Ajahn Brahmali is the guest on this episode to talk about how and why Secular Buddhism misrepresents the original teachings of the Buddha. This discussion goes in to some depth about the importance of understanding the place of karma and rebirth in the Buddha's teachings, and how our views impact upon the way that we act, including upon our practice. There is also discussion about the role of mindfulness in Secular Buddhism, and how mindfulness is a good thing, but also, how we cannot practice Buddhism fully without other important factors of the Eightfold Path.
Links from this episode:
Events coming up with Ajahn Brahmali (including his upcoming tours)
Support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain Website - https://www.everydaydhamma.net/show/treasure-mountain-podcast/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast

In this episode of Sage Advice we have as our guest, Ajahn Nissarano who is coming to us from Newbury Monastery, which is just north-west of Melbourne, Australia.
Ajahn Nissarano was born in 1952 in Perth, Western Australia. In 1997, he was ordained by Ajahn Brahm as a novice monk and a year later took full ordination. This year will be his 25th Rains Retreat, Vassa. He lived in Sri Lanka from 2006 to 2019, for a total of 13 and half years. During that time, he lived for 8 years in a cave on the side of a mountain, surrounded by forest and going for alms round to the village below. He returned to Australia regularly to teach, primarily at the Buddhist Society of Victoria. In January 2021 he became the Senior Monk at Newbury Buddhist Monastery, outside Melbourne, which is run by the Buddhist Society of Victoria.
Ajahn Nissarano joins us on this episode of Sage Advice to discuss the topic “our most urgent task”. We are so busy these days, we often lose sight of the big picture. And we can become so distracting that we don't even see what our most urgent task in life is. In this interview Ajahn Nissarano offers advice on what is most essential and urgent for us to focus on if we are to really develop the spiritual qualities.
Links from this episode:
Newbury Monastery, Victoria - https://www.bsv.net.au/monastery/
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain website - https://www.treasuremountain.info/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast

In this episode of Sage Advice we have as our guest, Li-Anne Tang from Perth, Western Australia.
Li-Anne Tang, Ph.D., is an experienced spiritual life coach, guide and mentor. Li-Anne’s life changed dramatically when she found herself in the midst of a dark night of the soul whilst raising her two young children. She searched the world and was fortunate to find wise and compassionate Buddhist meditation masters to guide her on her journey. At that time, she had already explored the depths of Western understanding through a Bachelor of Psychology, Master of Science, Ph.D. in neuropsychiatry and postgraduate training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Her subsequent practice under the tutelage of great meditation masters led her to the first of her spiritual awakenings. Since then, she has studied closely under numerous other masters, who have encouraged her to share her insights through her unique way of connecting with her students.
I hope that this episode of Sage Advice gets listeners to take a fresh look at mental illness from the point of view of spiritual practice, and I hope that this interview with Li-Anne Tang will help some people to stop asking “What’s wrong with me?”, and to start thinking “This difficult mind state I have at this time may be the opportunity I need to learn and to grow”.
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Links related to this episode:
Freeing Our Mind website
Li-Anne Tang's Facebook page
Li-Anne's Tangs Instagram
Freeing Out Mind youtube channel 
Treasure Mountain links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain website - https://www.treasuremountain.info/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast

In this episode of Spirit Stories we have as our guest, Ajahn Nitho who is coming to us from the mountains near Ørsta in western Norway.
Ajahn Nitho was born on the west coast of Norway in 1970, and after finishing high school, attended the University of Bergen and to The Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. He then spent a few years working as a chief financial officer at various companies, and then spent two years of backpacking around the world. Having become interested in meditation, Ajahn Nitho travelled to Australia in 2007 to be ordained as a bhikkhu (a Buddhist monk), under Ajahn Brahm at the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA), Perth.
After one year as an anagarika, one year as a samanera (novice), Ajahn Nitho took higher ordination as a bhikkhu (monk) in 2009. After more than 10 years of training as a bhikkhu in Perth, and a few stays with Ajahn Ganha in Thailand, he has now returned to Oslo in Norway, where he currently resides.
Together with Jon Endre Mørk, he established the Buddhist Society of Oslo and Viken (ovbf.org) in 2021, and he is now teaching retreats and Buddhism various places in Norway, while building a Buddhist community there. The goal is to establish a centre in Norway for teaching and practise.
Links from this episode:
The Buddhist Society of Oslo and Viken (OVBF) - https://ovbf.org/ 
Donate to the OVBF - https://ovbf.org/en/donasjoner/ 
Treasure Mountain Podcast links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain website - https://www.treasuremountain.info/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast

Welcome to Treasure Mountain, the podcast that inspires and guides people to find the the treasure within human experience. I’m your host Sol Hanna.
In this episode of Spirit Stories we have as our returning guest, Ayya Tathālokā from Dhammadharini Monastery and Aranya Bodhi Forest Hermitage in California.
Last week when we spoke with Ayya Tathālokā we found out about her journey from discovering Buddhism through many trials until finally being able to achieve her ideal of full ordination as a bhikkhuni. It’s a really interesting story of overcoming obstacles with some unexpected twists, and if you want to listen to that episode you can click on this link.
Ayya Tathālokā has a number of achievements and been actively involved in establishing and extending the opportunities for women to go forth and also take higher ordination in the Buddhist sangha. In this episode we are going to find out about her journey since higher ordination and the work she has done and continues to do to expand opportunities for women to ordain and practice in an authentic manner that is true to the bhikkhuni vinaya - the monastic rules for Buddhist nuns. In the process we will also find out about the rapidly evolving opportunities for women within Buddhism as a result of the work being done by leaders like Ayya Tathālokā.
Links from this episode:
Dhammadharini Monastery - https://www.dhammadharini.net/
Donate to Dhammadharini Monastery - https://www.dhammadharini.net/support
Ayya Tathālokā's biography - https://www.treasuremountain.info/guests/ayya-tathaloka/
Treasure Mountain links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain website - https://www.treasuremountain.info/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast

On this episode of Spirit Stories we have as our guest, Ayya Tathālokā from Aranya Bodhi Awakening Forest Hermitage in California. Ayya Tathālokā was born in Washington, DC in 1968 to environmentally-minded scientist parents. In 1988, at age nineteen, urgently inspired by the sudden death of an associate, she left her Pre-naturopathic Medical studies in university and made her way first to Europe and then on to India, entering monastic life as an white robed anagarika and then two years later undertaking ten-precept nuns ordination. Wishing to connect with the ancient lineage of the Bhikkhuni Sangha, she sought and found her female mentor in Buddhist monastic life in South Korea, the most venerable bhikkhuni elder Myeong Seong Sunim (和法界 明星), who gave her the name "Tatha-alokā", and went on to train under her mentorship for ten years.
Returning to the United States in 1996, with her bhikkhuni mentor's blessings, in 1997 in Los Angeles, with an international gathering of bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, Dharma teachers and supporters in attendance, she received bhikkhuni higher ordination from the Sri Lankan bhikkhu sangha led by her preceptor, the Venerable Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara Nayaka Mahathero. Since then Venerable Tathālokā has focused on meditation, and on both the study and practice of Dhamma & Vinaya. Her meditation training in Theravada Buddhism has been largely with the masters of the Thai forest traditions stemming from Ajahn Mun Buridatta: Ajahn Maha Bua Nyanasampanno and teachers of the Ajahn Chah tradition, together with the Burmese mindfulness and insight masters of Sayadaw U Pandita's tradition and meditation master Pa-auk Sayadaw. Overall, her practice and teachings are profoundly influenced by the Buddha's own advice and injunctions as contained in the Early Buddhist suttas.
Recognizing the growing number of Theravadin bhikkhunis and samaneris in the United States and the true value of coming together in harmony, Ayya Tathālokā proposed and participated in the founding of the North American Bhikkhuni Association (NABA) in 2004. Several months later, she also participated in founding the first residential community for bhikkhunis in the western United States named "Dhammadharini”. Ayya Tathālokā is the first Western woman to be appointed as a Theravada Bhikkhuni Preceptor, and she has contributed to the going forth and full ordination of more than 50 women as nuns in the USA, Australia, India, and Thailand.
Ayya Tathālokā’s primary role is as the founding abbess and preceptor of both the Dhammadharini Monastery at the western foot of Sonoma Mountain in Penngrove and the Aranya Bodhi Awakening Forest Hermitage on the Sonoma Coast in Northern California, where she provides Dhamma and meditation teaching and guidance, and monastic mentorship. And since 2021, she has been actively invovled in the United Theravada Bhikkhuni Sangha International working group together with other international bhikkhuni preceptors and leaders of Theravada traditions.
Links from this episode:
Dhammadharini Monastery - https://www.dhammadharini.net/
Treasure Mountain links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain website - https://www.treasuremountain.info/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast

On this episode of Sage Advice we have as our guest, Ajahn Brahmali from Bodhinyana Monastery in Western Australia. Ajahn Brahmali was born in Norway in 1964 and first became interested in Buddhism when travelling to Japan in his 20s. After completing university degrees in finance and engineering he decided that his true calling was the dedicated spiritual life of a bhikkhu - a Buddhist monk. Having heard the teachings of Ajahn Brahm he travelled to Western Australia in 1994 and took higher ordination in 1996.
Ajahn Brahmali is both a dedicated meditator and has a love for the teachings of the Buddha, and he has become widely respected for his work in both translating Buddhist texts, but also explaining the context of Early Buddhism to modern audiences. He has co-authored the book ‘The Authenticity of Early Buddhist Texts’ with Bhikkhu Sujato.
Ajahn Brahmali’s clear and thoughtful talks make the teachings of the Buddha easily accessible to all. And I personally recommend the Early Buddhism Series of teachings that I’ll be linking to in the description below.
Bearing in mind that Ajahn Brahmali has a degree in finance, in this episode he will be sharing his wisdom and experience on what the greatest investment of a lifetime really is.
Links relevant to this episode:
Ajahn Brahmali's Biography - https://bswa.org/teachers/ajahn-brahmali/
Bodhinyana Monastery - https://bswa.org/location/bodhinyana-monastery/
Early Buddhism Course with Ajahn Brahmali and Ajahn Sujato - https://bswa.org/teaching/early-buddhism-class-workshop-6-with-ajahn-brahmali-ajahn-sujato/
Treasure Mountain links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain website - https://www.treasuremountain.info/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast

On this episode of Spirit Stories we have as our guest, Piotr Jagodziński from the Poland who has led the establishment and growth of the Sasana.pl website and youtube channel that has been translating the teachers of the forest tradition into Polish and getting an astonishing amount of traffic! Recently Piotr is leading efforts to establish a monastery in the Theravada tradition. Piotr is a true pioneer of the Buddhist Sasana in Poland and has supported thousands of people to connect with this authentic spiritual tradition and develop their own practice.
Links referred to in this episode:
Sasana.pl website - http://sasana.pl
Sasana.pl youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/sasanaPL
Theravada.pl website - http://theravada.pl
Dhamma.pl free books in Polish - https://dhamma.pl
Treasure Mountain links:
Treasure Mountain Podcast - https://www.treasuremountain.stream/
Treasure Mountain website - https://www.treasuremountain.info/
Treasure Mountain facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TreasureMountainPodcast