Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Ajahn Brahm explains how he maintains his energy in his very busy life. It is fuelled by the inspiration that arises when serving others. While it seems counter intuitive, going the extra mile when tired and low, releases energy and happiness.

"Once there was a frugal farmer who tried to feed his cows with mouldy hay and the cows wouldn't eat it. The farmer then mixed up the mouldy hay with fresh hay hoping to trick the cows into eating the mouldy hay. The cows separated the hay and ate only the fresh hay. The farmer came up with an idea.  He put the mouldy hay on the other side of the fence but it was within the reach of the cows if they pushed through the holes in the fence. That was exactly what happened. The cows reached out and ate all the mouldy hay....."

Like cows, we often have the notion that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. This gives rise to jealousy, envy and in turn, suffering.

According to Ajahn Brahm, we need to change our attitude towards life. Statistics show that the optimal happiness one can achieve in life is not measured by immense wealth, great beauty, high flying careers or social standing.  According to Buddhist teaching, it is the middle way that counts. Embrace your 'average' circumstance and enjoy the experience.

Ajahn Brahm talks about 4 things that religion should not be and offers up a "best practice model". In his usual entertaining style he touches on many things including disability and organ donation...

Bhikkhuni Hasapanna from the Dhammasara Nuns monastery explains how compassion without wisdom is futile, but compassion with wisdom is instrumental to inner peace and happiness.

Fresh from teaching a nine day retreat, today on Friday the 13th, Ajahn Brahm talks on the topic of superstition. Many of the common ones are covered (such as astrology, lucky bracelets, holy water etc) in this humorous talk. Be very scared :)

Life is not meant to be an organised event where everything goes like clockwork, and we can expect to achieve 100% success.



The truth is we are unable to control our life. Life is messy. This is the nature of life. Do not aim for the unachievable.



We could have 70% of getting it right and we should accept, allow and embrace these 30% of imperfections. We can always learn and grow from these painful experiences.



Ajahn Brahm encourages us to open the door of our heart to the nature of life as it is. He said, "Do not disturb the nature of life and life would not disturb you."

This talk is about the Buddhist view on gay marriage. Ajahn elaborates how decisions on this topic can be made, by looking at the teachings dating back to the time of the Buddha.

Ajahn Brahm ends the talk with a light-hearted joke, "The rabbit, the bear and the magic duck". Not to be missed!

Ajahn Brahm explores the topic of deathbed regrets. Sprinkled with jokes and funny stories this is not the obligatory morbid type of talk about death by any means! Preparing for death is all about living a good life here and now. Make life meaningful as well as enjoyable...

Saddhā, or confidence, is one of the five spiritual faculties in Buddhist teaching. Confidence is different from blind faith. Confidence is the force inside of you that pushes you along the spiritual path.

The first aspect of Buddhist confidence is gained through making observations and inferences about a person over a period of time.  A person who has extraordinarily inspiring and infusing attributes. These attributes arouse interest in the person's teaching, leading to confidence both in the person and in their teachings.

The second aspect is the confidence in the ancient Buddhist heritage, the Sutta. With the right kind of confidence, reading the Sutta and reflecting on Buddha's teachings brings much joy and inspiration. These feelings are instrumental to developing mindfulness and deep meditation. The path to Buddhist spirituality then becomes clear

Ajahn Brahmali encourages us to take responsibility for our spiritual life and to place confidence in both the living tradition and the ancient heritage.

This is a talk about how to use your mind efficiently so as to have more brainpower and to be successful with a smile on your face.

According to Ajahn Brahm, stress is caused by having 'excessive stuff’ in your mind, having 'no break' in the stressful time, and the fear of failure in any future undertakings.

However, stress can be avoided by 'freeing up' our mind space by letting go of the past asap, recognising the need to let go and taking a break, trusting that this 'rest' is worth it in otherwise stressful circumstances, and adopting a positive attitude by 'just doing' and not 'doing excessive thinking' and accepting any failure as a learning experience from which to grow.

Learning how to de stress is very important. Ajahn Brahm sums up his talk by telling a story of a professor and an old sailor that illustrates what is instrumental to survival in this stressful modern world.

This talk is dedicated to Ajahn Brahm's mother, Mrs Hazel Betts, who passed away on 16 February 2012.

It is a profound talk about cosmic spirituality, explaining how the nature of this universe and how the nature of the mind, as Buddhists understand it, work seamlessly together.

According to Ajahn Brahm, looking out through the telescope we see the vastness of the universe, but (metaphorically speaking); looking down the telescope in the opposite way, we see the mind. The mind is the larger of the two.

By all accounts, proven scientifically, the mind is the initiator of everything that we think and do. So it is not the will, but the mind that gives the order, that initiates the processes of all our actions.

Knowing that, Ajahn Brahm challenges us to let our mind do a big bang explosion and see where it leads us. He encourages us to have limitless imagination.  As Einstein famously put it, "imagination is more important than learning".

Venerable Hasapanna from Dhammasara Nuns monastery investigates the origin and effects of afflictive emotions. Using examples from her monastic life as well as humour, she provides practical strategies that allow us to deal better (and even eliminate) these often quite destructive feelings.

Ajahn Brahm talks about the importance of creating concord and harmony in our world, and how to achieve this, starting with ourselves.

When faced with an ethical dilemma, often we do not know what to do. We may simply follow the mainstream, do excessive thinking, follow the 'expert's' advice or simply comply with religious teaching.

According to Ajahn Brahm, the most trustworthy and fundamental ethical compass of right or wrong is your heart. Be mindful of those feelings and follow what is right inside of you. To illustrate this point, Ajahn Brahm raises a challenging discussion about breaking precepts under certain circumstances when it is simple the ONLY right thing to do.

In this unethical world, where ethics are bent to achieve monetary gain, power, pleasure and so on, you may lose many battles while you are protecting your ethical stand, BUT you will win the war eventually.

How can we deal with the death of someone close to us? How can we reconcile the Buddhist understandings of no-self (anatta) with rebirth? Ajahn Brahm explains how it is we have life after life, and how understanding this can help us in this life.

Ajahn Brahmali talks about how virtue, especially of the mind, gives rise to mindfulness and how mindfulness is instrumental to successful meditation.

Ajahn Brahm gives a talk about materialism and the escape from materialism without bringing our world into chaos.

Those seeking to convert others to their own views are not loving them for who they are, but are putting their views ahead of compassion for humanity. Ajahn Brahm makes the case against conversion, and to put our humanity before our religious affiliation. 

If you've enjoyed this talk and would like to support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia to make these talks available to a wider audience, please consider making a donation - http://bswa.org/support/index.html

The dharma talks recorded by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre in Perth, Western Australia. More resources are available at http://www.dhammaloka.org.au