Stories for anxiety about the future
7 Buddhist wisdom stories for anxiety about the future from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Ajahn Chah reads a palmStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A lay supporter asks Ajahn Chah to read his palm. Ajahn Chah says Buddhist monks don't do that. The man argues cleverly: you just taught gratitude, I've fed you and driven you…
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so this was happened to know my master ENT CH so my came up to him once and said can you please read the lines on my hand tell me my fortune I just said no Buddhist monks we don't do that we don't believe in fate and destiny he said I know you're saying that but it's not true read the lines on my palm he said no we can't and then he'd had this lay person was very very smart he thought he could outwit a monk don't ever try that he said you just gave a talk last week on gratitude on how important that is know someone helps you you have to have gratitude towards them and this I've been feeding you for years I've been going to your temple giving donations driving you around this the first time I ask for anything and you say no where's the Gratitude in that it's a really good argument so Rajan says okay I will read the lines on your hand and this is the one and only time this great master in Thailand ever read somebody's fortune and he was so excited because this was a great Master my teachers got many disciples all over the world great wise person and so aanch got his hand and with his finger started drawing the lines and every now and again he would stop and go H that's interesting and some going and this guy was was getting more and more excited it was really being wound up and aunch took forever to finish and when he finally did finish this guy was so excited he was going to get his fortune predicted by a monk he knew had powers and who could not lie would not lie whatever that monk said would have to be true and so aent when he finished he looked the guy in the eye and said sir yes yes yes yes your fortune yeah get on with it your future sir and I won't lie to you whatever I say will work yeah I know that come on your future sir is uncertain and it wasn't wrong
- Between the tiger and the snake: taste the honeyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Chased by a man-eating tiger, a man jumps into a dry well, catches a root and hangs between the tiger pawing from above and a cobra striking from below, while a black and a white…
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that was a story of the man who was being chased by the tiger this is the story which says what to do when everything goes terribly wrong he is being chased by a tiger in the jungle, a man-eating tiger and these two things you should know about tigers. First of all, they can run much faster than you can so if you're being chased you’re in big trouble. And number two, they like human beings for dinner. It's a delicacy, especially fat human beings like monks So anyway this tiger was running after this man in the jungle what did the man do he was really in big trouble the tiger was almost at his at his heels he saw a hole in there in the jungle, an abandoned well. Yes, it's exciting isn't it? (Audience laughed) Thank you for those special effects (Audience laughed) and he had no choice, he took a risk he jumped into that well and as soon as he committed to jumping into the well that's when he realized he made a big mistake. You ever done that? You know you take a risk and you find Oh! Oh! big mistake. Because that well was dry there was no water in the bottom instead of water there was a big black snake coiled up at the bottom of the well. Instinctively he reached to the side of the well and grabbed a root which was poking through the wall of the well that stopped his fall and when he sort of settle down and came to, he looked up. The tiger hadn't given up yet, the tiger was leaning over the well trying to paw him from above but his hand, his hand holding the root was just too low the tiger couldn't reach him and then he looked down the snake had woken up, the snake had lifted its head, had open its hood and hisss… Did I get any of you that way? Look, it's Friday evening you've been at work I need to wake you up somehow, to make this alive. trying to strike his feet but the feet were just too high the snake was stretching couldn't quite hit the guy's feet. So there he was, stuck between a man-eating tiger and a venomous snake and as he was wondering what to do next he saw from a hole in the side of the well two mice crawl out. A black mouse and a white mouse and those mice started chewing at the roots. Just to make it a little bit more scary. So what should he do next? What would you do? You get so anxious and afraid, the the roots getting thinner and thinner, I’ve got Tiger above me, a snake below. Aah! but not this guy. This guy had been to the Buddhist temple many times. He'd read the story “opening the door of your heart” he knew exactly what to do. That's why you come to places like this. If you’re ever in a jungle and this happens to you you know exactly what to do or something similar because what was happening next. The tiger, the tiger was trying to paw him from below and his backside was rubbing against the tree making the tree shakes. On a branch of the tree directly above the well there was a beehive. Don’t worry about the bees they’re okay but as the hive was shaking honey started to drip down and this man put out his tongue to taste the honey and said Mmm, that's so delicious. And that is the end of the story.
- Snoopy: “Most days we won't”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Charlie Brown and Snoopy sit on a pier enjoying a beautiful view of mountains and lakes. Charlie Brown says, “You know, Snoopy, all of us one day will die.” Snoopy replies:…
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And this Peanuts, this Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy, must have been on vacation somewhere, they were on a pier and they were sitting there enjoying the afternoon, this beautiful view, just mountains and lakes and waters, having a beautiful afternoon there, and Charlie Brown says to his dog Snoopy, "You know Snoopy, all of us one day will die." And Snoopy, this great philosopher, he really is wise dog, much wiser than human beings, Snoopy says, "True, one day all of us will die, but most days all of us won't die.
- The 2012 doomsday betJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: When people in Indonesia worry about the world ending in 2012, Ajahn Brahm offers to bet his monastery against their house; nobody takes the bet.
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At the retreat people were telling me about 2012 when the world is going to end. The tectonic plates are gonna shift, there's gonna be tsunamis, there's gonna be earthquakes. So forget about having a mortgage, you don't have to pay it off in another two years. Of course it's not gonna end in two years' time or whatever it is. You don't think about that. In fact I saw in Indonesia, people were talking about it even in Indonesia, in the islands over there. I said, "Look, I volunteer my monastery and the whole Buddhist Society of Western Australia with all its assets, against your house. I'll bet if the world ends you get our monastery and the Buddhist Society of Western Australia's assets. If it doesn't end we get your house." No one took me up on it. Of course you don't, that's not much of a deal.
- The locust plague that never cameStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Years ago The West Australian reports a locust plague advancing on Perth: twenty kilometres closer each day, arriving in two days, arriving tomorrow. Then nothing happens — the…
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I remember here in Perth many years ago there was a locust PL I remember in the West Australia you used to get those newspapers and it reached I think um somewhere like in gerton and it was coming to Perth and the next day it was 20 km closer and the next day and the next day and they said it's going to be coming in 2 days time and the next day we've got the paper it's coming tomorrow and nothing happened it was a complete sort of wind up cuz I think you know the Locust whatever they decided to go somewhere else didn't like per I don't know why but whatever it was it's a complete buildup of fear
- The unidentified flying monkStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A famous monk in the north of Thailand became famous because a Thai Air Force fighter pilot, flying high above the clouds, saw a monk levitating on a cloud. The pilot memorised…
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there was this famous monk close by and there's always amazing monks which I I met this Monk and I don't doubt this story he became famous this was in the north of Thailand because a a fighter jet pilot in the Thai um Air Force oh okay that's not much of a siren you can do better than that anyway this Thai um the Air Force guy was flying you know I don't know how many hundred thousand feet through the clouds and he was really amazed because on sitting on one of the clouds was a monk he caught the monk levitating they were supposed to be doing that privately but you know without getting caught but you know because he didn't expect to see a fighter jet pilot up there quiet place above the jungle he got caught out and so the fighter jet party could recognize him you don't often see see unidentified flying Monks at 30 30 000 feet and there was one so he recognized the um the face and he knew the location the coordinates and so when he landed when he had a day off he went looking for the unidentified flying Monk and I found him exactly as he saw him in the uh found exactly as he found him in the uh the cloud it looks exactly the same and that's where he got very famous and this monk when I was up in that area he said is going to be the biggest fireworks today ever this year and that meant nuclear Holocaust so I was told it's by one of the monks you better meditate really well because this is your last chance and it never happened I was really disappointed with that Monk
- “What if a tree did not fall when we were underneath it?”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Walking home from Rabbit's house through a storm, little Piglet freezes as trees crash around them: “What would happen if a tree fell down when we were underneath it?” After a…
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So Winnie-the-Pooh was with his friend, Piglet. And Piglet was a very small being. Very kind. Very loyal. But being very small, was usually subject to a lot of fear. And then one day, they were walking back from Rabbit's house in a storm like we had today and yesterday. And as they were walking through the forest, trees were coming down around them, branches were crashing to the floor and even whole trees were being ripped off and smashing around them. That was very dangerous. So dangerous, so scary, that little Piglet could stand it no longer. He froze and he looked at his best friend, Winnie-the-Pooh, and said these words: "I can't go on any longer. I just can't. What would happen? What would happen if a tree fell down when we were underneath it?" And that was a possibility. And for a second, but only a second, the great philosopher and enlightened bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, was afraid, but only for a second. And then his wisdom kicked in and he looked at his terrified friend and replied with these reassuring words: "What would happen if a tree did not fall when we were underneath it? And that was also possible. In fact, even more possible. And that was the key to overcoming little Piglet's fear so he could move on with the thought, "What would happen if a tree did not fall when we were underneath it?" And that's exactly what happened, so he could go back safely.