Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Calm And Insight In Meditation | Ayya Vayama

Ayye Vayama talks about the two strains of Buddhist meditation – calm (samatha) and insight (vipassana) – and how we need to use these in tandem to develop the mind.

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Anger and Forgiveness | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm talks about the power of anger, and how it can be quenched and released through the power of forgiveness.

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The Five Aggregates | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ever wondered who and what you really are? Ajahn Brahm answers the question from a Buddhist perspective pointing out that all we really are, are the five aggregates of consciousness, feeling, perception, thoughts (mental formations) and the body.

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Going With The Flow | Ajahn Vayama

Ajahn Vayama starts by sharing a Jataka Tale about wisdom gone wrong, which explains how we can easily misunderstand the teachings when we don’t get the full story and this can cause things to go wrong. Ajahn discusses people’s misrepresentations, misperceptions and misunderstandings of the Buddhist teachings, as well as how to know whether our motivations and intentions are wholesome. Ajahn also talks about how in Buddhism we go with the flow of wisdom, truth, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, non-self and changeability.

We apologise for the quality of this audio, but it does improve a bit. This Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1999.

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Nun’s Order at the Buddha’s Time until Today | Ajahn Vayama | 19-02-1999

“Going forth with faith from home to homelessness” is the description in the Pali scriptures, for the decision and action of men and women when they take the step to go forth as monks or nuns. Ajahn Vayama talks about the Buddhist Order of Nuns. Ajahn firstly discusses the nun’s at the time of the Buddha and then the present day situation for Theravadin nuns and its implications for BSWA nun’s monastery in Perth WA. This talk was given in 1999. 

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Children's Dhamma | Ajahn Brahmavamso

This talk full of laughter and light is classic Ajahn Brahm, delivered to a youthful audience in a children's hospital in November 2005.

Dealing With Our Shadows From The Past In Meditation | Ajahn Vayama

Ajahn Vayama talks about coming to terms with our shadow; that is our unacknowledged and unexpressed fears, hopes, dreams, disappointments, wishes, desires or envy. Ajahn explains how we don’t like to see this and so we avoid it by distracting ourselves in things that make us feel good. Ajahn describes how through meditation though we start to bring the shadow aspects of our life into our conscious awareness and when this happens, we can see things in our mind we don't like. When this happens we should not feel that our meditation is failing, but actually we should be happy that now we are going to a deeper level. Ajahn explains how to deal with this experience through building up the mind and heart with peace, loving kindness, generosity and wisdom i.e. an understanding of non-self, right intention and letting go.

We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1999.

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

Understanding Suffering | Ajahn Vayama

Ajahn Vayama gives a talk on the nature of suffering, dukkha, which is the Buddha’s first noble truth that life is inherently unsatisfactory. The word dukkha means that which is difficult to bear. Ajahn explains how this Noble Truth is not saying that life is all miserable, but that it has this nature to it, which we can’t change. Ajahn explains how Buddhism teaches us how to deal with life’s dukkha and constant change more skillfully and wholesomely for our own and others peace and happiness. Ajahn teaches us how understanding and becoming more familiar with dukkha actually prepares us for the ups and downs of life. This Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1999.

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Ultimate Reality of Impermanence | Ajahn Brahmavamso

What is the ultimate truth? Ajahn Brahm talks about the ultimate reality of anicca or the law of impermanence.

We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1995.

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Loving Kindness | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm talks about the wisdom aspect of loving kindness in order to elucidate how it can be used to help us with some of the difficulties and problems which we all face in life. The idea of loving kindness in Buddhism is it’s a way of embracing and accepting things in life which we find very difficult to do so, and this helps us to settle that inside battle of what we would like the world to be compared to how the world actually is. We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1995.

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Concentrating The Mind | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm gives a talk on how to develop concentration of mind. Ajahn covers the prerequisites for attaining concentration and the reasons why people have an easy or hard time meditating. We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1993.

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The Four Efforts | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm talks about ‘right effort’ which is one of the factors of the eightfold path. Ajahn describes how right effort teaches you to do good actions and he explains the difference between right and wrong paths. Ajahn says the right path leads to peace, harmony, happiness and eventually to full enlightenment and the wrong path goes in the opposite direction. We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1994.

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The Nature of Enlightenment | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm talks about the difficult subject of enlightenment. In this talk Ajahn explains to us what enlightenment is and what it’s not. Ajahn offers this teaching so that we can have some idea and appreciation on what is and isn’t the goal of Buddhism and this practise. We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1998.

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The Five Aggregates Of Being | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm offers a teaching on the five skandhas or aggregates. Ajahn explains how these are the way the Buddha split up the world inside and outside. Ajahn looks at how the Buddha wanted us to use them and the results which come from using them, which is detachment and letting go of everything in the world outside and inside. This Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1994.

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Development of the Heart | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm offers a talk on how the Buddha taught and encouraged people to develop the heart and the mind, that is develop your character and inner world by practising generosity, compassion and virtue. You develop the beauty inside from what you do with your life. Ajahn talks about how you can develop the strength of heart and mind which can endure hardship and difficulties so that you can do that which is really wonderful and useful in this world. This Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1993.

The sound quality of this audio greatly improves as the talk continues. 

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How To See The Beauty Of Concrete | Ajahn Brahmavamso

In this talk Ajahn Brahm explains, why it is the Buddha’s teachings are timeless and have survived for so long. Ajahn looks at how to achieve the greatest happiness and enlightenment and describes how the Buddha became enlightened through the practise of samatha and vipassana meditation. We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in the 1990s.

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Four Noble Truths | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm talks about a core teaching of Buddhism ‘The Four Noble Truths’. Ajahn describes what the four noble truths are and adapts them to our experience of our everyday life, in order for us to have some understanding of what life truly is, what we can expect from it and how to deal with life. So that we don’t get really disappointed, disillusioned, frustrated and have all of the suffering which these emotions bring to us. Last talk before rains retreat. We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1998.

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Faith | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Ajahn Brahm offers a talk on the development of faith and the benefit of having faith in goodness. Ajahn explains the meaning of faith by using a metaphor of a baby and child and points out how having faith, trust and confidence brings security, comfort, relaxation and peace. Ajahn also discusses how our lack of faith in different areas of our modern society causes us problems. We apologise for the quality of this audio, this Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1999.

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The Dhamma Of Impermanence | Ajahn Brahmavamso

Change is inherent in all things, but we take stability instead as the truth.  Ajahn Brahm explains how if we fully understood the Dhamma, the truth, and the nature of impermanence we would become enlightened. Ajahn says because we don’t want to see it or we think it’s so apparent, we take it for granted and we don’t notice it. Ajahn Brahm looks at the element of impermanence or change in all levels of our experience such as our internal and external world. This Buddha Dhamma talk was given in 1994.

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