You can’t control your body, feelings, or thoughts. Let go and be happy. The great monk advised against wasting time on things which have no solution, because it creates mental suffering. Mental suffering is the biggest killer, caused by our attitudes and conditioned responses to the world. Buddhism teaches us ways to overcome it. Accept the world as it is and stop trying to control it. This will stop the mental suffering. Sometimes we try and control things which are beyond our control, and that just creates more pain. Mental suffering is when you try to control your life When you let go of control, you stop suffering. The more you can let go, the more you can start loving life.

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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 13th June 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.