purpose or goal and how they live and practise. Ajahn Vayama reminds us that the Nun’s Sangha was created by the Buddha himself and is not a modern invention. Ajahn describes the nun’s monastery Dhammasara, its plans and the importance of having a Nun’s monastery for women to join the monastic life and attain Nirvana. As well as have female role models in the monastic life to inspire others. We apologise for the static in this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 2000.

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Ajahn Brahm discusses death, dying and end of life issues.

This talk was recorded by the Buddhist Society of Victoria. You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

Ajahn Brahm offers wise counsel on how to keep smiling when everything in life seems to be going wrong.

This talk was recorded by the Buddhist Society of Victoria. You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

Questions asked:

1. How to handle depression?
2. Meditation (vipassana and samatha, what the difference? or the same?)
3. Happiness, including the story about "don't worry be grumpy"
4. Emotional skill and meditation
5. Five Aggregates
6. Transferring merits Found this video useful?

This talk was recorded by the Buddhist Society of Victoria. You can subscribe to their Youtube channel here.

Ajahn Appi; “meditation is simple, developing the skill to meditate well, not so easy. It takes practice”. Ajahn then talked to us about the benefits of a good meditation highlighting many of the benefits.

Ajahn then guided us through a 30 minute meditation using several variations of breath meditation. To begin the meditation Ajahn asked us to focus firstly on the neutral object of the darkness we experience when we first begin our meditation with our eyes closed. By doing this we draw our attention away from our thoughts and feelings. Ajahn then changed the focus to our breathing in the full chest for a period of time then to the sensations around our mouths as we breath.

An easy meditation well suited to beginners and experienced meditators alike.

Following the meditation Ajahn opened to questions.

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"Why am I tired after meditating a few hours?" is a frequently asked question. Perhaps you are using too much will-power. Venerable Hasapanna teaches us to gently bring our mind back to awareness when it wanders off.

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Venerable Hasapanna answers the question "how can I find freedom when I am in a situation that I cannot escape?" Venerable shares with us her experiences and insights.

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