Free Will - a Failed Fantasy | Drew Bellamy | 22 August 2025

Drew is a former President and Secretary of the BSWA in the years of 2014-2018. During this time Drew implemented many changes at the BSWA including property purchases and a re-structure of the Committee into sub-committees and the employment of paid staff to better service the growth in size the Society had experienced in the previous 10 years.

Drew is a family man and business man who won an industry award in 2021 from the State Government for innovation in the mining sector.

Since stepping down as President Drew has been a regular on the scene at the BSWA and has been invited as a Lay Speaker and to date has given 9 Dhamma talks.

Drew’s talk last year, ‘Monks on Mars’ followed a trajectory of Buddhism in the future, which was a sequel to his talk the year before ‘Dhamma and the Dinosaurs’ that was a Buddhist examination of deep time. Tonight’s talk ‘Free Will - a Failed Fantasy’ is a look at the experiences of a lay person existing in the human realm looking to change their future.

Every year, the monastic community (Monks and nuns) go on a three month retreat called the “Rains Retreat” from mid July to mid October. During this period, they do not visit our centres for teachings as it’s a time for deepening their own practice. While the monks and nuns are away, we will have some interesting guest speakers coming in to give the Friday Night talk.

Dust in Our Eyes 2025 (Rains Retreat Speakers' Series 2025) Hear stories of everyday dhamma as told by monastics and lay practitioners from various Buddhist traditions.

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