Buddhist Society of Western Australia

On the actual day of Vesak (birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha) in 2010, Ajahn Brahmali gives a teaching on the life and qualities of the Buddha and how his example can be an inspiration for our own practice. Ajahn reminds us that the person who sees the Buddha, also sees the Dhamma, and the person who sees the Dhamma, also sees the Buddha.

Ajahn Brahm muses about a famous old saying coined by Thomas Gray: ignorance is bliss. Ajahn also looks at whether running away and ignoring the world brings peace and happy.

Should we follow tradition or change it? What are the advantages of keeping or changing tradition? What actually is the tradition we should follow anyway? And does it have a place in our modern world? Ajahn gives an in depth answer in this talk and advises us most importantly to search for truth and meaning.

Ajahn Appi guided the group through a beginners meditation with the focus on breath and the sensations caused by breathing.  Ajahn then spoke on the benefits of meditation and concluded the session with a recital of a Tibetan Mantra.

Ajahn Brahm talks about the flip side of positivity and offers an even more skilful approach rather than just trying to be positive. Ajahn describes the highs and lows of life as being natural and not something that we should try and avoid, but things we should investigate with wisdom.

Is Buddhism an atheistic religion? Does it believe in a God? And what do Buddhists worship? Ajahn Brahm takes on this topic, pointing out the consequences of believing in a supernatural being and looking into who created our universe or world. Ajahn goes deeper by talking about meditation experiences (jhanas) and how the mind is chief and more powerful than anything else in the world. 

Straight from teaching a meditation retreat, Ajahn Brahm reveals ways of letting go. Ajahn offers a teaching on how to train your mind to let go, to be peaceful and happy. And reflects upon why we find it so hard to let go of our hurts and difficulties and how beneficial letting go is for us and others.

In the lead up to various elections occurring, Ajahn Brahm gives a talk on how Buddhist principles apply to governance, of not only a country but of societies, work departments, the family unit and our own life. Ajahn teaches us how to contribute to good governance on all levels in our society and get things done the Buddhist way.

Ajahn Brahmali discusses how the Buddha's core teachings have given rise to the numerous traditions and teachings of Buddhism that exist today. Through textual comparison, scholars can today point to those core teachings of the Buddha that are common across the early existent canons of the various Buddhist schools. These early teachings are where Ajahn Brahmali believes we should focus our attention if we are to uncover the Buddha's original teachings.

Ajahn Dhiravamso talks about the difference between blind religious faith and the attitudes of faith, reason and wise investigation praised by the Buddha.

Why is it sometimes so hard to be kind to the ones we love? Ajahn Brahm discusses how developing the mind with meditation can encourage and support the practice of kindness and understanding towards others.

Post Traumatic Stress can be overcome.  Ajahn encourages us to not make matters worse by adding to what, for a lot of people, is a time in their lives they can never forget.  Ajahn tells us, don't forget, rather forgive and open up our hearts, accept it for what it was and move on.

Ajahn took us through a body sweep before a 30 min guided meditation.  Ajahn then gave a talk on Post Traumatic Stress further encouraging us to open our hearts, accept and move on.

The entire evening was lightened by Ajahn Brahm's jokes and irrepressible sense of humour.

Ajahn Brahm talks about truth not being a goal, but a process of understanding. Real truth is direct experience derived from a peaceful mind developed through meditation. Wisdom developed through meditation then leads to a deeper understanding of life and respect for one another.

Ajahn Brahm offers a Buddhist perspective on what Freedom is and how it can be achieved. Ajahn gives us clarity on this spiritual subject he says is so misunderstood, yet so important in our lives. And he talks about how freedom of the heart is gained by meditation practice and letting go of control.

Ajahn Brahm offers advice on how best to deal with traumatic or tragic events and reminds us that ultimately we are responsible for our own happiness, even in tough times.

Ajahn Brahm gives a guided meditation and talks about how to avoid distractions.

Ajahn Brahm challenges the benefits of planning and offers a humorous teaching on how wonderful life is when things do not go according to plan. He points out that when you have plans things go wrong and when you don’t have plans things go interesting.

Ajahn Brahm talks about how inspiration can energize our meditation practice and allow us to go beyond the boundaries we normally set for ourselves. Ajahn says inspiration is one of the most important parts of the spiritual life because it is difficult to be kind, generous, loving, forgiving and so on without authentic examples of great acts of generosity and kindness. It is inspiration which encourages us to add our own acts of beauty to this world and those acts spread inspiration to others and make this world a beautiful place.

How many times have you been disappointed? Why is it that sometimes we look at life and feel disappointed? Ajahn Brahm takes a look at what is the cause of our disappointments and says the first reason is because we expect so much of each other, of life and of ourselves. Ajahn offers some practical advice for dealing with disappointments and unreasonable expectations from within and without.