Stories for airports
4 Buddhist wisdom stories for airports from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Any hair gel?Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Bald monk at customs is asked if he has hair gel; he can't stop laughing; officer waves him through.
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They say, "Any um any gels?" I remember this customs officer asked me. There's a big queue people behind me. "You got any hair gel?" I couldn't help it. I was trying to be respectful, but I couldn't help but just laughing my head off. I said to all the people behind me. And this this this poor guy checking me out, "Get out get out of here. Go through." So it's nice being honest
- Eye shades for a stranger at ChangiStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Between flights at Changi he gives airline eye shades to an exhausted Western woman he does not know; her smile stays with him.
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changy airport once and I saw this poor Western lady trying to get some rest I know what it's like when you've been over an all night flight and you know feel really terrible you just want to get a few hours of sleep before you get your connecting flight and know she was on some sort of couch trying to get some shut ey you know moving all over the place and I had uh I ey Shades you know from the air aircraft and I got out the eye shades she didn't know me I didn't know her I said have some eye shades ma'am
- Hi Brahm — I still meditate every dayStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ex-prisoner Nick (former drug dealer) finds Brahm in an airport, puts a hand on his shoulder, grins: still meditates every day.
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I remember dear old Nick, he was in prison. Uh, I was teaching him meditation, he was a drug dealer, and after a while, so you know, he left the prison, went straight. And I remember seeing him in the airport. Just waiting for someone in the airport, I spend lots of time in airports, as you gather. I sat in the airport, just somebody put their hand on my shoulder, I turned around, that’s Nick. He said, “Hi, Brahm.” You know, he called me Brahm, not Ajahn Brahm because these are sort of not Buddhists but just people who really respect you. “Hi, Brahm”, and he had this big smile on his face, “I still meditate every day”, he said
- LAX bomb scare — LAPD with machine gunsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Los Angeles airport bomb scare wakes him better than coffee; Canadian-terminal walk; LAPD car screeches up with sirens; cops emerge with semi-automatics — not for him.
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bomb scare that was actually wonderful having a bomb scare because it's very boring going on this aircraft we have a bomb scare and wow wonderful it wakes you up it's better than a cup of coffee and it was it got a lovely story for me which I mentioned here at the time because as I was going from one terminal cuz a Canadian aircraft came in one time I had just to walk only a couple hundred meters so without in the single Airlines terminal M was walking a police car you know an LAPD police car right in the movies came screaming down with it Sirens flashing and zooo it really exciting and it screeched to a hul right in front of me like put on the brake stand and went kind of halfway up the pavement and I thought my God they're going to arrest me what have I done they weren't interested in me instead these two cops came out and they didn't have guns they had like semi automatic machine guns I thought wow this is really in