While most mindfulness meditation teachers praise the benefits of "bare awareness," he teaches BEAR awareness. Huh? He helps us make friends with the scary things that come up on the cushion, and he knows how to lift the mood with a well-placed stuffed teddy––or a well-timed pun.
The intimacy of the question-and-answer format provides a fresh experience of learning from a master meditator.
Whether Ajahn Brahm is urging readers to fly Buddha Air (sit back and relax on the way to nirvana), giving tips for dealing with panic attacks or depression, or extolling the bliss of meditation that is better than sex, he gives us permission to enjoy our lives and our kindful and joyful practice. More(Amazon.com)
BSWA is a Buddhist non-profit association serving a local and global community irrespective of age, color, creed, or sexual orientation.
Its aim is to establish and support both male and female monastics to practice in a secluded, forest setting close to the original way in which monastics practiced in early Buddhist communities.
This forms the basis for nurturing teachers in the present and future to offer wisdom and insight derived from personal practice to a diverse and growing lay community.
BSWA offers numerous resources and support to those interested in practicing the Dhamma (the Buddha's Teachings) as encapsulated in the Four Noble Truths, the fourth of which is the Noble Eightfold Path of the historical Buddha.
In the spirit of reconciliation, the Buddhist Society of Western Australia recognizes the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land on which we live, work, and care. We pay our respects to Native Elders past, present, and emerging. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.
Jhana Grove Retreat Centre
If only Johnny and Amber had meditated well.
Jhana Grove is a dedicated meditation retreat center nestled in a valley of the Darling Scarp adjacent Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine, Western Australia.
It can accommodate up to 60 guests at a time, each guest with one's own room and ensuite. This allows a great deal of privacy and thus maximizes the benefits of Buddhist meditation practice.
British monk Abbot Ajahn Brahm, BSWA
Connected by a covered walkway to the cottage is a large, air-conditioned meditation hall with three adjoining halls for the convenient practice of walking meditation.
There is also a well-equipped kitchen and dining area, as well as laundry, office, and storage facilities. A small caretaker's residence completes the center.
The "Be Quiet" group are young mindfulness enthusiasts aged 18-35 who meet once a month with a Buddhist monk or nun to practice and have inspiring discussions inspired by Buddhist teachings, while being inclusive of everyone’s spiritual practices. No registration required.
When: 1st Saturday of the month (except during the Rains Retreat)
(BSV Dhamma Talks) For thousands of years lots of people have been yearning to get enlightened and are practicing hard to be enlightened.
They are practicing very diligently, doing regularly many hours of meditation and listening to lots of Dhamma (Dharma) talks and still want to enjoy the comforts of life.
This is more about heart (citta) than head.
Some are following monastics who are “purported” to be enlightened! They think them very wise for having gotten rid of their “self.”
[There is a very harmful delusion of a separate self, a self apart from the Five Aggregates clung to as self, that was explained by the Buddha as being ultimately impersonal, not-self, anatta. All things are impermanent, disappointing, and impersonal. Realizing this directly leads to awakening.]
Mindfulness, Bliss, Beyond
They would like to help people but thinking that they don’t have sufficient means to do so, as they have to keep some for themselves and family to maintain their comfortable lifestyle.
Yet, we can see that they often portrayed actions of conceit, ill will, greed, and anger, and so on. But what does it mean to be an enlightened being?
Are there several levels of enlightenment that laypeople may aspire to? What is/are the path(s) and signposts along the Dhamma path signaling that we are on the right path to enlightenment eventually one day in this life or in some future rebirth?
Who Ordered This Dung?
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BUDDHIST CENTRE: Registered as a Buddhist not-for-profit association, the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV) welcomes members of all backgrounds and all religions.
Located in Melbourne, Australia, its East Malvern centre hosts programs that guide members on meditation; as well as practical Buddhist teachings for kids, teenagers, and adults. Its spiritual advisor is British Buddhist monk from the Thai Forest Tradition Ajahn Brahm, the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery located in Western Australia (BSWA).
For more information: bsv.net.au
FOREST MONASTERY
Newbury Buddhist Monastery is just 70 minutes from the heart of Melbourne city. The magnificent landscape and tranquil surroundings offer an inspiring backdrop for seclusion and meditation.
With its establishment, both male and female spiritual aspirants can seek out full Buddhist monastic ordination. This supports the cultivation of Buddhist teachers who in return share Dhamma teachings across the world.
For more information: nbm.org.au. Support the building projects here: bsv.net.au/donation
Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia (bswa.org). Buddhist Society of Western Australia’s teaching's page: bswa.org/teachings.
Support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.com/BuddhistSociety... To find the full playlist, visit: buddhistsocietywa or click on "Playlists" in the top menu bar.
(Buddhist Society of Western Australia) What about women on International Women's Day? Streamed live on March 8, 2019. The Buddha said that there would be no successor after his passing into final nirvana. Instead, let the Dharma, the Teaching, be the leader of the monastic community, the Sangha.
Ajahn Brahm explains how an organization can function autonomously, that is, make decisions without having an absolute authority.
Support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.com/BuddhistSociety...
Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, Perth, Western Australia.
Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia (bswa.org).
Buddhist Society of Western Australia (April 12, 2010) Straight from teaching a meditation retreat, enlightened British teacher Ajahn Brahmavamso reveals multiple ways of letting go. He offers a teaching on how to train the mind to let go, to put things down, to let it be and therefore be peaceful and happy right here right now. He reflects on why we find it so hard to let go of our hurts and difficulties but how beneficial letting go is for us and others.
When did the urge to run away and join the circus -- or the monastery for that matter -- begin? People in the rural US, Europe, and India have long dreamed of running away. Nowadays, for many of us, our urges may have more to do with the strong influence of Hollywood celebrities than the sight of enlightened beings.
In the past, exciting circus troupes often came through our boring hamlets with tales of Big City glamor, fame, and unlimited riches. It was the only easy way to grasp at some escape from the mundane and familiar -- to undertake the archetypal Heroic Journey before life set in and it became too late. They were doing it; why not us?
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"When I started feeling like the wealthiest man alive...I knew I was onto something." This is as simple as trying to explain Quantum Theory. I'm grossly simplifying things and sticking to reasons I can reasonably communicate. One trouble is that when you start talking about the true benefits of Buddhism, no one believes you. So I have to stick with the believable stuff. In my video I talk about Ajahn Brahm.
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When do we make our move? This urge to seek enlightenment, to get away from it all, to run off and become a recluse goes at least as far back as Talaputa. He was an actor and a Buddhist who longed, dreamed, and (more importantly) waxed poetically about it:
Forest Meditations
1. When, O when shall I live all alone in mountain caves, unmated with desire, clear seeing as unstable all that comes to be? This wish of mine, when indeed will it be? 2. When shall I, wearing the patchwork robes of color dun, be sage, uncraving, never making mine, with greed, aversion, and delusion slain and to the wild woods gone, in bliss abide? 3. When shall I, this body seeing clear — unstable nest of dying and disease oppressed by age and death, dwell free from fear in the woods alone? When indeed will it be? 4. When indeed shall I dwell seizing the sharpened sword of wisdom made? When cut the craving creeper — breeder of fear, bringer of pain and woe, and twining everywhere? When indeed will it be? 5. When lion-like in the victor's stance shall I draw quick the sage's sword of wisdom forged and fiery might quick breaking Mara with his host? When indeed will it be? 6. When myself exerting, shall I be seen in goodly company of those esteeming Dharma? Those with faculties subdued who see things as they are? Those who are 'Thus'? When indeed will it be? 7. When indeed will weariness not worry me — hunger, thirst, and wind, heat, bugs, and creeping things, while bent on my own good, the Goal, in [the]wilds? When indeed will it be? 8. When indeed shall I, self-mindful and composed win to that wisdom known by Him, the Greatest Sage, the Four Truths won within, so very hard to see? When indeed will it be?*
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But what would it be like? What would life in a forest monastery be like if the aspirant in the video, or any one of the many Westerners who long just like he does, were to find their way to the Monastery?
*For more of Talaputa's verses, and to read the contemplations of a Westerner who successfully escaped to the monastery, or for some of the tales that draw people, see Bhikkhu Khantipalo's
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