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This article is a few years old, but it reminded of something Ajahn Brahm said in one of his talks a few years ago about a man leading a normal life while missing most of his brain.

You can find recordings of Ajahn Brahm's rains retreat talks here:

https://deeperdhamma.podbean.com/

They are quite different than the dhamma talks he gives to the general public. Much more serious. Much more directly connected to the dhamma. Basically "Ajahn Brahm gets real".

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to immerse myself in a Buddhist monastery for about a week to recharge and learn. I'm interested in attending meditation courses, participating in seva (voluntary work), and experiencing the monastic lifestyle. I'm open to paying a fee for programs or courses.

Has anyone had experience with Buddhist monastery retreats in India? I'm particularly interested in recommendations based on your personal experiences. Any insights on the monasteries, the programs, or what to expect would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

Hey there! I have a friend who has a dog with congestive heart failure and she is distraught over the decision to continue medical care or to euthanize him. I remember Ajahn Brahm answering a question in a similar situation to ask their pet and listen for the answer, does anyone know which video that was from?

#About The Community

Discussions about the teachings of Ajahn Brahm and the other teachers of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia. (BSWA)

About Ajahn Brahm

Ajahn Brahm is a British Theravada Buddhist monk living in Australia.

He is known for his sense of humor, intelligence, warmth, and his down to Earth teachings.

His teachings are regularly broadcasted on the Internet and he has written several books.

Ajahn Brahm is also a founder of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA).

/r/AjahnBrahm is not affiliated with the BSWA or Ajahn Bram

#Links

• Wiki - Ajahn Brahm Related Resources And Information

• [Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA)] (https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA) - YouTube

• Buddhist Society of Western Australia -- official web site

• BrahmsTalks - Archive of over 20 years of Ajahn Brahm's Talks

Rules:

Rules

Hi there. I listen to AB lectures on Podbean. It appears to me that there are a lot of rains retreats talks there, from many different years. I'm planning on taking an entire course. Thus, i'm wondering if any of you guys suggest an specific course. I really would like one in which he conducts the sessions, backed up by lectures containing suttas commentaries. Thank you!

“Buddha teaches the necessity of attaining at least one of the Jhānas in order to destroy the five lower fetters (and thereby attain the level just below full Enlightenment called Non Returning). The Buddha said in front of Venerable Mālunkyaputta that it is impossible to achieve Non Returning (let alone Full Enlightenment) without a Jhāna just as much as it is impossible to reach the heartwood of a tree without first going through its bark and sapwood. Think about it." - Ajhan Brahm

Interesting. Can someone give the sutta that supports this please?

Hi all 😊 last year I remember watching a talk where AB was telling a story about a time on the Northern Thai/Burmese border and he could feel the atmosphere changing and went outside to see thousands of birds flying with two giant ones in the middle, he goes on to say he wonders if he it was Garuda that he saw. Does anyone know which talk this was in? I cannot seem to find it again. Thanks very much 😊

Title

Hello all,

Anyone managed to reach silent present moment awareness where one had absolutely no thoughts for long period (5minutes and more) at a time? Is it even possible for 99.99% of people?

I have been meditating for many years. Many years tried to follow AB's instructions... Yet, I struggle even with present moment awareness. Inevitably some thought would pop up about past, future or just imagination. Nothing to say about silent present moment awareness. It seems like some thought, even if it is one letter, would appear every 1-2 seconds. When I focus on the breath, there is PLENTY of time to think between thoughts. Furthermore, nothing prevents thinking or imagining while paying attention to the breath. It is well known to psychology that mind can pay attention to 3, three, things at once. To block specifically the thoughts one would need to focus on three other things (example: watching/imagining/feeling something).

I listened to dozens of Ajahn Brahm's talks (Jhana & Rains retreat talks), read his books... I remember him saying how he was able to reach deep levels while being non-celibate, concert going lay person (with I presume very little this life experience of meditation)... It seems like he was blessed with good capabilities and in much better position than many people...

Any comments, ideas?

Just listened to a great talk of his on reincarnation and wondered if Ajahn Brahm ever mentioned a past life of his as a monk or anything else.

There are 3 schools of Buddhism:

1. Theravada - the oldest surviving school
2. Mahayana - the largest and most varied school
3. Vajrayana - often called "Tibetan Buddhism".

Each school has its own writings.

The Theravada school has the oldest writings. The Sutta Pitaka is a collection of suttas (sutras) - discourses from the Buddha. There are tens of thousands of suttas. If you read one a day it would take you over 40 years to read them all.

Since the suttas were originally transmitted orally the texts have a lot of repetition and preamble in them. The subject of any given sutta is often repeated in many other suttas and often without much variation in what was said about the subject.

Many years ago a German Buddhist Monk Nyanatiloka Mahathera compiled an anthology of the Sutta Pitaka. He cut out the repetition and preamble and assembled a collection of excerpts compiled into a logical order by subject. The result was a guide to the Buddha's teachings, in the Buddha's words, only about 100 pages long. It is called "Word Of The Buddha".

Comparatively recently, an English Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm recompiled this classic with modern translations more friendly to native English speakers. The new "Word Of The Buddha" gives the reader the Buddha's teachings, in the "Word Of The Buddha" in just 69 pages.

Did you listen to many of the Ajahn Brahm's retreat talks?

Which year/month was your favorite?

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Thanks.

I like listening to AB meditation talks and reading his meditation books.

Still, I am not too clear about 1st stage of meditation. AB recommends that even before one does breath-meditation (stage 3) one does present-moment awareness.

Q1) Exactly what is one supposed to focus on in this stage?

Q2) Breath comes up as my focus automatically, by itself. Is that ok?

Thanks.

This is the most complete archive of Ajahn Brahm talks I have found

#BrahmsTalks

The collection spans 2001 - 2022

I've gone through many of them.

I think the earlier ones are the most interesting.

If people posting here want discussions they can help make that happen by posting at least a 3-4 line summary of what they found noteworthy in the videos they watched.

People are overwhelmed by the amount of content on the Internet.

Few people are going to go watch an hour long video just because a link was posted.

No disrespect or insult meant to anyone.

Ajahn Brahm has a unique approach to breath meditation.

A person starts by letting go of the past and the future, emphasizing relaxation. The focus when starting a meditation session is to let go into the present moment, to relax into the present and then let yourself be carried into awareness of the breath. From there you let yourself be carried into deeper states of meditation. You don't try for them. "Concentration" in his method is stillness of mind brought about letting distractions go and leave you versus moving your mind back to an object.

The PDF version of his booklet on meditation

https://bswa.org/bswp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Ajahn_Brahmavamso_the_Basic_Method_of_Meditation.pdf

The HTML version

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books/Ajahn_Brahm_Basic_Method_of_Meditation.htm

Ajahn Brahm started off life as a member of the working class in post WWII England. He studied physics before becoming a Buddhist monk under the famous Ajahn Chah. He is an excellent communicator, very smart, FUNNY, and WARM.

You can see his talks and meditation lessons ( with a few from his students mixed in ) on the

BSWA Youtube Channel

There is a new talk, meditation, and sometimes a sutta class nearly every weekend.

You can also get audio recordings of his talks from this volunteer archive.

Personally, I think his best talks came from the early 2000s.