Guided Meditation
Ajahn Brahm conducts an intermediate/ advanced meditation class for approximately one hour. Ajahn speaks on the benefits of renouncing doing things. Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa BSWA teachings are available: BSWA Teachings BSWA Podcast Channel BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel BSWA YouTube
Now playing:
Automated transcript, estimated accuracy about 95% for this source; report an error.
Words the recogniser was unsure of are underlined with dots. Use “Report an error” beside any passage to tell us what the teacher actually says.
Key passages
The teacher's own words, quoted from the transcript below and chosen automatically as representative.
- 1:18
But I do remember many times in the early years of meditating having to deal with the problem of sloth and torpor, the low energy states. I do remember many times I was sitting there with my head really bowed. Please, I can't really do this with a microphone in front of me, so I'm going to pull some microphone apart. Have you ever noticed yourself drooping like that?
- 2:08
If that's what the body needs to do, let it do it. And those beautiful times when the head was drooping and then the mindfulness started to increase, it started to get more aware and the body started to straighten up by itself. I didn't give it any instructions, I didn't order it, it just started straightening up. Have you experienced that?
- 4:40
You renounce doing things. You abandon choosing things. The mind is still. And that's a very deep teaching, but anyone can do that because it's simple. When you let things be and just relax, there's no work to be done.
- 7:24
And all these wonderful rewards just come without you asking for them. It's just like any wisdom, any insights, any deep insights, they come without you chasing them. And we're good to notice this and to understand this, because what it means is that you don't have to do anything. If it depended upon you doing things and your knowledge,
- 10:36
I gave him a very simple instruction in meditation. Just watch your breath. And that's what he did. He didn't miss one breath. He just kept watching his breath. And he became a well-known enlightened monk in Thailand. He could then do the chanting. We asked him how he could do the chanting. It was because that he remembered a previous life when his brain could learn the chanting.
Transcript
0:00 These days, believe it or not, but I know how I feel. And these days, I don't have some diseases or stuff, but in those early days as a monk, I had scrub typhus, which was the same as symptoms as typhoid. And at that time, it was wonderful to be able to sit there, let go. Actually not sit there, lay there, let go, and get into a beautiful meditation. Even then, the body could feel so beautiful and relaxed. So even now, it's wonderful to be able to know how to sit here in a room which is really hot. Report an error in the passage at 0:00
0:49 What temperature are you putting it on? 21? What do you reckon? 21? Report an error in the passage at 0:49
0:57 16? 20 and a half? It doesn't really matter. Report an error in the passage at 0:57
1:06 Whatever. It's nice to be able to sit here and just let the body be comfortable no matter what temperature and learn to be still. But I do remember many times in the early years of meditating having to deal with the problem of sloth and torpor, the low energy states. I do remember many times I was sitting there with my head really bowed. Report an error in the passage at 1:06
1:36 Please, I can't really do this with a microphone in front of me, so I'm going to pull some microphone apart. Have you ever noticed yourself drooping like that? Report an error in the passage at 1:36
1:48 You don't notice it because you've got your eyes closed and you think you're really getting into some deep meditation. You're not, you're sleeping. And when I was, my head drooped like that, fighting it for so many weeks and months and getting nowhere, one day you did decide to relax to the max. If that's what the body needs to do, let it do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:48
2:11 And those beautiful times when the head was drooping and then the mindfulness started to increase, it started to get more aware and the body started to straighten up by itself. Report an error in the passage at 2:11
2:26 I didn't give it any instructions, I didn't order it, it just started straightening up. Have you experienced that? If you have, well done because it shows you the trick. You don't need to tell the body what to do. When it's the right time for the body to straighten up, it will straighten up by itself. It will just twist around to be the right position all by itself. Report an error in the passage at 2:26
2:56 When those sorts of experiences happen, you realize that all you need to do is to give the body that freedom to be able to find its own beautiful posture. And then once that beautiful posture has been found, Because you haven't been thinking, giving orders, controlling, then you can start to relax to the max your own mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:56
3:24 Would it be nice to have a relaxed mind? Report an error in the passage at 3:24
3:30 How do you experience that? And I give all these kind of descriptions, maybe too much descriptions. Usually you find because you have nothing to do, no problems to fix, Report an error in the passage at 3:30
3:47 You have no goals to reach. The desires, ill wills of trying to get rid of things disappear. You're just there, just being in this moment, relaxing with this body. Body disappears and now the mind relaxes. There's no orders to give. There's no information to put on the computer of your brain. You leave it all alone and it kind of gets quiet inside. Report an error in the passage at 3:47
4:17 And that quietness is a beautiful experience of peace. If the body was tired, it fixes itself up. If it needs anything, you know, you can sit up for 45 minutes without any problems. So you just let it be. You let it be. You let go. You give up. You renounce doing things. You abandon choosing things. The mind is still. Report an error in the passage at 4:17
4:48 And that's a very deep teaching, but anyone can do that because it's simple. When you let things be and just relax, there's no work to be done. So eventually, after a few minutes, the brain kind of loves this. And all that energy, which is usually wasted by trying to do something or trying to figure something out, Trying to make something happen, trying to avoid unpleasant things, trying to solve problems, all of that doing kind of vanishes. Report an error in the passage at 4:48
5:30 When it does, then the body is straightened up, the mind becomes still and the mind becomes energized. And the energy in the mind which is coming from stillness is the very, very, very best. Report an error in the passage at 5:30
5:48 Any of you who have ever studied spirituality, especially the meditation spirituality, in the tradition which I follow, notice that these things happen, beautiful things happen, when you really become still, starting off with making your mind peaceful, and after a while there's no need to think, you know, but not in the language of thoughts, you like feel. Report an error in the passage at 5:48
6:20 You intuit the world and it's far more accurate, far more beautiful. And you finally start to see beauty in places you've never seen before. That's why sometimes when I start the meditation here on a Saturday afternoon, I don't want to close my eyes. The view outside is just so gorgeous. All the trees and the grasses in the afternoon sunshine. Report an error in the passage at 6:20
6:51 It's very delightful, the view here. But I've been watching this view for over 40 years. It still looks delightful. When the mind is relaxed and peaceful, it sees more, it feels more, it even hears more clearly the sound of the wind. Everything becomes more gorgeous. And that shows you what this meditation does. You relax to the max. Report an error in the passage at 6:51
7:24 And all these wonderful rewards just come without you asking for them. It's just like any wisdom, any insights, any deep insights, they come without you chasing them. Report an error in the passage at 7:24
7:40 And we're good to notice this and to understand this, because what it means is that you don't have to do anything. If it depended upon you doing things and your knowledge, and your strength and your work ethic, then I would never be able to meditate. But if you know how to relax and be peaceful and be still, it's easy. Report an error in the passage at 7:40
8:11 And you get deeper meditations, deeper understandings, more experiential knowledge than you've ever had before. This is how the meditation works. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are. It doesn't matter just, you know, where you come from, how your language skills are. It is simple. I always like telling the story of this monk. Report an error in the passage at 8:11
8:40 Someone reminded me of this story I've told many times a few days ago. There was a monk in Thailand. Before he even became a monk, he went to school. He failed grade one at school. I don't know how that's possible, but they said, yes, he failed it. Maybe his stick men were not artistic enough. And then he went to grade one the second year, failed again, three years in grade one, never passed. Report an error in the passage at 8:40
9:15 And after three years of just trying to finish grade one, he had to be sent out of the school. It was hopeless. This was an old-type school in Thailand. What do you do with someone? You know what they do with them in Thailand at those days? They send them to the monastery and ordain them as a novice monk. Report an error in the passage at 9:15
9:40 Not all novice monks started off like that. And then, after a couple of years, the abbot of the monastery was so kind and patient, but even he couldn't teach him how to do any chanting. He couldn't learn much. And so after two years, As a novice monk, now what can we do with him? Because he couldn't even chant Namo Tassa. He managed to learn Namo, but then started learning Tassa and forgot the Namo. Report an error in the passage at 9:40
10:16 So what do you do with someone like that? The answer is you send them to Forest Monastery. That's where we come from. Is that correct? Report an error in the passage at 10:16
10:30 You send them there and they just... I gave him a very simple instruction in meditation. Just watch your breath. And that's what he did. He didn't miss one breath. He just kept watching his breath. And he became a well-known enlightened monk in Thailand. He could then do the chanting. We asked him how he could do the chanting. It was because that he remembered a previous life when his brain could learn the chanting. Report an error in the passage at 10:30
11:05 I don't know if I'm astounding you on this or you don't believe me, but this was his explanation. He could learn the chanting by, he could do the chanting by remembering the last lifetime when he learned it. And he just connected with that so he could chant in this life. But his mind was so simple, so peaceful, could not pass grade one at school, but could meditate so deeply. Report an error in the passage at 11:05
11:32 So, if you have any of... The people you teach meditation to in prisons who are having a difficult time, they had difficult times at school, yes, these will be the Arahats in Sydney in the future. Tell them that. It gives them some encouragement and they can, there's many different ways of learning and this was one of the best ways. Report an error in the passage at 11:32
12:00 Keep it simple and let them feel their way into these deep meditations. You're so peaceful, you're so still, and nothing is moving. You get really, really, really deep, very, very peaceful, and very blissed out, and very wise. Okay, that's just an introduction for the beginning. It's now 18 minutes past three, so it's the time when we start the guided meditation. Report an error in the passage at 12:00
12:27 So those of you who haven't got your eyes closed already, now is the time to close the eyes, get your posture reasonably comfortable. And I will give the instructions for the beginning of the meditation. After about 15, 20 minutes, then I will be quiet and let everyone meditate by themselves and see how deeply you can go. Report an error in the passage at 12:27
12:54 The meditation time is usually about 40 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 12:54
· · · silence, 1 minute
13:45 So sitting here, please bring your attention to your body first of all. Report an error in the passage at 13:45
13:58 Just like asking it, inquiring, how are you? Just like you might see a close friend and ask them that question. And your body will be honest to you. Report an error in the passage at 13:58
14:24 And now go even deeper. This is where I start asking parts of my body, how are you? Report an error in the passage at 14:24
14:35 Usually I start with the toes and then work upwards. But today, just for interest, I do it slightly differently. Report an error in the passage at 14:35
14:49 Right now, what part of your body, part of your body is most irritating? Report an error in the passage at 14:49
15:02 Choose only one part and Report an error in the passage at 15:02
15:08 allow your mind to focus on it and care for it. It's like you may have a child in your family. If not a child, a cat or a dog, and they're sick, you want to make sure you can look after them, care for them. Report an error in the passage at 15:08
15:30 Whatever it is they need, you will supply that so they will soon recover from the sickness. Report an error in the passage at 15:30
15:43 Can you feel a place in your body which needs some extra TLC? Report an error in the passage at 15:43
15:58 Personally, right now, I look and find it's the front of my head. I do suffer from hay fever. I have not been sneezing that much, but I can still feel some pressure. around my sinuses so I'm going to focus on that and I'm going to try and dive into that and try and give it relaxation from inside you Report an error in the passage at 15:58
16:29 may have a sore leg an arm or a tummy which is not at peace if you can focus on the most irritating part of your body but be precise don't just say you know my leg what part and Report an error in the passage at 16:29
16:54 just notice When you focus on it and you give it peace as a gift, you know what peace means. It's like you're giving it a gift coming from your kindness, which may help that part of your body relax. Report an error in the passage at 16:54
17:26 You feel it. Normally, when you are kindful of a part of your body, that body drinks up that kindfulness. And does appreciate it. It does relax more. Report an error in the passage at 17:26
17:51 And as it relaxes, the problem kind of lessens. My sinuses already are becoming more free. The air is going through them without being blocked off like they were two minutes ago. Report an error in the passage at 17:51
18:20 It gets comfortable to the point where it does get delightful. Just to know that you can do this. Report an error in the passage at 18:20
18:30 Without any medications, just by focusing and being with the most difficult part of your body heals it. Report an error in the passage at 18:30
18:47 And then when that's not a problem anymore, I go to the second most irritating part of my body. Report an error in the passage at 18:47
18:57 I look around and it is my stomach. I had a good meal this morning. But nevertheless, I can feel there must have been something there which I should not have eaten. Report an error in the passage at 18:57
19:13 I can feel a bit of tightness, nothing serious, but I can feel it. So I go inside of that. Just imagine my attention going right into the middle of it and being with it and wishing it well. Report an error in the passage at 19:13
19:35 Now there's a lot of difference between just wishing it well and trying to force it to be well. That's too much control and that makes it feel worse. Report an error in the passage at 19:35
19:49 If when you're doing this it does become worse, that means you're trying to change it. You are trying, controlling, doing, and that always creates more tension. You want just to feel it and ease it, and Report an error in the passage at 19:49
20:13 eventually you know exactly how much effort not to put in. It Report an error in the passage at 20:13
20:22 makes everything tight again. Report an error in the passage at 20:22
20:28 So already... My stomach is starting to feel fine. It's relaxing. It's becoming at ease. Report an error in the passage at 20:28
20:47 Unless I'm doing this to the two most important, two most irritating parts of my body, I'd always try and find a third. Report an error in the passage at 20:47
20:59 Right now that's hard to find. But Report an error in the passage at 20:59
21:12 this is one way of relaxing the body. Once the first two are relaxed, then I find the third. I suppose that's the lower intestines. Report an error in the passage at 21:12
21:32 Feel them. Imagine you're getting inside of them and you're relaxing to the max. After a while, if that is your goal to relax to the max, you soon find out how to do it. You know how to do it because you're observing this all the way. You're mindful. I always found out, let's see, The kindness which I add to the mindfulness, which works the best, is essential. Report an error in the passage at 21:32
22:14 So when I'm aware of something, I never forget that wishing it well. Report an error in the passage at 22:14
22:23 Sometimes I look at my own body like I look at yours, wishing it well, out of compassion. I know what the compassion feels like, and it's easy to practice on my own body. And when I see how it works, Report an error in the passage at 22:23
23:21 And now I look at my body and it feels just as it usually feels on a Saturday afternoon when I teach like this, just like it usually does after going through the sweeping of the body. This is a kind of little bit more efficient, looking for the problems, easing them and letting them vanish. Report an error in the passage at 23:21
23:52 Now my body feels really comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 23:52
23:57 And if you've been meditating as long and many times as I have, you know that this, well, this body is really ready to go, to disappear. So now I can look at my mind. Report an error in the passage at 23:57
24:17 The mind is where all these orders and control and stuff which disturbs the body come from. And the first thing I notice is how peaceful I am. The word peace It's a usual word, nothing like nimittas and jhānas and all these deep words. Something which everyone should be able to understand. Peace. Report an error in the passage at 24:17
24:46 That's where there's no problems to be solved in the mind. There's nothing you need. You're contented in this moment. This is good enough for me. All these ways of looking, observing your mind, which means you can leave it alone. Report an error in the passage at 24:46
25:11 There's no problems to be solved. Report an error in the passage at 25:11
25:18 You notice when you start doing this, all your past starts to vanish. That's where many of the problems find their origin, in the experiences you've had so far in your life, which have caused you stress, made you try and think up solutions which you can't find. Report an error in the passage at 25:18
25:44 Instead, you let the whole problem vanish. Report an error in the passage at 25:44
25:50 You don't have to solve it. Report an error in the passage at 25:50
25:59 You're just sitting there free, free of responsibility. To Report an error in the passage at 25:59
26:15 me that feels really cool and Report an error in the passage at 26:15
26:22 you can almost touch the peace. If Report an error in the passage at 26:22
26:30 you want to find names for it, you can but it's a waste of time. Report an error in the passage at 26:30
26:39 You come into this present moment naturally only because all the past and future vanishes. It's not really relevant when you're going into deep meditation. Report an error in the passage at 26:39
26:56 And then the next beautiful thing which happens in the silence, you Report an error in the passage at 26:56
27:05 find stillness. Report an error in the passage at 27:05
27:12 So often we get into the habit in life, when anything wonderful happens, we want to say something. It's just like we see a beautiful sunset, we want to take a photograph of it. Report an error in the passage at 27:12
27:26 You can't photograph beauty. You can't describe stillness. You just know it. Report an error in the passage at 27:26
27:38 When the mind is still, Hardly anything is moving. Please stay there. Report an error in the passage at 27:38
27:54 Usually, you start to know what you're aware of. For me right now, it's my breath. The breathing comes to me. In these days of my meditation life, I never go looking for my breath. Report an error in the passage at 27:54
28:14 I become still, relaxed, and the awareness of the breath just appears in my mind. It literally does come to me. Report an error in the passage at 28:14
28:28 It's a nice place to hang out, to rest. That's what I'm doing. Watching my breathing and allowing my mouth to talk these things to you. But Report an error in the passage at 28:28
28:49 also, I'm getting so quiet, I can't speak much more. I am going to be quiet until the end of the meditation. How Report an error in the passage at 28:49
· · · silence, 25 minutes
54:24 do you feel? No, Report an error in the passage at 54:24
54:33 ring the gong three times. Report an error in the passage at 54:33
54:39 Actually, I won't. I'll just make the gong sound. Report an error in the passage at 54:39
· · · silence, 1 minute
55:26 Thank you for participating. I changed it a bit. Apparently the iPad is not working. Report an error in the passage at 55:26
55:43 First question from Wolfram. I'm in bed most of the time and short of breath. How to meditate and find peace despite emphysema and a tumour? How to cheer up and fight. Peace, short of breath makes life hard. Thank you, Ajahn. Sometimes, if that is a major problem in the body, you just go right into that emphysema. Report an error in the passage at 55:43
56:21 Don't make it a place in the body. Just imagine it's a thing which lives in your body and be right inside of it. First of all, you make friends with it. I'm not joking. You give it this kindness. I don't know why you have to be with me in the body, but you can stay as long as you like. When you make peace with it, you find the mind doesn't overreact. Report an error in the passage at 56:21
56:53 And if you're laying down, make sure you're comfortable. And after a while, you'll find that the emphysema just becomes a part of your life. It doesn't get worse, it doesn't get better. It just stays like that. And it's not anything you need to really concern yourself about. You're surviving. Somehow or other the breath is going in and the breath is going out. Report an error in the passage at 56:53
57:19 So let's let the body do the breathing. Your job is just to do the observing. Just make sure you don't interrupt the body. Report an error in the passage at 57:19
57:30 That's a beautiful way after a while you tend to be with things rather than wanting to get rid of them. And after that while. Just the body relaxes with its situation. It doesn't even want to change it. When you no longer want to change your medical condition, that's when the emphysema has got the best chance to vanish, disappear. Report an error in the passage at 57:30
58:01 You don't need much oxygen simply because you're not panicking, you're not fighting, you're not exerting. It's a willpower which needs energy to support it. You're letting it go. And then you just watch. I love, I think I said this a couple of times recently, the way that Ajahn Chah told me that he got through his malaria fever. Report an error in the passage at 58:01
58:33 The malaria fever for forest monks in places like Thailand was just common. Everyone experienced it. And it's one of those fevers, experiences, which can kind of get lesser and lesser and lesser, but you're always subject to it at any time. Once the body gets a bit weak, then the malaria fever will come up. I still remember Ajahn Chah telling me personally that one day he was having an attack of malaria fever. Report an error in the passage at 58:33
59:16 He decided to try something different. He just sat there and he went into the middle of it, the center of the fever. And he said it was like his simile for it was he was like sitting in a forest where all the trees were burning and getting hotter and hotter and hotter. But he was in the middle, in a place where the heat just couldn't reach him. Report an error in the passage at 59:16
59:49 He knew it was there. He said like the center of a storm where nothing is moving. And then he could feel the heat get hotter and hotter and hotter. But he just did not move. He didn't want anything. He wasn't trying to get rid of anything. He was at peace with it. It's part of nature. And then it exploded. And that's what he said after that time. Report an error in the passage at 59:49
1:00:20 He never had malaria fever ever again. Next question. A struggle with a substance use disorder. Can meditation help with addiction? Thank you, Ajahn. Oh yes, of course it can. After a while, some of the reasons why one is addicted. Sometimes it's almost as if... Please excuse me. Be not kind enough to yourself. So I know one thing. I was talking with this gentleman who had a strong addiction. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20
1:01:06 And he was telling me that, you know, once I said, well, you should get someone to take a video of you when you're really drunk out of your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:06
1:01:17 He said to me afterwards, he said, no, that will not work. He's tried that. He said, that makes him feel worse about himself. First of all, to give him that confidence that the addiction and him are two different things. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17
1:01:39 So once he can separate that, he doesn't identify with having addiction which is part of him. But he's experiencing an addiction. He's not it. Then after a while, he can let it go. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39
1:01:57 Of course it can be hard to let go of at first, but then it soon starts to vanish. And when it does, he feels just so much more joy. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:57
1:02:10 And that's really important to notice that joy, the joy of being free. Having an addiction is like being in a prison. You're not free. But when you can learn with mindfulness and kindness, How to relax the body and mind so much that the addiction doesn't come up and after a while you can feel just how gorgeously pleasurable that is. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:10
1:02:44 Not needing to have all these substances to be happy, to be at peace. It's so amazingly beautiful and after a short while you don't even need to take those things anymore. You can refuse it just like you've never had it before. That's a beautiful way of dealing with addiction. And that's some of the stories which people have told me in the past. But please don't use force. It's the force which wears you out and keeps you feeling that you don't deserve to be free of the addiction. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44
1:03:33 That's an important part. With most people's addictions, it's almost like a self-punishment. So you want to feel good about yourself. You're doing well. Well done. There was this gentleman in Thailand many years ago, close to our monastery in Ubon. And he said during the rains retreat, the three-month period, he made a vow, a promise. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:33
1:04:05 He would not take any alcohol. During the rains retreat from sunrise to sunset and he said it was for him it was tough and he would have like a couple of bottles of alcohol ready in the evening and was watching the sun as it got lower and lower to the horizon. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:05
1:04:35 It was always much slower than he hoped. To go down, eventually the sun set and then he would drink. But when he said that first solange retreat, he managed to keep his promise. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:35
1:04:52 All the monks in our monastery praised him. For him it was a very tough thing to do. The reason we praised him, because when you praise somebody, you give them energy. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:52
1:05:07 Energy, confidence that they can do things. Of course, we all knew it was not enough yet. But well done, how much you've done so far to build up their sense of power, their strength, so they can eventually totally overcome those addictions. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:07
1:05:32 Okay. There's only those two questions there I was given. So any questions from the people here on the floor? If Report an error in the passage at 1:05:32
1:05:46 you want a question answered, put up your hand. That's Report an error in the passage at 1:05:46
1:05:54 really nice. Excellent. I don't know if you enjoyed that meditation, but I really did. So thank you for letting me do it. Is it good for you? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:54
1:06:08 Great, excellent. Okay, so let's bow three times and we can have an early evening. Well, actually no, because I'm sure there'll be a line in front. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:08
Related talks
Talk by Ajahn Brahm, recorded 9 November 2025. Original at Buddhist Society of Western Australia: https://podcast.bswa.org/e/guided-meditation-ajahn-brahm-8-november-2025/. 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)