Stories for meditation
7 Buddhist wisdom stories for meditation from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Aircraft of the future — pilot and dogAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Airline magazine gag: future cockpit has only a pilot and a dog. Pilot's job is to feed the dog; dog's job is to bite the pilot if he touches the controls. Same with the mind —…
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aircraft of the future where in the cockpit they'd only have two beings in the cockpit, the pilot and the dog. That's all that be allowed in the cockpit. The job of the pilot, the only job he'd have would be to train or be sorry, the only job the pilot had would be to feed the dog and keep the dog happy. The only job of the dog would be to bite the pilot if he touches anything
- Bangkok walking meditation — my name from miles awayStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On walking meditation in Bangkok years ago, Brahm hears his ordination name Brahmavamso as if from miles away. Paying attention, he finds another monk shouting it into his ear —…
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walking meditation uh this was in Bangkok many years ago that I heard this sound like it was a long distance away like miles away and it was it was my name no I don't promise another the name I'm known as now but the real name is Brahma wongsa and I heard this sound like from a really long distance brahmawang so Obama Wong so and I thought this was really weird because it felt so distant for me but then I just paid attention to it instead of my feet walking and I found out it was another mug was shouting in my ear hole
- Dewdrop on the green hills nimittaStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In early nimitta scenery — rolling green hills, trees, a valley river — Ajahn Brahm notices a dewdrop sparkling on a leaf-tip in the sunshine and intuitively zooms attention onto…
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I remember once uh seeing a scenery in the first stage of these nitas breath was very peaceful very joyful then disappeared and saw this beautiful scenery Rolling Green Hills nice trees a little river in the valley all very delightful but to take it further I did notice on on one of the trees on the tip of one of the leaves there was a Jew drop which was sparkling in the sunshine and uh intuitively I knew that's where I had to put my attention and so you just focus in like zooming in on Google
- Hay Street Mall — two hours outside Time ZoneStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Years ago Ajahn Brahm sat two hours on the cold pavement of Hay Street Mall right in front of a noisy Time Zone arcade, no cushion, testing whether he could do what he taught:…
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Hay Street mouth many years ago and hey Street mile we met it sat down on the cold pavement no cushions about for two hours as right in front of a shop called time zone and that was really noisy but I wanted to test out what I told others can you do yourself and of course that was wonderful you could I'm not honest so you could do that it's not that hard we imagine a bubble around you and you're in that bubble and the sounds are kind of outside they're not in your space you can hear the sounds but you don't listen to them listen to them what's that song what they saying what they're doing if you don't give them attention and importance then they are just a different type of sound they're just noise at a distance but they don't really affect you and they don't disturb you
- One Heinz baked bean after the retreatStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After a long retreat, breakfast is baked beans from a tin. Ajahn Brahm puts a single bean on the spoon — taste sensation so amazing he asks who the celebrity chef was. Cooks:…
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after the retreat was finished I had my breakfast the first breakfast and during that breakfast I just was a baked bean baked beans were given for breakfast they had baked beans this morning and when I bought I just put one baked bead just one a single one on a spoon and put it in my mouth I'm not exaggerating that was amazing it was a taste sensation I didn't know who would cook that baked bean was it one of these celebrity chefs who just made it just the most delicious single baked bean I've ever eaten in my life and I asked the cooks in my Monastery hook up there oh just out of the tin a tin of baked beans Mr Heinz or something but because my mindfulness had increased enormously that bait being tested so amazing
- Penang lady scared by her first jhānaStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Penang lady (not even a Buddhist) falls into deep jhāna without knowing what it is and is so scared/obsessed she tours psychologists and psychiatrists who have no clue.…
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lady in Penang many years ago and I don't even think she was a Buddhist but no she managed to get into one of these deep meditations his jaunders and she didn't know what it was at all and it really scared her to the point that uh she was so obsessed with trying to find out what the heck this was one of the best experiences of our life so she went to so many psychologists and psychiatrists and they didn't have a clue what was happening to her and eventually that she came to see me in Penang and there she sort of I explained exactly what it was and it was wonderful to describe you know will she describe what she felt and I described a few things you missed out telling me said yes that's it she was so happy that you know somebody else had understood what she'd experienced and it was quite safe and quite beautiful
- Stupid feetStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In Ajahn Chah's monastery the monks went barefoot through the jungle, and the Western monks were always stubbing toes and piercing their soles on roots, their feet covered in…
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as a monk with ajanta we didn't wear shoes or sandals a lot of the time and so walking through the jungles we were always stubbing our toes or piercing our souls of our feet with the the roots and other stuff in the forest we always had our our feet bandaged with so many Band-Aids saw this he said why on Earth are westerners always cutting themselves on the forest floor because they didn't wear any shoes and he said it's because you westerners have got stupid feet I never realized you could apply the word stupid to a foot but it was actually absolutely accurate always up in our head thinking about the meaning of life while we're training on thorns and stuff and and piercing our feet and making them bleed it was stupid feet