Friday Night Guided Meditation
Ajahn Brahmali guides a meditation for about 30 minutes. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube
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Automated transcript, estimated accuracy about 95% for this source; report an error.
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Key passages
The teacher's own words, quoted from the transcript below and chosen automatically as representative.
- 5:01
Okay, so as always one of the critical things with meditation practice is to learn how to relax. In fact the idea of relaxation is really the same thing as letting go. If you're not relaxed it means you are somehow holding on.
- 5:22
And by relaxing, you are actually letting go. And relaxation happens in a number of ways. One of the important ways is to be very gentle and have a sense of care for yourself, looking after yourself, making sure you have a degree of kindness there. And that sense of self-compassion and kindness allows you to relax because you care. You can let the world kind of leave it behind.
- 5:52
And not be concerned about it. So allow yourself to relax in that way. And then as you do that, gradually the peace starts to engulf you.
- 12:01
One of the important aspects of letting go and gentleness is allowing things to be the way they are. Not trying to control them, not trying to have things your way. And the way to summarize this is the idea of being with rather than focusing on. When you're being with, you're not trying to make things be this way or that way.
- 12:32
You're allowing things to be natural. And so you be with the breath because the breath is delightful, the breath is gentle, the breath is cool, the breath has a beautiful feeling to it. And that's why you hang out with the breath. So the idea of being with is a gentle way of being in the world. The idea of focusing on is often much more hard and forceful.
Transcript
0:00 Okay good, so let's do some meditation together. So please find a comfortable seat for yourself and we'll get started with the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 0:00
· · · silence, 5 minutes
5:01 Okay, so as always one of the critical things with meditation practice is to learn how to relax. In fact the idea of relaxation is really the same thing as letting go. If you're not relaxed it means you are somehow holding on. And by relaxing, you are actually letting go. And relaxation happens in a number of ways. One of the important ways is to be very gentle and have a sense of care for yourself, looking after yourself, making sure you have a degree of kindness there. Report an error in the passage at 5:01
5:41 And that sense of self-compassion and kindness allows you to relax because you care. You can let the world kind of leave it behind. And not be concerned about it. So allow yourself to relax in that way. And then as you do that, gradually the peace starts to engulf you. Report an error in the passage at 5:41
· · · silence, 6 minutes
12:01 One of the important aspects of letting go and gentleness is allowing things to be the way they are. Not trying to control them, not trying to have things your way. And the way to summarize this is the idea of being with rather than focusing on. When you're being with, you're not trying to make things be this way or that way. Report an error in the passage at 12:01
12:32 You're allowing things to be natural. And so you be with the breath because the breath is delightful, the breath is gentle, the breath is cool, the breath has a beautiful feeling to it. And that's why you hang out with the breath. So the idea of being with is a gentle way of being in the world. The idea of focusing on is often much more hard and forceful. Report an error in the passage at 12:32
12:59 So go for the gentle way. Enjoy the meditation. That is really the way forward. How Report an error in the passage at 12:59
· · · silence, 12 minutes
25:31 do you feel now? And if you do feel slightly more peaceful or more at ease or whatever. Ask yourself why that is the case. What is it that you have let go of? How does that letting go actually happen? Report an error in the passage at 25:31
· · · silence, 1 minute
26:35 Okay, so that is the end of the meditation, so please sit comfortably, and we'll start the dharma talk in a couple of minutes. Report an error in the passage at 26:35
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Talk by Ajahn Brahmali, recorded 8 June 2026. Original at Buddhist Society of Western Australia: https://podcast.bswa.org/e/friday-night-guided-meditation-ajahn-brahmali-5-june-2026/. Licensed No license stated; shared with the archive's knowledge (courtesy note). Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.
Listen on Buddhist Society of Western Australia · No license stated; shared with the archive's knowledge (courtesy note)