The Buddha taught that meditation is a way to gain Insight into the nature of our mind and to overcome our sufferings. Buddhism is a tolerant religion that has never fought a war in its name. When Buddhism spread, it created three great traditions which have a lot of similarities. Practices and customs vary significantly among Buddhist traditions, but the teachings are fundamentally the same. Buddhism developed organically and each community depended upon its own goodness.. The Buddha’s awakening came about through his experiences in a previous life and his practice of contemplation under a tree, leading him to understand the nature of the world himself. In Buddhism, enlightenment is happiness, and the only way to achieve it is to practice meditation and live a simple life dedicated to the true realization of truth. The history of Buddhism starts 2600 years ago with the birth of the person who became our present Buddha. Buddhism is based upon teachings such as reincarnation and the law of karma. After the Buddha died, his teachings were organized and memorized by monks in order to be passed down and conserved. The Buddha’s teachings still have a deep meaning to Buddhists today.

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This dhamma talk was originally recorded using a low quality MP3 to save on file size (because internet connections were slow back then – remember dialup?) on 3rd May 2003. It has now been remastered and published by the Everyday Dhamma Network, and will be of interest to his many fans. If you like the Ajahn Brahm Podcast, you may also like the Treasure Mountain Podcast and / or the Forest Path Podcast which are also produced by the Everyday Dhamma Network.

These talks by Ajahn Brahm have been recorded and made available for free distribution by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia under the Creative Commons licence. You can support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia by pledging your support via their Patreon page.