Bear Awareness: Wild Mind (Ajahn Brahm)

Seeing sexiness everywhere, even a bear becomes plush and eroticized. Help, Ajahn Brahm!

I didn't tame my wild mind. It led to pregnancy and these two knuckleheads I'd kill to protect.

Bear Awareness: Questions and Answers on Taming Your Wild Mind

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Bear Awareness: Wild Mind

British Theravada Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm has 4.8 out of 5 stars with 79 ratings.

The bestselling author of Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? and one of the world’s most beloved Buddhist monks answers meditators’ questions.

In Bear Awareness Englishman monk Ajahn Brahm answers actual questions from his meditation students––questions other sitters may have had as well.

Kindfulness with mindfulness for fullness.

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)

• Ajahn Brahm (BSWA.org), Nov. 2017; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Be Quiet Youth Group: Mindfulness Meetup

Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thai Forest Tradition monastics, Australia

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)
• Time: 5:00-6:00 pm
• Where: Dhammaloka City Centre,
• 18 Nanson Way, Nollamara, Australia
• Contact: facebook.com/groups/bequietperth
• Eventbrite.com.au/e/be-quiet-mindfulness-meet-up-tickets-247169449477
• bequiet@bswa.org

March Guided Meditation w/ Ajahn Brahm

Ajahn Brahmavamso, BWSA, March 11, 2023; Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Who's this guy? Where does he come off meditating? He's already a rich and famous dad.

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Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm

(Buddhist Society of Western Australia) Streamed live March 11, 2023. Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, Perth, Western Australia.

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.

Ajahn Brahm: Feel body delight (video)

Ajahn Brahm, Buddhist Society of W. Australia; Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

(Ajahn Brahm, June 23, 2020, Buddhist Society of Western Australia) This is from a series of daily meditation and Dharma teachings offered by the Buddhist monks at Bodhinyana Monastery and the nuns at Dhammasara to support the community during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Support the BSWA in making these teachings available for free online via patreon.com/BuddhistSocietyWA. More

Ajahn Brahm: May Guided Meditation (video)

Ajahn Brahm (BSWA, May 16, 2020); Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Buddhist Society of Western Australia) Be attentive, let go, allow, accept. This is the way to peace, rather than wanting or doing. Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via patreon.com/BuddhistSocietyWA. Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, Perth, Western Australia. Copyright bswa.org.

Ajahn Brahm: Australia burning (live)

Ajahn Brahm (BSWA, Jan. 31, 2020 live stream); Amber Larson, Crystal Q., Wisdom Quarterly


Live Dhamma Talk, January 31, 2020

(Buddhist Society of Western Australia) Bush fires of Australia? It's not the first time. Corona virus? It's not the first time mass panic is being spread about a contagious virus when the common flu kills many more every year, and vaccines do even more harm in terms of morbidity (see Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe), because we are reacting in fear. Funny and kind, Ajahn Brahm is a British monk trained at Cambridge who ordained in the Theravada Buddhist Thai forest tradition under Ajahn Chah. Support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via patreon.com/BuddhistSocietyWA. Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, Perth, Western Australia.

This live Dharma talk culminates with a Chinese New Year performance and blessing.

Support Ajahn Brahm's mission

Ajahn Brahm (Buddhist Society of Western Australia, bswa.org); Wisdom Quarterly

They call me the "Buddhist Seinfeld."

The Buddhist Society of Western Australia is serving the world inspirational Dharma teachings for FREE, with over 6 million teachings viewed via its YouTube channel, podcast, and website in 2017 -- over 6.6 million in 2018.

To keep serving quality Dharma teachings to the world for free, it needs the ongoing support of generous patrons to cover the costs of producing and distributing them so that they remain free and widely available across multiple online platforms. BSWA strives to make every donated dollar go as far as it can.

How can we afford to help more people?

Indeed, it costs less than $0.01 for each download when all its costs are divided by their total downloads. That means when anyone pledge $5 per month to the Buddhist Society of Western Australia, that is the same as offering 500 Dharma teachings to people around the world!

Become a BSWA patron to give the gift of Dharma to people around the world. Support BSWA making these types of teachings available for free online via: patreon.com/BuddhistSocietyWA.

Ajahn Brahm: How to Deal with Blame (video)

Ajahn Brahm (Buddhist Society of Western Australia, streamed live 12/6/19); Wisdom Quarterly

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Ajahn Brahm

Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre (BSWA), Perth, Western Australia. Ajahn Brahm discusses how blaming others is counterproductive. And he explains what to do when blamed and how to nurture the good parts of others by giving praise (positive feedback) instead of noticing and criticizing their bad states and traits. Support BSWA making these types of teachings available for free online via: patreon.com/BuddhistSocietyWA.

Visiting Ajahn Brahm's Australia (video)

BSWA Retreats and Media, 11/6/16; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery: Coming Home to Stillness and Peace

Western Theravada monk Ajahn Brahm

This is an introduction to the amazing Western Theravada Buddhist monk (and enlightened teacher) Ajahn Brahm, Buddhism's "Seinfeld." He born in Britain, trained and awakened in Thailand, and he now resides in Australia as former abbot and founder of two monastic communities (BSWA), a monastery (Bodhinyana) and a nunnery (Dhammasara) open to all. This visit is to Bodhinyana ["Awakening Wisdom" or "Enlightenment Knowing"] Buddhist Monastery in Perth, Australia, for a glimpse into the simple life of a Theravada Buddhist monastic living in a forest monastery. This footage was made available by the Korean KBS TV crew, which produced a Korean language documentary about the monastic complex or vihara in 2015.

Buddhist monk on Gender Equality (video)

Claralynn N. (United Kingdom); Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Abbot Ajahn Brahmavamso (BuddhistSocietyWA, June 27, 2014)

PERTH, Western Australia - Ajahn Brahm -- an enlightened Western Buddhist monk from England living in Australia after a decade in Northeast Thailand (Isan) at Wat Pah Nanachat, the International Forest Monastery -- talks about the banning of his United Nations' speech on gender equity, equality of the sexes.

Viewers who support Wisdom Quarterly and women's right to full ordination in Theravada Buddhism as well as supporting Ajahn Brahm's work striving for the equality of females within all Buddhist schools, particularly his more traditional and monastic tradition, are encouraged to consider signing the online petition here.

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  Sangha: nuns, monks, female, male supporters.

  Traditionally, it was thought that women could no longer secured full ordination due to a rule the Buddha laid down when his foster mother ordained. However, evidence found in the background stories (Vibhanga) of the Nuns' Disciplinary Code (Bhikkhuni Vinaya), research by the Theravada nun Ayya Tathaloka, shows that those rules or garudhammas are a historical impossibility. Had the Buddha laid them down with all the fanfare in front of the Shakyan women as is claimed, questions would not have arisen regarding etiquette between male and female monastics and ordination, as those would have been settled issues. But that questions did arise, as recorded in the stories accompanying the formation of each rule, those sexist and patriarchal garudhammas could not have been preexisted. The function of these additional rules seems to be little more than to subordinate female Sangha members to males and was clearly in the interest of monks to have hastily inserted at some point in time.

Let's invite Ajahn Brahm to present his gender equality paper at the 2015 UNDV conference

3,242 signers so far. Let's reach 10,000 United Nations' Day of Vesak (UNDV)
 
Supporting Buddhist women at the U.N.

Nuns are necessary for a complete Sangha

We, the undersigned, are astounded and deeply disappointed by the banning of Ajahn Brahm's paper on gender equality at the 2014 United Nations' Day of Vesak (UNDV) conference in Vietnam.

 

The paper was clearly aligned with the UN’s Millennium Development Goal 3 (Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women), which the UNDV is committed to uphold through its connection with the UN. Moreover, Ajahn Brahm's paper had already been approved for presentation when it was suddenly banned 36 hours before its scheduled presentation.

 

We value free and open dialogue. We therefore ask that the UNDV, in accordance with Millennium Development Goal 3, promotes dialogue about the participation of women in contemporary Theravada Buddhism by inviting Ajahn Brahm to publicly present his gender equality paper at the next UNDV conference in 2015.

• READ: Ajahn Brahm's paper
• Remembering Asherah, the Western God's wife
• NUNS: Alliance for Bhikkhunis (bhikkhuni.net)
• Ongoing: Israel's Gaza offensive – Ebola outbreak – Ukrainian unrest 

(To view signers, go to petition2014.org. This petition will remain open until October 1st, 2014. The petition can be read in Chinese (petition2014.org/2001325991.html), Thai and Vietnamese (petition2014.org/3616363436253634365236073618-vi7879t.html), and Sinhalese (petition2014.org/35233538345835243517.html).