Stories for chronic pain
7 Buddhist wisdom stories for chronic pain from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Her chronic arthritis was goneStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A woman overseas emailed that she had been on strong painkillers for chronic arthritis; after his talks and meditation technique the arthritis was totally gone and she was off…
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I had chronic arthritis strong painkillers because of your talks and meditation technique I've got no arthritis anymore totally gone I like saying that because that gives me just this you know the old if I had any hairs on my head they'd be standing up you know just wow that's really amazing you can take something like chronic arthritis incredibly painful no cure supposedly possible just heavy painkillers just to get through the day and this woman and she's listening now well done just got off her painkillers and no arthritis no pain at all gone totally
- Joke: everything hurtsJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A man tells the doctor his whole body hurts: he touches his head, it hurts; his nose, his mouth, his belly, his elbow, his knees, his feet — all hurt. 'I know your problem,' says…
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There was a person who who went to the doctor. And he said, "What's wrong?" And he said, "My whole body hurts. My whole body's in pain." "What do you mean?" said the doctor. "Well, I touch my head, that hurts. Touch my nose, my nose hurts That hurts. I touch my mouth, that hurts. I touch my belly. My belly's down here, sorry. I touch my belly Belly that Touch my elbow, that hurts. Touch my knees, that hurts. Touch my feet, that hurts." "Well, I know your problem. You've got a broken finger."
- The man in constant 'saw-cut' pain who was at peaceStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A man tells Ajahn Brahm that scans at Osborne Park Hospital's pain clinic show his pain equals having an arm sawn off with a two-handed saw — 24 hours a day. Yet Ajahn Brahm…
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The level of pain which he was experiencing constantly was exactly the same as an ordinary person would experience if they were having their arm cut off with a chainsaw And he was experiencing that constantly. And that was an objective standard. They could do the brain scan and say this is what this guy is actually feeling. So you can imagine that degree of pain intensity he was feeling. And that was one of the reasons why he came to a place like this: to learn some Buddhism, some meditation, some psychology to deal with that incredible intense pain which was there all the time. I know one thing - he got this incredibly good meditation as a result - because he had to. There was a great incentive for him to find a way of being at peace with the pain. And he managed to do it. Because I remember him coming up to me once with a big smile on his face and he said "I've finally done it Ajahn Brahm, I've finally done it!" I said "What have you done?" And I knew he had been meditating and I sort-of second-guessed it. Have you got the ECG to be flat, to be able to meditate under the hospital conditions, so your heart stops, gets very peaceful He said "Oh yeah I did that weeks ago" "Now I got the EEG to be flat." So he could get so still in meditation So peaceful that even the ECG and the EEG flat-lined. Totally peaceful and still. That's what he learned because of the extreme pain. He had to.. somehow be at peace with these things. And he found that was the way that he was free ...of the pain It just basically vanishes
- The meditator twisted into a knotStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a retreat someone interrupts his meditation: a woman is twisted into an extreme, contorted posture. Afterwards he asks if she's all right; she had no idea and felt great. Then…
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There was this one lady once on a meditation retreat and uh she was twisted around into such a contorted posture that I can't show you what it looked like. If I did, you'll have to take me to hospital too. And somebody actually interrupted my meditation. Ajam brah look at that lady and she was really really heavily twisted and I was concerned for her too. I thought you know if you do that to a person with against their will that would just really torture them. So I waited for her to come out of a meditation. And when she did, I took her aside and said, "Excuse me, but when you were meditating, you were really twisted around in such an extreme position. I feel okay." She said, "Yeah, I didn't know I was twisted around so much. I felt great." And then I felt stupid. Ajan Brahmy should have known better. So the next question I asked was, "Where did you have your uh car accident?" I remember her response there was a bra at last I've got proof you have got psychic powers. I never told anything about that. And of course they didn't have psychic powers. All it really was is just you knew that that was the most common injury to your back. And somehow or other she had a very bad she told me about it very bad car accident. She was happy to get out alive and she obviously went to hospital many times and then she started twisting around against it. Didn't know what she was doing. She was in a meditation. She didn't understand that she was twisting around. Her body did it all by itself. When it twisted around that allowed the energies to flow to actually to heal some of those places in her body which the doctors couldn't get to. That's why she said she felt tremendous afterwards.
- The monk who pulled his own toothStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Rather than travel to a dentist, a Bodhinyana monk pulls his own tooth with workshop pliers; he explains that only the twenty seconds of wiggling hurt — planning, walking and…
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I know that one of our monks many years ago, he, you know, he had a bad teeth, and you know, we live in Serpentine, it's a long way to go to the dentist. And you know what it's like these days, you have to make an appointment, and when you go to the appointment then you have to wait and then... It's just such a pain in the... actually probably the pain in the neck is worse than the pain in the mouth to go to the dentist sometimes. So this monk decided "ah yeah, it's a waste of time going to the dentist". So he decided to pull his own tooth out. I saw him! He just, he went to the workshop, got a pair of pliers and just yanked his tooth out. And I just happened to be going to the workshop at Bodhinyana Monastery and I saw this bloody tooth, you know, in a pair of pliers. "What have you been doing?" "Oh you know, took my tooth out, It's much cheaper and much quicker than going to the dentist." And I thought "How did you do that?" And he said "It's very easy, because..." It's a wonderful little teaching He said: "When I decided to pull my tooth out, that didn't hurt. You know, thinking about, planning doesn't hurt. And when I went to the workshop that didn't hurt, when I picked up the pliers that didn't hurt, when I put the pair of pliers on the tooth that never hurt, when I wiggled that hurt! But you know, just for, maybe, twenty seconds, thirty seconds and it was out and it didn't hurt much afterwards. It's only twenty seconds of pain, that's all." But if that was you, (Points at audience), even before you'd even picked up the pliers it would hurt like hell (Laugh). You see what pain is? Anticipation. He trained himself not to anticipate, being in the present moment, so it's only ten seconds of pain.
- The paralysed man who forgave his surgeonStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As reported in a Singapore newspaper article someone sent him: during spinal surgery a surgeon drops an instrument on a man's spine and paralyses him. Instead of suing, he says,…
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there was actually an article uh which was in one of the newspapers in Singapore about a man who had an had a sort of some spinal problem and had an operation and during the operation the surgeon actually dropped an instrument on his spine and paralyzed him it's a surgical accident what would you do if that happened to you in Australia would you sue the doctor this guy said I forgive you it's an accident never mind even though he was paralyzed he forgave the doctor and had no anger or ill will and so not hardly being able to walk just to be able to stagger with incredible pain he goes to the hospital every week to actually to to help some of the medical students learn about these difficult conditions like paralysis he offers his time there for free without a complaint just getting on in his life not with any negativity but learning how to be with his So-Cal disability and this is an important thing in life a person could do that and he's inspiring so many people apparently simply by the fact that something terrible happened to him and instead of being negative about it instead of complaining about instead of getting a a lawyer and suing this doctor he's learning how to be with his disability to embrace it and use it for something wonderful to inspire other people on how we can live a much more beautiful life without complaining so much
- “When did you have your accident?”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A retreatant reports that as she grew still her back became very hot, not painfully. Ajahn Brahm asks when she had her accident; astonished, she confirms a car accident injuring…
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Few years ago a person in the retreat in North Perth came up to me and said she had a very strange experience during her meditation. She was getting quite still but her back became very hot. It was like on fire. not unpleasantly so, not painfully, but like an information was occurring there and she did not know why. So she came and saw me afterwards and say, "What's going on?" I was meditating there and suddenly got really warm and hot. So I asked her, "When did you have your accident?" And she looked at me and bra you read my mind had a car accident a few years ago. Yes. And you injured your back and shoulders. Yes. How do you know? Look, it's not psychic powers. It's just you told me because this is what happens.