Stories for first retreat
3 Buddhist wisdom stories for first retreat from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Australian boys don't cryStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A ~30-year-old South Australian on his first retreat weeps uncontrollably. Asked when he last cried, he says age 12 or 13 — when his father told him Australian boys don't cry.…
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And I remember telling this lady a few minutes ago about this guy. He was an Australian and he's about 30 and he came from South Australia and he came on one of his first retreats and during that retreat he started crying his eyes out. [clears throat] Ah, what's going on? Is something going wrong? I'm crying. And I asked him, "When was the last time you cried before today?" And he went silent and said, "I last cried when I was only about 12 or 13." That's when my father said, "Australian boys don't cry." That's obvious, isn't it? you know that if you suppress that crying there's a lot of tears have to come out you know you build them up for a long time and so he cried and cried and cried what the benefits of crying so much and I mentioned and it was actually true he told me afterwards cuz he was a single guy he said he got lots and lots of uh females on that retreat were very interested in [laughter] It's a very attractive thing to do, isn't it? To cry. So, I don't need to go to to wear fancy clothes. Learn how to cry.
- The best boarding-house cook in EnglandStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 19, dreading the 'stodge, stodge and stodge' of a Cambridge boarding house, Ajahn Brahm goes on his first nine-day retreat — and every evening the food is delicious. He…
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One of the first times I realized this in my practice of meditation was the very first meditation retreat which I gave which I uh participated in. I was still a student only 19 years of age and a few of us hired a boarding house about two or three boarding houses in Cambridge. It's amazing when you've got good meditation. It was in Baitman Street in Cambridge. That's maybe 39 years ago. Haven't thought of that name for such a long time. It's amazing when you meditate your memory gets incredibly strong. You remember details a long time ago clearly in those boarding houses of Bman Street. We meditated for 9 days. But before I went on that boarding house retreat, I did it with some trepidation cuz I like my food. And I knew as a fact already the cooks in England were somewhere in the bottom of the league of European cuisine. Apparently cooking in UK has improved since those years. But the English were not known for their cooking. Now, at the bottom of the pile of cooks were those who worked in boarding houses for poor students who couldn't afford to complain. And I knew from experience that these cooks would usually every evening cook a three course meal. Stod, stodge, and stodge. Doesn't matter what vegetable it was, it was boiled so long it tasted the same. And if you know England in those years, you would know what I'm talking about. So I thought I'm going to have a terrible time in this retreat with food. It's just going to be really awful. But I was surprised during that period of retreat. Every evening the food was delicious. It was very tasty. At the time I thought I just must be lucky. My good karmas meant we've got the best boarding house cook in the whole of England. Now I know much better. The food was just ordinary food. But because I was practicing meditation, because I was becoming still, my mind was increasing in energy. So much so that the small amount of taste which was left in there, I could pick up. And now I know for a fact that whenever you go on a retreat, the food always tastes better than normal. Doesn't matter who the cook is, cuz it's not the food or the cook, it's your mind.
- The man in the latex mask whose psoriasis clearedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a North Perth / Redemptorist retreat centre near Northbridge a man arrived in a latex face mask — severe whole-body psoriasis; the mask stopped him scratching his face.…
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this guy came wearing a a latex rubber mask on his face. And I thought, "Oh my goodness, this is some weirdo from the red light district. He got the wrong place, sir." He said, "No, no, no." He said, "I've come on your retreat because he actually lifted up the face mask, had this terrible rash all over his face." And it was a warm day. He actually unbuttoned his shirt and showed me his chest. Had a rash all over his chest. He had psoriasis, quite severe, and he even lifted up the bottom of his trousers, he said. And the rash looked disgusting. He said, "This rash, this psoriasis is over my whole body, every square inch, and it just drives me crazy. The rubber mask is so I don't scratch the skin off my face." He said, "I tried everything. Nothing works. doctors have given up on me, but I can't stand it. So he said, "I've come on your retreat." He wasn't a Buddhist, at least not at the beginning anyway. I think it was at the end. He said, "I've come on your retreat to try something different to deal with this psoriasis all over. I can't even sleep at night." And he said, "If I don't stay for your talk, your introductory talk, please, it's nothing to do with you. It's just He was just so agitated 24/7. But he stayed not just for my opening talk. That gentleman stayed for the whole nine days. And at the end of his retreat, he came to see me. He wasn't wearing the rubber face mask anymore. This is no exaggeration. He was had this beautiful smile on his face and his skin on his face was clear. Not many people have celebrated by showing me their chest. That's what he did. Unbutton his shirt with a beautiful proud smile on his face. His chest was free of the rash and he lifted up you know his bottom of his trousers and there was rash around his ankles but everywhere else was gone. He said, "Look at that ajam brah. That's all that's left. Just maybe an inch around each ankle