Buddhist Society of Western Australia

On the invitation of the Prime Minister, Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe Ajahn Brahm delivers two Dhamma talks and is interviewed at the 7^th World Buddhist Summit in Sri Lanka in November 2017. Recorded at the Temple Trees Auditorium by Dharmavahini Foundation. This talk is entitled: Effective Management.

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Ajahn Brahm shares some techniques on how to deal with addictions. (Apologies for the clunky edit at the start!)

Why do have to think so many useless thoughts? Ajahn Brahm says it's because we want to escape the present moment. Ajahn offers us practical advice on how to make peace with the present moment.

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"Stop trying to make things perfect. This is as good as it gets," says Ajahn Brahm.  Ajahn teaches us that the ultimate reality is a "work in progress" and is never finished, so he encourages us to relax and be content with our life and let things be.

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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. 

Often we reject or ignore the reality of uncertainty. Yet the only thing that is certain about life is that it's uncertain. This uncertainty (anicca) is according to Buddhism a fundamental and universal quality of existence. Ajahn Brahm explains how best to relate to the uncertainty of life.

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The Buddha said perceiving in the right way can take you all the way to awakening. We can change and develop our perceptions to support our path to awakening.

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Venerable Nitho led us on a guided walk through the mountains of Norway.  Venerable used his Rains Retreat experience to teach us that our thoughts, emotions and day to day experiences are just like meeting someone on a walk.  Don’t engage them, you smile, say hello, then continue walking.  Just as we notice the thoughts that enter our minds and let them go.

After the meditation Venerable opened the floor to a Q&A.

Ajahn Brahmali explains that there are two facets to our meditation practice. The joy and happiness which we encounter in meditation and on the other hand the understanding that the external world is unrealiable, and that combining these two facets will enable us to go deeper into meditation.

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Ajahn Brahm often says, "Suffering is asking from life what it cannot give you."  Ajahn teaches us how to live a much happier and peaceful life by lowering our expectations. 

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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. 

Venerable Cunda lead us first through a guided meditation most suitable to those of us that need to relax both physically and mentally.  The meditation was suitable for beginners and experienced alike.  A body scan and simply relaxing as much as possible allows us to also relax the mind.

After the guided meditation Venerable introduced himself and gave an excellent dharma talk. He then encouraged us in our practice by relating why he became a Buddhist Monk, the impact it has had on both his health, life in general and all those around him.

Venerable then spoke on the five precepts and then opened the floor to Q&A.

Venerable Kelsang Nampur, a resident teacher at Dharmapala Buddhist Centre in Fremantle, was a guest speaker during the rains retreat in 2011 at BSWA Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre. Venerable talks about the Buddhist way to increase mental energy in our everyday busy life. 

Ajahn Brahm talks about the fault-finding mind that just looks at what is wrong with things. Ajahn explains how life doesn’t go 'wrong,' it just goes different and people are not 'wrong', but different. Ajahn tells the classic ancient Buddhist stories of The Anger-Eating Demon and the The Two Arrows.

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Venerable Hasapanna teaches us how to overcome the third hinderance sloth and torpor.  Venerable shares her experience of sleepiness during meditation and advises us not to fight it with will power. 

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Venerable Hasapanna teaches us how to develop loving-kindness particularly towards ourselves. Such as by sending loving-kindness to ourselves, being kind towards ourselves, forgiving ourselves and letting go of our grudges. Venerable also emphasizes the importance of forgiving people in our times of difficulties.

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Venerable Hasapanna guides a meditation for approximately 30 minutes.

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

Ajahn Brahm talks about Buddhism and human rights, including what the Buddhist understanding of justice is and how it challenges conventional thinking. Ajahn also reflects on what freedom of religion and freedom from religion means and its advantages and disadvantages.

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Ajahn Appichato gives a Buddhist perspective on how and why we search for meaning in our life, and how to be ready for death, with a lesson on generosity from his time in Thailand.

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Ajahn regaled us with his usual wit and humour, teaching us to relax our bodies beforehand so that we may then relax our minds.  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.

Following the meditation Ajahn again used wit and humour to keep us relaxed.  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”.