Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Ajahn Sujato gives a Dhamma talk the evening before Australia Day and therefore talks about what it means to him to be an Australian practising Buddhism and whether there is such a thing as Australian Dhamma. Ajahn looks at the characteristics of Buddhism in Australian culture.

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USA CIA with Venerable Bodhidhaja.  USA is an acronym for unburden settle arrive.  CIA is an acronym for the mind or central intelligence agency.  Venerable used these acronyms to get us interested and grab our attention.  Venerable then described the basics of meditation in terms easily understood by all beginners and experienced alike.  Venerable then guided us through a 30 minute meditation well suited to beginners encouraging us to treat each thought that arose by saying to it "I value your presence" and then let it go.

Venerable then opened to questions giving very detailed answers using synonyms and practical examples.

How can laypeople become enlightened in this life? How can we go further than just living a peaceful happy life?

Ajahn Brahm explains what enlightenment really is and teaches us how to learn to love and embrace ourselves and life.

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Ajahn Santutthi shares his experience on how the Buddhist teachings have helped him in his many years as a monk. Ajahn points out that monks and laypeople both wish to overcome suffering and difficulties in life and that this is what the monks learn to do in the monastery and one of ways you do this is to change the way you see things, situations and people.

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Ajahn Brahm offers a deep explanation on the meaning of wisdom in Buddhism. Ajahn explains how wisdom is something you get through investigating, contemplating and looking very deeply into the nature of yourself, relationships and into life and is not something you can get from reading a book or listening to a talk.

Ajahn emphasises that Buddhism doesn’t tell you what to believe, but how to find out for yourself. In other words 99% of Buddhism is teaching you how to find out the truth for yourself.

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Religions should not be enslaving, but liberating. Ajahn Brahm challenges the ideas in Buddhism and other religions about autonomy & freedom, and knowledge & faith. Ajahn looks at how Buddhism challenges you to be free and to take responsibility for your karma and Ajahn ponders the problems of authoritarian religions.

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Venerable Bhukkhuni Seri explores the concept of a spiritual warrior. Venerable explains what the spiritual warrior path is and why this particular term resonates with her. Venerable shares some Dhamma stories to inspire us to also train and practise the eight-fold path and attain liberation and freedom.

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How do you really practise Buddhism when everyone around you isn’t practising? Such as living as a Buddhist in a western country. Ajahn Brahm gives some practical advice for living with people who share different world views.

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Venerable Hasapanna reflects on what the Buddha really meant by letting go. Venerable looks at the satisfaction that comes from getting things, compared to the joy and happiness that comes from letting go, that is from letting things be and not craving. Venerable explains how letting go only happens through training the mind to let go and cannot be done by willpower.

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Venerable JR lead a relaxed evening of breath meditation encouraging us to not pressure ourselves by looking for success in the stages of our practice.  But rather to simply accept our progress and continue to practice.  So, don't treat your practice as a video game, win the level and then move on.  Be happy with your progress and continue to practice.

Venerable also gave a practical demonstration of walking meditation, demonstrating the different speeds and so showing us that we need not all keep the same pace.  Some of us will walk slowly and some will walk a little quicker.

Venerable then led a very relaxed breath meditation.  After the meditation Venerable encouraged us to stretch our practice times.  For those of us just learning, 5 or 10  minutes seems a long time to sit and meditate.  As we progress in our practice it does become easier to stretch our meditation time to much longer periods.  Or, try more regular small sessions in one day.