Firstly I would like to say welcome to my page. It is my pleasure to give freely to you any teachings and experiences that I can, to help you along your journey and to bring more happiness and joy into your life.
I have been practicing and studying the teachings of the Buddha since 2007, when I became seriously ill and was told I had 2 years left to live. Western medicine had failed to give me any answers to my health condition so I turned my attention inwards in the hope I would find a way to make peace with myself, my life, and the pain I was in, especially given my diagnosis. I decided to look for a teacher from which to learn meditation, and it took me quite a while before I came across a small monastic community nestled in the hills of Serpentine in my hometown of Perth. I wanted to practice mediation properly and correctly, as I was eager to extend my life beyond the foretold two years given to me by the doctors.
Please feel free to have a read, its goes into detail about how my practice started which many of you may find interesting.
As such, my training has been in the Theravadan tradition, specifically the Thai Forest Tradition as taught at Bodhinyana Monastery, which is heavily focused on meditative practice. I have spent many years on my own out in the forests, at Bodhinyana Monastery or on self retreat diving deep into my practice. I have made the practice my life, especially after seeing first hand the results that came from it. My teacher, Ajahn Brahmavamso has been incredibly kind, accepting and supportive of what I have been doing, always encouraging me to practice and be a part of the monastic community even though I have not ordained to become a monk. One day, if the conditions are right, who knows? At the moment, my first priority and responsibility is to my family and caring for my health.
My inspiration to practice has grown over the years and has resulted in me using my life to do something beautiful and different, allowing me to spend my time contemplating the dhamma, doing a lot of meditation and helping others as I follow the path laid down by the Buddha. As such, I created 'Mindful Matt' as a way of expressing myself through my practice, so that I may share my knowledge and experience with others
Ajahn Brahm told me one day as I was feeling doubtful about my practice and how I was using my life, that he found it incredibly inspiring to see someone putting forth such effort into their practice, and for him as a teacher, it brought him a lot of joy seeing another student following the Buddhas teachings and seeing the results for themselves. I have received much support, guidance and kindness from many other monks and nuns from the monastic communities here in Perth and abroad, and that friendship and connection through the dhamma has helped me to continue to practice out on my own, which is an incredibly difficult thing to do. I have no money, no house, no job (due to health) and life has been incredibly challenging doing what I can with no help. It has only been recently, under persuasion by good friends on the same path, that I have added a donation button to my webpage. I have never liked asking people for things, especially money, but I have learnt that it provides a wonderful opportunity for someone to give selflessly and experience the deep joy that arises as a result, as well as easing things for me.
My practice has helped me to understand and make peace with many things like chronic illness, physical pain and mental pain like depression, anxiety etc, acceptance, how to grow in my compassion and caring nature, how to be helpful to others and also provided me with insight into more profound things like preparing for death, finding meaning in life and understanding the inner workings of the mind. It has been a lot of hard work, but this path has been a beautiful journey of letting go, making peace and becoming a more gentle, loving person.
Teaching.
In 2015 I approached my teacher, Ajahn Brahm and asked for his permission to teach, which he kindly gave. There was no requirement for me to ask, however out of respect for him and the Sangha (community of monks and nuns) I thought it was appropriate, and so, with my teachers blessing, I started to teach. I realized very quickly how rewarding it was to introduce people to meditation. After going for a gentle bushwalk, I give short guided meditations and explain to those who come along how to deal with stress, how to relax more, and help people to experience the benefits of having a meditation practice. I do not 'push' Buddhism onto anyone, however if asked i will provide more information to those who are interested. I have also taught a few times at Armadale hospital community center on their regular Tuesday night sessions and I have taught many one on one sessions. For me, teaching is a large part of the practice, you can learn so much more from doing it. It is also a generous act of kindness and compassion, to share with others something that may be beneficial to their lives. We all have such great potential to learn more about our inner nature and become happier, kinder beings, especially if we can learn to support together.
I would like to thank you and welcome you here, and I hope the thoughts and experiences I share with you all are useful and beneficial. If you wish to help support me and my practice, please head over to my webpage http://mindfulmatt88.wixsite.com/behappy/donate. Any financial support you may be able to spare will help me immensely, and is received with much gratitude and appreciation.
May you all be happy and well,
Mindful Matt.
