Buddhist Society of Western Australia

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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Relax. Do we plan too much and then feel anxious quite often?  In this talk, Ajahn Brahm gives practical tips on how to relax and not be too uptight.

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Is devotion an important part of the path?

Ajahn Brahmali looks at different religions perspectives on the role of devotion and discusses the role and uses of devotion in Buddhist practice.

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Ajahn Brahm picks up the quirky and unique topic of "Buddhism and holy water”. Ajahn talks about the great fun he has while conducting holy water blessings and the benefits of bringing joy, happiness and fun into your spiritual practise and the Buddhist traditions, rituals and ceremonies.

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Ajahn Sujato speaks about how the Sangha works. Ajahn describes how the Buddhist monastic community lives and functions and how the organisation’s principles and structure teaches us to apply the Dhamma in all kinds of practical ways.

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Responding to a request for advice on how to deal with a very big mistake. Ajahn Brahm reveals how he was trained by his teacher to deal with mistakes and Ajahn shares some of the funny mistakes he has seen, especially as a young western monk in Thailand. 

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Ajahn Appichato offers a teaching on the Seven Factors of Enlightenment:

1. Mindfulness
2. Keen investigation of the Dhamma
3. Energy
4. Happiness/ joy
5. Calm/ tranquillity
6. Concentration
7. Equanimity

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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.

Fresh off a flight from California, Ajahn Brahm discusses the attitudes that lead to discrimination and their impact on people. Ajahn contemplates deeply on why people discriminate and why it's so wrong.

Ajahn looks at what can be done to overcome discrimination such as learning to cooperate rather than compete and he encourages us to not discriminate against anybody e.g. gender, race, religion, mental and physical disabilities, vegetarians, sexual orientation, criminals and so on.

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Ajahn Sujato explores what universal loving-kindness really means and makes this Dhamma talk more fun by talking about aliens.

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In response to people complaining about their lives being too stressful, Ajahn Brahm offers a teaching on how to deal with stress. Ajahn explains how it’s not your work and duties which make you stressful, but your attitude to what you are asked to do in life. Ajahn reveals how he stays stress free even though his workload and responsibilities are huge. 

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Dennis Sheppard is a long time lay practitioner of the Buddhist Society of WA and a hypnotherapist. Dennis offers a talk on consciousness from the viewpoint of hypnotherapy, meditation and Buddhism. Dennis looks at the difference of our awareness in meditation compared to when we are hypnotised and how our life conditions get embedded into our consciousness and what that really means.

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Ajahn Brahm talks about how to deal with the various pains we have in life - especially the big ones.

The Buddha taught there are two parts to the pain which we feel; the physical and the emotional. The physical part we can’t do much about its part of life, but our emotional response we can change and this is the key of how to deal with those chronic pains in life which we really don’t like. Ajahn shows us how to develop a positive attitude towards life difficulties.

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Ajahn Brahm explains how teenagers around the age of 15-17 are naturally interested in spirituality, meaning they are seeking somewhere or somebody who can give their life some meaning and possibly answer some difficult questions in life. Ajahn talks about how Buddhism can help them if presented in an enjoyable way. 

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Ajahn Appi guided the group through his favorite beginners meditation which focuses on breath and the sensations caused by breathing.  Ajahn then spoke on the benefits of meditation and encouraged us to experiment and investigate.  Ajahn then led the circum-ambulation of the court yard in celebration of  the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.  The group then enjoyed a small Vesak feast.

Why do we sometimes find it very difficult to be peaceful?

Venerable Hasapanna explains what contentment is, why it is the key to having a peaceful and happy mind and how to develop it. Venerable clearly describes how our unhappiness and discontentment is caused by our judgemental, fault-finding, complaining mind and not our situation or environment.

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Ajahn Brahm explains how we don't need religious hierarchies for advice on how to solve life's problems. Rather, we need to rely on compassion and wisdom, which are qualities we can all draw on if we make an effort.

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As part of the day’s Vesak Celebrations, Ajahn Brahm offers a ‘Question and Answer Session’ for the Venerable Sangha panel. Questions are received from the live and online audience.

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Is religion just about the feel-good factor, helping us to feel better about business (suffering) as usual? Or does Buddhism do far more than just making people feel at ease with business-as-usual, and lead to authentic inner transformation?

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Ajahn Brahm describes from personal experience how to effortlessly still the mind by focusing on the breath and what then happens to your body and mind from doing this. Ajahn also talks briefly about some forms of meditation which he finds unhelpful.

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