A hill top view of Mike's forest, where he makes his home.
About Mike.
..About this Website.
Hi ! My name is Mike Browning of Gin Gin, south Queensland, and I wrote this website.
I had an extensive education and training in Buddhist meditation and teachings at the Buddhist Society, 1982 – 2002. Yet when I looked back on this “education” in 2010, I could not remember any useful philosophy. Sure I could remember all the significant doctrines and scriptures, almost word for word, including much Pali, and these days such doctrine is easily found in Wikipedia. Yet this formal “teaching” of the religion had little or no value to me. Nor was it a philosophy. I did not use any of it in my daily life, and certainly did not write about it to assist others. To me, the doctrine and scripture was all prescribed religious belief, something you believed in to be in it. And I need something more substantial than mere make-believe as a foundation for my spiritual practice. I had been in Buddhism because these prescribed beliefs were optional, you could be in it without any requirement to believe in it. Unlike mainstream religion in the West.
The lack of philosophy impacted on the meditation. With no useful philosophy to support it, the meditation was of little help in transcendence from suffering and moving towards Liberation. Its usefulness was limited to a brief half hour of peace each day.
These problems in Buddhist doctrines and scriptures and how they are traditionally presented, are probably better understood if we examine the problems of the religion itself, as traditionally practised in the home continent. I discuss these problems in my webpage entitled “Broken Buddhism” under “Scripture.” For all is not well in Buddhist countries, and this impacts on how Buddhist themes are traditionally presented by Buddhist monks.
These shortcomings of Buddhism were brought home to me after I had a long discussion in 2010 with a Buddhist nun, in full uniform, who I met in my sister’s living room, of all places. My sister left “those two Buddhists alone” to talk together.
So in 2010 I started the beginnings of this website : adapting the central theme of kilesa (defilements) and bodhyaṇga (spiritual Qualities). Adapting the central theme out of its origins in prescribed belief and doctrine, and into a form that worked for me, thirty years after I had first read and heard it.
In the mid tens, I returned to this exercise, adapting the following themes : nirvāṇa (enlightenment), taṇha and kāma (desire), dukkha (suffering) and samudāya dukkha (origin of suffering), sati (mindfulness), and ‘discharge of distress’ from co-counselling.
I then taught this material as a “Course in Spiritual Practice” at a Yoga center in Bundaberg from 2016 – 2018. These weekly and fortnightly classes were quite successful, and were well attended and supported from start to finish. But unfortunately an ignorant and destructive Yoga teacher there attacked us with false allegations, and we had to leave in a hurry. Our sessions did not recover from the attack, I took to writing instead, and that Yoga center had to close down soon afterwards.
I have been re-writing this material since 2017, and especially since early 2020. This means that what was on this website in mid 2019 when I first published it is probably quite different to what you will find now. I needed to improve both research (mostly in the dictionary) and the presentation, to help the people find useful guidance to their spiritual practice.
In addition, I needed to provide new word-for-word translations from the original Pali and Sanskrit for the most famous scriptures. (Pali is a less melodious accent or dialect of Sanskrit, and Pali is used for Theravadan Buddhist scriptures.) This frees up the source material from the limitations of old religion, and the politics that insist the scriptures be interpreted, translated and presented in a certain way. In July 2021, I managed to find time, energy and inspiration to provide new word-for-word translation for two of the shortest Upanishads. This is a big leap forward for progressive Dharma, for the Upanishads have big influence in Hindu philosophy, and help explain much of their teachings.
My teachings at the Yoga center in Bundaberg also included Kirtan sessions, using recorded music by renown Kirtan musicians. The mantras are nearly all from Hinduism, and therefore I had to study Hindu material and introduce it into my writings on spiritual practice. The historical Buddha Siddhatta Gotama lived 2500 years ago in what is now northern India, where early Hinduism was the prevailing religion. This accounts for the similarity between Hindu and Buddhist themes, and I look for the common ground between these two Eastern religions, so that both may make their separate contribution to the common understanding.
In 2019 I adapted Buddhist themes on meditation to suit the new approach. In October 2021 I had opportunity, after very extensive delays, to rewrite this material to properly express the themes of mantra-translate.
The major deficiencies of this website are now rectified, and the minor ones that still remain can remind us that writings about Dharma will never be “perfect”. However, I often revisit the material, and usually find something that needs improvement. Then I make small but important corrections and additions. This means that this website is not static, but slowly developing in quality rather than quantity. I have written only two new webpages since early 2021, for mantra-translate.
I am very glad I have invested so much time and energy on this re-writing, for visits have leaped from 10 – 20 visits per week in early 2020 to 150 visits per week in mid 2021 ! By early 2022 it has risen yet further to 300 visits per week, and to 350 people per week by late 2022. Most people visit only page per visit, and I encourage this. Please do not be tempted nor driven to rush hurriedly thru the Dharma. Please allow your mind to slow down, take rest, and move towards refreshing and rejuvenating inner peace. The rest of the material on this website can wait until another time.
Hi ! My name is Mike Browning of Gin Gin, south Queensland, and I wrote this website.
I had an extensive education and training in Buddhist meditation and teachings at the Buddhist Society, 1982 – 2002. Yet when I looked back on this “education” in 2010, I could not remember any useful philosophy. Sure I could remember all the significant doctrines and scriptures, almost word for word, including much Pali, and these days such doctrine is easily found in Wikipedia. Yet this formal “teaching” of the religion had little or no value to me. Nor was it a philosophy. I did not use any of it in my daily life, and certainly did not write about it to assist others. To me, the doctrine and scripture was all prescribed religious belief, something you believed in to be in it. And I need something more substantial than mere make-believe as a foundation for my spiritual practice. I had been in Buddhism because these prescribed beliefs were optional, you could be in it without any requirement to believe in it. Unlike mainstream religion in the West.
The lack of philosophy impacted on the meditation. With no useful philosophy to support it, the meditation was of little help in transcendence from suffering and moving towards Liberation. Its usefulness was limited to a brief half hour of peace each day.
These problems in Buddhist doctrines and scriptures and how they are traditionally presented, are probably better understood if we examine the problems of the religion itself, as traditionally practised in the home continent. I discuss these problems in my webpage entitled “Broken Buddhism” under “Scripture.” For all is not well in Buddhist countries, and this impacts on how Buddhist themes are traditionally presented by Buddhist monks.
These shortcomings of Buddhism were brought home to me after I had a long discussion in 2010 with a Buddhist nun, in full uniform, who I met in my sister’s living room, of all places. My sister left “those two Buddhists alone” to talk together.
So in 2010 I started the beginnings of this website : adapting the central theme of kilesa (defilements) and bodhyaṇga (spiritual Qualities). Adapting the central theme out of its origins in prescribed belief and doctrine, and into a form that worked for me, thirty years after I had first read and heard it.
In the mid tens, I returned to this exercise, adapting the following themes : nirvāṇa (enlightenment), taṇha and kāma (desire), dukkha (suffering) and samudāya dukkha (origin of suffering), sati (mindfulness), and ‘discharge of distress’ from co-counselling.
I then taught this material as a “Course in Spiritual Practice” at a Yoga center in Bundaberg from 2016 – 2018. These weekly and fortnightly classes were quite successful, and were well attended and supported from start to finish. But unfortunately an ignorant and destructive Yoga teacher there attacked us with false allegations, and we had to leave in a hurry. Our sessions did not recover from the attack, I took to writing instead, and that Yoga center had to close down soon afterwards.
I have been re-writing this material since 2017, and especially since early 2020. This means that what was on this website in mid 2019 when I first published it is probably quite different to what you will find now. I needed to improve both research (mostly in the dictionary) and the presentation, to help the people find useful guidance to their spiritual practice.
In addition, I needed to provide new word-for-word translations from the original Pali and Sanskrit for the most famous scriptures. (Pali is a less melodious accent or dialect of Sanskrit, and Pali is used for Theravadan Buddhist scriptures.) This frees up the source material from the limitations of old religion, and the politics that insist the scriptures be interpreted, translated and presented in a certain way. In July 2021, I managed to find time, energy and inspiration to provide new word-for-word translation for two of the shortest Upanishads. This is a big leap forward for progressive Dharma, for the Upanishads have big influence in Hindu philosophy, and help explain much of their teachings.
My teachings at the Yoga center in Bundaberg also included Kirtan sessions, using recorded music by renown Kirtan musicians. The mantras are nearly all from Hinduism, and therefore I had to study Hindu material and introduce it into my writings on spiritual practice. The historical Buddha Siddhatta Gotama lived 2500 years ago in what is now northern India, where early Hinduism was the prevailing religion. This accounts for the similarity between Hindu and Buddhist themes, and I look for the common ground between these two Eastern religions, so that both may make their separate contribution to the common understanding.
In 2019 I adapted Buddhist themes on meditation to suit the new approach. In October 2021 I had opportunity, after very extensive delays, to rewrite this material to properly express the themes of mantra-translate.
The major deficiencies of this website are now rectified, and the minor ones that still remain can remind us that writings about Dharma will never be “perfect”. However, I often revisit the material, and usually find something that needs improvement. Then I make small but important corrections and additions. This means that this website is not static, but slowly developing in quality rather than quantity. I have written only two new webpages since early 2021, for mantra-translate.
I am very glad I have invested so much time and energy on this re-writing, for visits have leaped from 10 – 20 visits per week in early 2020 to 150 visits per week in mid 2021 ! By early 2022 it has risen yet further to 300 visits per week, and to 350 people per week by late 2022. Most people visit only page per visit, and I encourage this. Please do not be tempted nor driven to rush hurriedly thru the Dharma. Please allow your mind to slow down, take rest, and move towards refreshing and rejuvenating inner peace. The rest of the material on this website can wait until another time.
The Buddhist Society and Monastery.
My Training in Meditation.
I trained at the Buddhist Society of Victoria in the 1980’s, and the Buddhist Society of Western Australia in the 1990’s. These Buddhist Societies are Theravadan Buddhism, whose scriptures are in Pali, not Sanskrit. pāỊi is a less melodious accent or dialect of Sanskrit. So most of my Buddhist references are from this Theravadan Pali Canon, where Buddha is the historical sage who lived 2500 years ago in what is now northern India. He is called Siddharta Gautama in Sanskrit, and Siddhatta Gotama in Pali.
Although neither Buddhist society provides meditation teacher training, they do offer a really solid foundation to meditation training. The emphasis is on taking personal responsibility to still and train the mind. We always entered the meditation hall in silence, then sit in silence for 30 to 60 minutes with the other meditators. There was no leader constantly reminding you to set aside thought and return to the meditation object.
I decided from the start to train to become a meditation adept. There was something about these Buddhist societies that encouraged such commitment.
Now I have 39 years of daily meditation practice since 1982, to the extent that meditation consciousness is as familiar as normal consciousness.
Both these Buddhist societies have owned their own center or vihāra = sacred space, since the early 1980’s. They had two sessions per week for people to meditate together in the meditation hall.
They also offered weekend and week long retreats, several per year. I would go every week to the Vihara and attend all retreats offered, in addition to retreats by other Buddhist groups.
These were silent, residential, rural meditation retreats. Typically we would all start meditating at 6 am and finish around 9 pm. There would be one or two talks per day by the leader, plus breaks for breakfast and lunch. Meditation sessions would last 90 to 120 minutes, of sitting meditation in the hall alternating with walking meditation outside. No one would speak at all for the entire retreat, apart from the teacher and retreat manager. This Noble Silence was lifted 2 hours before we left to go home.
The silence of Mind that we could achieve on these retreats was really profound, and very healing.
My training in meditation culminated in 500 days and nights of intense meditation training while staying in their monastery near Perth, WA, 1999 to 2001.
For me, this meant meditating all day and all night, every day and every night, with only 6 hours nightly sleep. I had quite minimal monastic and personal duties. For Bodhinyana monastery is a forest meditation training monastery. Only at such a place could I achieve such long hours of meditation training.
I developed a system to evaluate the depth of stillness of my own meditation. This showed that I could meditate twice as deeply for twice as long in the monastery, compared to meditating in ordinary forest not far from the monastery. It would be many times deeper and longer compared to meditating in the flats I have rented in Perth. This shows the very important resource that Bodhinyana monastery offers to the committed meditator.
My Training in Buddhist Themes.
I attended some 150 talks by some of the best Buddhist speakers who taught in Australia at that time. Some were visitors from overseas. There were about 20 speakers in all. These Dharma talks were always listened to with deep respect, with no interruptions by the audience. They were 40 – 60 minutes long, delivered without haste.
We always had a 30 to 60 minute silent meditation preceding these talks.
No one took written notes during these talks. Consequently, it was quite difficult to recall the actual topics talked about, even at the time, let alone 20 to 30 years later.
Nor did any of these speakers have any written notes to guide their talk. The purpose of these Dharma talks is not to learn the doctrine and scriptures of the Religion. That could be obtained by privately motivated study of the books in the library of the Buddhist Society, now online.
These Dharma talks were an opportunity to hear talk that takes the mind to healing stillness and refreshing inner Peace, and to develop a respect for Peace and to value it. We would hear themes that supported inner peace, clarity, good will, determination and respect for people.
These speakers were Buddhist monks or nuns, or ex monks. This branch of Buddhism is cleriocentric. The role of the “lay people” is to listen to and support the monks, not give talks themselves nor discuss the Dharma. With rare exception.
Consequently, if there was no monk staying at the Buddhist Society of Victoria, there was no Dharma talks, and quite low attendance.
Before the Buddhist Society Days.
I studied medical science at the University in Melbourne from 1977 to 1980, and left school in 1975. These studies developed the analytical mind and probably improved his ability to write stuff like this.
It also greatly aggravated compulsive thinking. I had my first experience of the Silent mind on my first meditation retreat in 1982. It lasted an entire minute. Up to that point, my mind thought all the time, all day every day, with very little break at all.
The relief from such a burden of compulsive thinking was incredibly profound. It was the critical experience that led to a lifetime commitment to daily meditation training.
Now much of my time is spent in the Silent Mind, free from all thought. Clear, bright, still, alert, and Awake. And very happy to be like this. Such refreshing and rejuvenating inner peace has a value beyond measure.
My Training in Meditation.
I trained at the Buddhist Society of Victoria in the 1980’s, and the Buddhist Society of Western Australia in the 1990’s. These Buddhist Societies are Theravadan Buddhism, whose scriptures are in Pali, not Sanskrit. pāỊi is a less melodious accent or dialect of Sanskrit. So most of my Buddhist references are from this Theravadan Pali Canon, where Buddha is the historical sage who lived 2500 years ago in what is now northern India. He is called Siddharta Gautama in Sanskrit, and Siddhatta Gotama in Pali.
Although neither Buddhist society provides meditation teacher training, they do offer a really solid foundation to meditation training. The emphasis is on taking personal responsibility to still and train the mind. We always entered the meditation hall in silence, then sit in silence for 30 to 60 minutes with the other meditators. There was no leader constantly reminding you to set aside thought and return to the meditation object.
I decided from the start to train to become a meditation adept. There was something about these Buddhist societies that encouraged such commitment.
Now I have 39 years of daily meditation practice since 1982, to the extent that meditation consciousness is as familiar as normal consciousness.
Both these Buddhist societies have owned their own center or vihāra = sacred space, since the early 1980’s. They had two sessions per week for people to meditate together in the meditation hall.
They also offered weekend and week long retreats, several per year. I would go every week to the Vihara and attend all retreats offered, in addition to retreats by other Buddhist groups.
These were silent, residential, rural meditation retreats. Typically we would all start meditating at 6 am and finish around 9 pm. There would be one or two talks per day by the leader, plus breaks for breakfast and lunch. Meditation sessions would last 90 to 120 minutes, of sitting meditation in the hall alternating with walking meditation outside. No one would speak at all for the entire retreat, apart from the teacher and retreat manager. This Noble Silence was lifted 2 hours before we left to go home.
The silence of Mind that we could achieve on these retreats was really profound, and very healing.
My training in meditation culminated in 500 days and nights of intense meditation training while staying in their monastery near Perth, WA, 1999 to 2001.
For me, this meant meditating all day and all night, every day and every night, with only 6 hours nightly sleep. I had quite minimal monastic and personal duties. For Bodhinyana monastery is a forest meditation training monastery. Only at such a place could I achieve such long hours of meditation training.
I developed a system to evaluate the depth of stillness of my own meditation. This showed that I could meditate twice as deeply for twice as long in the monastery, compared to meditating in ordinary forest not far from the monastery. It would be many times deeper and longer compared to meditating in the flats I have rented in Perth. This shows the very important resource that Bodhinyana monastery offers to the committed meditator.
My Training in Buddhist Themes.
I attended some 150 talks by some of the best Buddhist speakers who taught in Australia at that time. Some were visitors from overseas. There were about 20 speakers in all. These Dharma talks were always listened to with deep respect, with no interruptions by the audience. They were 40 – 60 minutes long, delivered without haste.
We always had a 30 to 60 minute silent meditation preceding these talks.
No one took written notes during these talks. Consequently, it was quite difficult to recall the actual topics talked about, even at the time, let alone 20 to 30 years later.
Nor did any of these speakers have any written notes to guide their talk. The purpose of these Dharma talks is not to learn the doctrine and scriptures of the Religion. That could be obtained by privately motivated study of the books in the library of the Buddhist Society, now online.
These Dharma talks were an opportunity to hear talk that takes the mind to healing stillness and refreshing inner Peace, and to develop a respect for Peace and to value it. We would hear themes that supported inner peace, clarity, good will, determination and respect for people.
These speakers were Buddhist monks or nuns, or ex monks. This branch of Buddhism is cleriocentric. The role of the “lay people” is to listen to and support the monks, not give talks themselves nor discuss the Dharma. With rare exception.
Consequently, if there was no monk staying at the Buddhist Society of Victoria, there was no Dharma talks, and quite low attendance.
Before the Buddhist Society Days.
I studied medical science at the University in Melbourne from 1977 to 1980, and left school in 1975. These studies developed the analytical mind and probably improved his ability to write stuff like this.
It also greatly aggravated compulsive thinking. I had my first experience of the Silent mind on my first meditation retreat in 1982. It lasted an entire minute. Up to that point, my mind thought all the time, all day every day, with very little break at all.
The relief from such a burden of compulsive thinking was incredibly profound. It was the critical experience that led to a lifetime commitment to daily meditation training.
Now much of my time is spent in the Silent Mind, free from all thought. Clear, bright, still, alert, and Awake. And very happy to be like this. Such refreshing and rejuvenating inner peace has a value beyond measure.
These Days.
Now I am (semi) retired in my early sixties, and the body is not what it used to be. I live in my beautiful home in my secluded forested valley, 25 km from Gin Gin, south east Queensland. This is a home-without-walls – just roofs except where walls are needed for the store rooms and the bedroom. It is the most practical home design, to access the full healing power of time spent with the Ancient Mother, and for reasons of money and the time needed to build. It’s also nice and simple.
As I sit here in my dining room, I have a full 180 degree view of the surrounding forest and valley, with the nearest trees only meters away. The forest continues throughout my home without break. I just fitted in with the existing trees when I came here 10 years ago. No need to repeat the forest destruction of men of my own language group.
I am very grateful that my income is now good and provides abundance, for the first time in my life. Accommodation, food and other necessary costs are all covered. In addition, I can now afford to buy CD’s and travel (occasionally) to Kirtan concerts in Sunshine Coast, 300 km away. And sleep in my campervan at free parking places.
Due to chronic illness throughout my thirties, I learned long ago to train the palette and preference for food to eat only what my body needs for its nourishment. I simply cannot afford to eat pseudo food, or even the wrong food types and meals. My digestion will immediately rebel, and what little strength I have will simply vanish from my body.
So proper eating is an essential part of purification practice for me. It’s simple really - just eat real food and more alkalining food. Leave the junk on the supermarket shelves, where it belongs.
New Directions.
Most of this website was rewritten, with some 30,000 additional words, throughout 2020. It is now completed.
I now begin preparations to offer meditation retreats here in my beautiful forested hilltop overlooking my forested valley, as Nature Meditation using Buddhist principles. These will be all outdoors; outdoor meditation, outdoor meals and meal prep, sleep in tents under tarps (I provide inner spring mattresses), simple composting toilet and wash with bucket and dipper.
Self catering, with daily work period. By donation. 3 – 6 days long at times to suit the students (not on Saturdays). Best for young adults in their 20’s and 30’s. Small groups or private tuition.
My Other Interests.
I have always been interested in environmental issues and world peace. My first job after leaving University that really developed my skills was in Forest Conservation. I worked at the Environment Centre, when these existed in the late 1980’s in the central city of Melbourne and Perth. My home-without-walls in my forest is now a practical expression of Forest Conservation, and I studied forestry at the University in the mid 1970’s.
Spiritual practice involves both withdrawing into the healing quiet of meditation, and actively participating in our world, and engaging with it, as best we can. Where can we provide service, and how can we provide better service? This involves an honest appraisal of the problems of our world, and what we might be willing and able to do about them.
Inevitably we need to look to Mother Nature, as the Source of all life and the Source of all healing. She is an important Source for our spiritual nurturing. As Deity Who manifests in the living world and the Source of all life, she has suffered immense damage and pollution to her forest and woodlands, rivers and lakes, and oceans, in the last two centuries. Almost a million of Her species have been driven towards extinction, by defilements such as greed, ignorance, destructiveness and stupidity.
Since unspoiled Nature is the best place to practice meditation, it is fitting for meditators to become involved in defending Mother Nature.
I felt called upon to write about rapid climate change caused by burning fossil fuels. It is an over-arching issue and global, both economic and ecological, and exacerbates most other environment issues. I explored the full breadth and depth of the issue. It has been a fascinating journey, and I invite you to come with me on it.
My other website solvingreenhouse dot weebly dot com is part of a major publicity campaign to let the people know all of the choices. People need solid information, with substantial existing support, that identifies the real problem, and identifies real solutions. I discuss -
- How we can cut greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, by changes to industry and energy use.
- Where Australian Government policies hinder this process and why, and where they help. And other more suitable policies.
- The technology of cleaner coal, with less emissions from existing and new designs of coal power stations.
- The technology of hydrogen for energy storage for wind and solar, as fuel for freight trains, and to replace coal to smelt iron ore.
- How to restore the vast forests onto bare cattle paddocks. How to use plantation timber to frame houses without poisoning the occupants and workers.
Australian exports of iron ore and coal are our biggest export earnings, and our biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions. This reveals our greatest opportunity to cut emissions. But we also rely on exporting vast quantities of rapidly disappearing minerals to pay for our tertiary goods, which all are imported. What happens when the minerals run out? How could tertiary manufacturing be reintroduced into Australia in a responsible way, to give us jobs and self reliance? So I explore -
- The principles of Responsible Manufacturing, where each manufactured good needs to comply with threefold standard –
- green certification that the manufacturing caused less pollution and less consumption of scarce natural resources
- humane certification that the workers had proper living and working conditions with proper trade unions, and
- certificate of durability, that the product will last long and is easily repaired locally.
I discuss how Responsible Manufacturing could be introduced into Australia, and tariffs needed on substandard non-compliant products to protect the new industry and its integrity.
I also include another webpage that describes traditional ancient technology of tribal people, as a comparison to modern technology. I describe an extraordinary tribe of Eskimo Innuit who lived in the Canadian tundra. They collected their winter food supplies from the annual autumn migration of the caribou from the tundra to the northern forests for winter. I describe the amazing technology they had, that enabled them to survive and thrive in the most inhospitable land on earth, where it was thought no people could live. I also describe the white man, Farley Mowat, who had the courage to travel to their dangerous homeland to meet them.
These peaceful Eskimo Innuit demonstrated how people could live in complete harmony with Mother Nature, and really appreciate the immense gifts She can give to us. If they could survive and thrive there, then surely we can do so here. We live in a virtual paradise by comparison.
This url of this other website is solvingreenhouse dot weebly dot com I hope it will also be useful to you.
Best wishes from Mike.
Phone 4157 6146 mikebqld at gmail dot com
Horsecamp Rd, Horsecamp, via Gin Gin, south east Queensland, 4671.
