Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Responding to questions and debates about what form of Buddhism is best, Ajahn Brahm returns to the origins of Buddhism to help us understand the intentions and practice of original Buddhism.

Ajahn Brahm offers a more expansive perspective on the quality of compassion by applying compassion in unexpected ways in our lives and solving unexpected problems.

Strong emotions can overwhelm us making us feel out of control. Is this something we should guard against? Ajahn Vayama talks about some of the different types of emotions relating whether these strong emotions are beneficial or harmful for us, depending on how we relate to them.

People these days are afraid of war, of terrorists, of diseases and so many things. With this in mind Ajahn Brahm talks about fear, what it is and how to overcome it.

Ajahn Vayama talks about how to find peace in a time of war by looking to the source of peace within ourselves, and bringing that peace and well-being into the world.

Ajahn Brahm talks about feelings of grief and loss, and how to deal with them.

Ajahn Vayama talks about practicing to find peace, for the benefit of ourselves and for others.

Ajahn Brahm decides to indulge himself by talking about his favourite subject - meditation! Meditation is the Buddhist way of finding all the answers to all the spiritual and philosophical questions through direct personal experience - not via a priest, a holy scripture or any other mediated form. Meditation also helps us to deal with the stresses and problems in life by developing inner peace.

Ajahn Brahm gives guidance on loving kindness meditation.

Having been asked about the role of helping and serving others, Ajahn Brahm talks about both the beauty and goodness of helping others, but also the dangers like over-committing and burning out. Ajahn Brahm talks about how to help and serve others using both compassion and wisdom.

Ajahn Brahm reflects upon our mundane reality and the quest to attain supremundane experience.

Ayya Vayama talks about how we can find acceptance with change and loss through wisely reflecting upon circumstances.

Ajahn Brahm explains where arguments come from and why we argue, so that we can understand each other and resolve difficulties without arguments.

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Ever wondered why terrible, difficult, troublesome things happen to us? Ever asked yourself, "Why me?" Why are some people rich and others poor? How come there is so much inequality and injustice in the world? And where is all this leading? Ajahn Brahm explains.

Ajahn Brahm responds to a question about whether human nature is closer to the Mahayana Buddhist idea of "buddha nature" or the Christian idea of "original sin".

Ajahn Vayama uses the Buddhist teaching of the Iddhipadas (Roads to Success), especially the quality of aditthana (determination) which is a wholesome desire to overcome the unwholesome desires of sensual craving which lead to suffering.

We've all had problems with the boss from hell, the partner from hell, etceteras. Ajahn Brahm points out how all these difficult people have something to teach us, and a skillful way to go about dealing with these people is to calm the whole situation down using the same attitude that helps us calm our own mind.

Being empathetic is generally considered to be a positive in modern society, and within Buddhism. But Ajahn Brahm takes a different perspective on empathy, pointing out that often our empathy is directed to the negative feelings of others. There is a time and place for this, but we need to keep this in balance and also take some time to get some space away from the world to find calm and stability within.

Responding to the charge that Buddhism is "passive", Ajahn Vayama contends that the practice is very active, and very active at the point where we are not used to thinking of being active: namely, the mind. Through actively developing the mind, our speech and actions begin to change in accordance with the changes occurring within.

Ajahn Brahm focuses on how to develop the quality of mindfulness - a practice that has been central (e.g. it's a factor of Eightfold Path and Seven Factors of Enlightenment) to the teaching of Buddhism from the start. He goes on to talk about the varying degrees of attention and the ability to know what's going on in the mind and body.