Stories for conflict
9 Buddhist wisdom stories for conflict from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Anger's trial with no defenceAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Simile from his own anger at a fellow monk: listing everything he didn't do, Ajahn Brahm sees he is justifying his anger like a court case where only the prosecutor may speak, no…
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And so an other way of managing anger is to have what we call a fair trial. A lot of times you get angry at somebody, it is like a trial where you only have a prosecutor and no defense. Say these, you know, say it is your boss. They've got no right to speak like that to me. And you try and justify it. That are boss speak like that, they are just really cruel, don't they know how much I've worked hard for this. You always try and get more evidence to justify why you should be angry to that person. How about having a defence attorney in that trial? In other word, oh that poor boss, he must be very tied, he had a very busy day today. Maybe he had an argument with his wife this morning, maybe he's got a migraine. See if you can deliberately when you're about to getting angry at your husband say. Try to find some mitigating factors. He must be crazy. He's mad. He must be going through the male equivalent of menopause. Whatever it is? Try and find some mitigating evidence, so you can not just judge just him one-sidedly.
- Chicken or duck?Joke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A newly married couple walking home from the temple hear 'quack quack'. She says, 'Darling, that's a chicken.' He says it's a duck — chickens go cock-a-doodle-doo. They argue…
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It's the great old story of the chicken and the duck. If you haven't heard this story before, this is a doozy, this is a great one. Once upon a time there was this couple who had just been married and after going to the temple for a nice talk, it was a beautiful evening so they went on a walk on the way back home. And as they were walking, they heard a sound quack quack quack and straightaway sort of the girl, the wife said: “darling do you hear that? That's a chicken.” I'm glad you laugh because those people who laugh haven't heard the story before, so at least some of you haven't heard the story. “That's a chicken,” and he said “darling that was not a chicken, that was a duck,” and she said “no no I'm sure it was a chicken.” It went quack quack again; “you see that's a chicken,” and he said “Darling, chickens go cockadoodledoo, that went quack quack that means it's a duck okay.” She said “No, I'm sure that was a chicken”. He said “It was a duck”. She said “No no it was a chicken”. He said “It was a duck, d.u.c.k duck”. And then she started to cry, “But, but he's a chicken”. They went quack quack again. Then he suddenly remembered what he'd heard at this temple many many times. He squeezed her hand and said “I apologize darling, I think you're right, it is a chicken”. And she squeezed his hand back and said “thank you”. And then they carried on their walk in peace and had a wonderful evening together.
- 'Dogs don't have money'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Near the US base by Ubon, around the end of the Vietnam War, an African-American soldier rides a rickshaw into town. Drunk friends of the driver shout from a bar, 'Where are you…
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the story of the Africanamean soldier who was criticized this was racial abuse. Did I tell that story here? Okay. This was when I first went to Thailand. It was just at the end of the Vietnam War. So about a year before there was a big US army base close to Ubon where Ajentcha lived. And one day there was an Africanamean soldier was in a rickshaw being driven into town for some business or whatever. And a rickshaw driver passed a bar where many of his friends were drinking and getting quite drunk. One of his friends shouted out, "Where are you taking that dirty dog to?" Pointing to the African-American soldier. It was the start of racial abuse. And that uh driver was afraid because if that uh soldier could understand what he was called, there would be a fight. But the the African-American soldier was just looking around just enjoying the view. So the driver decided to have some fun as well and said to his friends getting drunk, "Look how dirty this dog is. He's black. I'm going to take him into the river throwing him in for a good wash." Haha. Everybody started laughing except for the soldier. The soldier was just looking at the scenery. When they got into town, the soldier got out of the rickshaw without paying. And when the driver shouted out at him in the best English he could, "Sir, money, money, sir." And that's the point where the big Africanamean soldier turned around and said in perfect this ean language the local language perfect language dogs don't have money.
- Don't hold back a spooked buffaloAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In 1970s Thai villages the water buffalo were docile family members — until spooked: head up, snorting, then running in any direction. One day a farmer passing the monastery…
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I was writing this story, a couple of days ago, you know water buffalo in thailand? They don't really have that many water buffalo left, because now they've got tractors. But in the old days, this is 40 years ago, when I first became a monk. Now, the water buffalo would be under the house of every villager. It was part of the family and they would use those water buffalo to plough the fields. And their excrement was the fertilizer they used for the fields. It was a very naturally and environmentally friendly way of farming. And those water buffalo was some of the most docile beings you could ever imagine. During the hot days of the hot season, you have seen the little kids falling asleep on the back of these water buffalo while they were grazing. So safe, except a few times a water buffalo got spooked. And I saw that a few times. When a water buffalo got frightened, they'd lift their head up, high. Instead of always being, know, looking at the grass. And they lift their head up high and they'd snored and the next thing they do is run. In any direction. Now, when they started running, they are very, very dangerous. You had to get out of the way. And sometimes people where caught by the water buffalo running, because water buffalo didn't know what they were doing and they were just panicking. And one day this farmer, was taking his water buffalo passed the monastery where we living. And the water buffalo saw something in the forest, which spooked him and was about to run away. Lifted up his head and started snorting. The farmer realized what was gone happen so he actually got hold to the little rope, which was tied loosely about the water buffalos neck to try and restrain it. A stupid thing to do. Cause the water buffalo run of. The string tied itself around the mans finger and took the finger off, with it. And we saw that, because this poor guy came into the monastery with the half of finger with blood all over his hand. And the top of the flesh of the finger would came off. And of course, we took him to the hospital to get patched up. He was fine, it is actually very easy to scratch his head after that. With a stump. You know, it just very painful, very unpleasant to look at, but he was fine. We often use that simile. What a stupid thing it is to try and hold back a water buffalo. Let it go. It is gone be stronger than you. So please let it go, otherwise it takes off your finger, metaphorically. If you just let it go, the water buffalo only goes a little way. And it calms down.
- “I never argued with anyone”Joke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A fit 90-year-old says the secret of his long life is that he never argued with anyone. “That can't be right,” says the interviewer. “Ah… I agree with you.”
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this man he was ah 90 years of age on his birthday still very fit and healthy and they was interviewed in the in the newspapers 90 years of age and you're still fit and healthy what's the secret of your fitness and health and long life he said cuz I never argued with anyone all my life and the interviewer said that can't be right and he said ah I ask I agree with you
- In Laos, war stops for lunchStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A monk friend, in Luang Prabang during the war between the communists and royalists, is eating lunch at a bamboo-and-thatch restaurant beside government soldiers whose M16s lean…
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I remember one of the stories this I never saw this myself but this was told to me by one of my friends who was a monk he was in luang probang the second the city of Laos doing the the war with the Communists and the royalists and this is actually how you relax he was at one of these little restaurants you know they would fare every occupational health and safety regulation in Australia but the food was delicious you know dirty but great food bamboo and thatch that's all there was and he'd go there for his lunch he was sitting at a table eating some delicious meal and he did notice there was a government soldiers they were sitting at another table having their lunch with the M16 the old machine gun rifles leaning against the wall this was lunchtime and he was enjoying his lunch when his heart almost stopped when he saw the Communist soldiers came in they called potato at the time these were the enemy this was a watch in the Vietnam War times and the the Communists came into the restaurant and he went to dive under the table but no one else was trying to escape or dive under the table because they saw the enemy troops the Communist troops they just looked around and chose another table they put their guns against the wall and they ordered their lunch because in Laos at that time War always stops for lunch oh would it be a wonderful thing if even these days people get their priorities right and lost they'd always have a lunch break when you're free fighting a war and that's what they did those days and of course afterwards said what happened next after lunch was over all of them they had some understanding the you know the Communist troops would go one way the rewarders will go the other way so they would have to meet each other
- Itch on your head, scratching your bottomAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Chah's one-liner on blame, applied to the newly built monastery wall a backhoe pushed over: blaming someone is like having an itch on your head and scratching your bottom.…
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he said if you blame somebody who's responsible for pushing that wall over body nana monastery who's responsible for making that big mistake who is responsible for not doing it in time who's responsible for not sending emails correctly who's responsible he said that is like having an itch on your head and you scratch your bum think about it if you've got an itch down here and you scratch your head does the itch go away of course not but you get two itches for the price of one
- Super Monk and the death rayStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An art student who watches his videos (from Czechoslovakia, he thinks) makes a cartoon of 'Super Monk' based on his stories. The villain has built a death ray to destroy the…
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the biggest franchise if everybody really wants it anyone knows anyone in the movie industry 'I said this to somebody last Saturday, sort of, I saw this, a bit of a steal from a cartoon I saw in a Thai newspaper when I was a first-year monk, and stopped soon afterwords. It was Supermonk. Now, not Superman, not sort of Iron Man, not sort of Batman, but Supermonk. Because the Supermonk was the great character in the cartoon 'cause he can fly through the air, he had all this psychic powers, and stops all these great tragedies and terrorist attacks, but in the end, he wouldn't sort of like the other Superman throw people in jail, just give them five precepts, and they become Buddhist monks, and they live happily ever after. It's wonderful ending, just with a bit of a spirituality, and a bit of the argy-bargy necessary in movies so anyone who knows anyone in the movie industry, Supermonk would be a great one to franchise, something new they haven't seen before. And the Buddhist Society would get 10% of the revenues.
- The Vietnam monk who blessed both armiesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: During the Vietnam War a monk receives government and communist soldiers alike for meditation and blessings; non-political goodness softens both sides.
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Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the government soldiers would come to his temple to meditate to listen to Dharma get blessings so at the Communists soldiers say to would come to his temple and receive blessings there's such a good monk he was respected by all his goodness was not political and they made both sides a little bit more tolerant and peaceful towards one another