How To Overcome Mental Suffering | Ajahn Brahm

07/15/23 • 63 min

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.

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Previous Episode

Guilt | Ajahn Brahm

We are taught to forgive so that we can free ourselves from the past and move on to happier times. Guilt only makes you unhappy and makes you do bad things. Talking about forgiveness creates peace and prevents guilt. You can’t be happy if you don t think you deserve happiness. Guilt comes from judging, from treating someone as if they’re inherently bad. Guilt is a by-product of revenge, you don’t need it, and there’s a way to get rid of it. Punishment seldom works and often does more harm than good. Instead, try to acknowledge your faults and learn the ‘AFL code’ of Buddhism, which is to ‘Acknowledge’, ‘Forgive’ and ‘Learn’ from your mistakes.

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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 30th 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.

Next Episode

Addictions and Obsessions

Ajahn Brahm gives a talk on addictions and obsessions, including the skillful means to overcome them to to have freedom from them. This talk is not just about addictions to alcohol and drugs, but also about obsessive behaviours of body, speech and mind which are the source of suffering for both others and for ourselves. By overcoming our addictions and obsessions we become internally at peace, and a person who doesn’t create problems for ourselves and others.