Stories for overwork
15 Buddhist wisdom stories for overwork from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- A Sunday in Singapore that 'Amnesty would call torture'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm recounts a Singapore Sunday from 6:15 a.m. meditation through a 'breakfast banquet', talks, counselling over lunch, a five-hour seminar and an evening launch, ending…
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Again just being in Singapore last Sunday -- there's couple of people here from Singapore, you know this is true -- started off my Sunday morning at 6:15 in the Canning Fort Park teaching meditation. It was only supposed to be a short meditation. But you know what it's like afterwards, people start asking you questions and taking photographs. I had to rush for the morning..so-called breakfast. It was not a breakfast, it was morning banquet. People saying "Please eat this, please eat that, because I made this specially for you Ajahn Brahm." [laughter] And now you may always see I'm a fat monk. It is not my fault. [laughter] I get pressured, forced, cajoled. And if you don't believe me, you just come and follow me for one day and see what happens. So I had to eat this big breakfast and then talk to people. And then as soon as that was finished, had to go off to this morning service at the Buddhist Fellowship, which was only supposed to be a talk for an hour but went on and on and on with questions and stuff. And then we were supposed to have some lunch. But on the lunch, people come up and ask you to sign a book and ask some questions because they have some really big problems in life. So you give them free counseling. You're trying to put a spoon of food in one mouth and counsel them about their marital problems in the other. It is really working. And after that was finished, then I had to sort of rush off to a seminar they'd organized for four hours of giving talks and asking questions. And of course it wasn't four hours, it lasted for five or six, finished about eight o'clock. And after that, I had to go to this golf club where they were having a sort of a launch of an education program which I had to give another talk; didn't get back to bed till about quarter to midnight. And if anyone looked at that schedule, you'd call that torture. Amnesty International will probably take the Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore to court for that.. [laughter] human rights abuse; war crimes. But of course I enjoyed every minute of it.
- Bent like an old farmer — healed with the cobraStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Laying concrete for a Bodhinyana wall that was going off fast, he kept bending to smooth it and afterwards could not straighten — bent for two or three months like an old farmer.…
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i was busy just laying concrete for the wall that body down the monastery the concrete was going off really fast i had to keep bending over to smooth out the concrete and afterwards i couldn't straighten my back i really injured it about two or three months i was bent over like an old person like an old farmer's it took me a long time to heal that but i healed it just you know through the yoga position the the the the corpse no that crops the cobra yeah and it was brilliant and i could really feel my back and stretch it just the right amount i never had any problem with my back ever since
- Can I ask a meditation question — in the toilet?Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After a long Jockey Club auditorium talk and an hour of book-signing he finally reaches the gents; a man washing his hands turns: Ajahn Brahm, can I ask you a question on…
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by the time I got to the toilet you know as knows this was the jockey club auditorium in the one of the universities over again it was one of these big toilets you know the mail toilets and as soon as I got in it is the sense yes I can actually go to the toilet now and as soon as I walked in the door this guy was just washing his hands and he turned to me so Oh a giant problem can I ask you a question on meditation within the toilet there's a good good anecdote for people anyway just I survived somehow other
- “I always wanted to become a monk — but not now!”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a 2,000-strong talk in Singapore, a man challenges what a monk could know about real-world stress. Ajahn Brahm gives an hour-by-hour account of his day from 4 a.m. — hospital…
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I remember giving a simile like this earlier on when I was in Singapore giving a big talk to about 2000 people and at the end of the talk somebody asked a question, it wasn't much of a question, more like a comment, It was very much what I just said, they said to me how do you, you are a Buddhist monk how do you know what stress is. What you said may make sense in theory but in the real world where we do have to work so hard, it is much different, what do you know about stress, and then I told him what I had done that day in Singapore. Getting up at 4'o clock, how many of you get up at 4'o clock in the morning and you start working from the very beginning and that day I listed all the things which I had done that day, visiting people in hospital, doing work as the Spiritual Patron of the Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore and Director of the Brahm Centre, Singapore, that is overseas, this is not my core business, which is right here, all this stuff which I am doing, I gave hour by hour account of what I had done that day, and after I told what I've done that day, to say, "look I qualify, all the work which I do and get done, I qualify as someone who knows what I am talking about--working hard and dealing with stress". Then they came to the microphone afterwards and said Wow...I never realised how hard monks have to work in our modern world, he said you know, I always wanted to become a monk one day but not now...no..no..no !!
- I want to be a dog next lifeJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Man wants rebirth as a dog: no boss, lie around, good food, free health care — only job is walking the owner once or twice a day.
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wanted to be a dog in his next life. Why would anybody want to be reborn as a dog? In many Asian countries, calling a person a dog is almost a term of abuse. I don't mean it. This is Asia. And I kind of like dogs and he liked dogs as well. And he said, "Look, think about it. Use reason and logic. I don't know where you've been today. Many of you've been working. You had to get up very early in the morning. You work really hard. You're never enough. You may be having a boss always tells you what to do and tells you off. If you're reborn as a dog you don't have to go to work. Instead, you just lie in the beautiful house all day with nothing to do. You go around playing. You get incredibly good food these days. And you get free health care. And you got no All you have to do The only work you have to do is to take your owner out for a walk once a day or twice a day
- “I'm doing nothing — and I'm not finished yet”Joke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Someone asks the monk to come and chant to bust a ghost in their house. “Sorry, I'm busy.” “Doing what?” “Nothing.” They call again the next day; he's still busy doing nothing.…
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about the monk who was called up in his monastery by someone, "Can you please come round to do a blessing at my house?" The monk said, "I'm sorry, I'm busy, I can't come." And the caller said, "What are you doing, monk?!" He said, "I'm doing nothing. That's what monks are supposed to do, nothing." And the caller understood and he appreciate, "Monks are supposed to be left the world and find peace and not just be in the monastery doing things all day. That's the purpose of being a monk or a nun, to sit out there and just to contemplate life and to be still and to be peaceful and to let go of things and just sit under a tree and just watch the trees grow, that's what we're supposed to be doing. So the man actually understood that. and said, "Ok, very good monk." So he rang the next day, he said, "Look, I really need you to do a blessing, can you come to my house?" He said, "No, I'm busy." "That's what you said yesterday, what are you doing?" "I'm doing nothing" said the monk. "But you said that's what you were doing yesterday!". And the monk replied, "Yes, but I'm not finished yet.
- Lying down for the benefit of all beingsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: The Buddha takes an afternoon nap, and Māra taunts him: you're no real monk — lazy, sleeping while others work to feed you. The Buddha replies: “I'm lying down for the happiness…
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where one day the Buddha took a nap in the afternoon and then this being called Mara called him out I've caught you out you're not a real monk you're lazy look all these other people have to work hard feeding you they're not sleeping during the middle of the day you lazy monk he said what are you doing that for why are you sleeping and the Buddha replied I'm laying down for the happiness and benefit of all sentient beings
- Only you, Ajahn Brahm — the retiring officerStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Retiring high-security prison officer insists only Ajahn Brahm return to teach; Brahm feels busy and lazy but the request is personal.
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come back to teach in our prison? And I said I'm too busy, and he said no we really want you to come and teach. Because I really am a very very busy monk, it is Friday night talk, tomorrow morning four o'clock leaving here to get to the airport to catch a plane to Indonesia to give a talk tomorrow night in Medan. 244 minutes I found out today, and then over to another city, six cities
- Seeing his monastery through a visitor's eyesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: When Ajahn Jagaro disrobes, Ajahn Brahm is left running Bodhinyana: building and abbot's work all week, teaching in Perth all weekend. He even grows jealous of relaxed visitors.…
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That was one of the reasons why another little anecdote, the former abbot of Bodhinyana monastery, Ajahn Jagaro, he was a great monk. When he disrobed, and I was left looking after the monastery, again, I would work very hard cause I had all my ideas I'd like to do for that monastery, I worked very hard. So from Monday to Friday, I'd work like a dog for that monastery, building and looking after the place and being abbot at the same time. Many of those buildings there, I did, built myself, made the bricks, Dennis knows that, he's seen me down there, he's our President, and then on the weekend, I'd come here, Friday, give the talk, Saturday, Sunday, just counsel people, talk with people, do ceremonies, so go back late Sunday evening, Monday morning, back to work again. It was 7 days a week and because of that sort-of I could never enjoy that monastery. So much so, I thought, when people came, you know you come sort-of to visit the monastery to bring danna, you're all relaxed. Because you relaxes it's your day off and you come to the monastery to feed the monks or to feed the nuns and have a peaceful time maybe go to the meditation hall, do a bit of meditation, have a walk around, to relax and I got jealous of you. And so you come to that monastery and you're relaxed and I've got all these jobs to do. I've got to talk to you, I've got to fix things up, And I realised that there's something wrong with my life. My life was always getting things done and doing things. So I remember just seeing that having enough space just to look back and seeing the mistakes that I was making in my life. I made this resolution, every Monday morning when I, Sunday, Saturday, Sunday just working here, Monday morning, I'd go back to that monastery and that'll be a doing nothing morning. And I'd walk around that monastery, not looking for the things which needed to be fixed up, not looking for the letters which needed to be written, not looking for the telephone calls which I had to make, no, this was not my work time. So I wanted to see that monastery with the same eyes that a visitor on holiday could see that monastery. That was a hard thing to do, but you learnt how to do that. Cause when you go there, you can't see all the things which need to be done. It's not your monastery. So I did that and found, wow, that's how I can be free. Not with the fault finding mind, but the opposite, a mind of compassion, which can accept things as they are and see the value in things as they are. To realise, not everything every moment needs to be fixed up. It does not need to be changed, you don't need to make it better you don't need, to sort of, push it forward, leave it as it is, for goodness sake! And at first it was a tough thing to do, to leave things as they are, because you think, that's being lazy. Our society, it creates depression and anxiety because we don't allow people to be lazy. I want to create a Lazy People Society. So lazy people's rights, so you have right to be lazy, at least one day of a week or one morning of a week. So you can actually sit and actually do nothing and have permission to do nothing. If you really want to I'll give you a certificate. Ajahn Brahm hereby gives you permission to do nothing one morning a week. You can show it to your partner, I've got permission, so [laughter]. Cause if we don't do that, you're not enjoying anything in life. I could not enjoy the place which I lived, cause it was also a work place for me. I couldn't even enjoy my body, because I always had to wash it, take it to toilet, do something with it. I could never enjoy my life, cause it was always something to improve. You're missing out on the meaning of life, when you're so active in doing things, making things better. So I left it alone, you know what I found on those Monday mornings? That monastery was beautiful, why did I keep wanting to change it?
- The big rocks go in firstStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A business-school professor fills a jar with large stones and asks if it's full; the students say yes. He adds gravel, shaking it into the gaps; then sand; then water. 'What is…
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This a professor came into his lecture hall. This was at uh a business school. And he had a jug and he asked he took out some from his briefcase took out a bag of stones and one by one put the stones into this jug until he could get no more stones inside the jug. And he asked his students, "Is the jug full?" Said, "Yeah, of course. You can't get any more stones in. He smiled and from his briefcase he picked out a bag of gravel, smaller stones. And one by one he put those into the jar, shook the jar, and many of those smaller stones found their way in the spaces between the big rocks and the smaller rocks. Is it full? No, they said they were on to him by now. So from his bag, he picked out his briefcase. He got a bag of fine sand, sprinkled the fine sand onto the rocks and gravel, shook the jar until much of the sand found its way in the spaces between the rocks and the gravel. "Is it full yet?" he asked the class. He had nothing more in his briefcase and said, "No, you'll probably find some other thing to put in there. He got the water jar and poured the water into that big jar. So that much of the water found its way between the rocks, the s the gravel and the sand. And he didn't want to try and find any other thing to put in that jar. He said, "Now what is the meaning of this lesson?" Modern times. Okay. Business school. One smart ass kid put their hand up and said, "It shows us, sir, no matter how busy we are, we can always fit something more in." Have you ever heard your bosses saying that? No, said the professor. What it shows us, if you want to put the big rocks in, the precious stones, you have to put them in first. Otherwise, you'll never get them in. You can fit the other stuff in afterwards, but the important things in life, you have to put in first priority.
- The company that banned overtimeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An English engineering firm Ajahn Brahm remembers as 'Farrell and Sons' wins a best-business-practice prize after trebling turnover and doubling profits in a year — by banning…
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someone sent me this years ago about a company in UK who won a prize for best business practice in that year and I still remember the name called Farrell and Sons. It was an engineering company and in one year they treble turnover, doubled profits. I told this to a few business people. They said, "Well, that's a concern. If you treble turnover and only double the profits, you know, maybe you're just underelling things, but that's still pretty good." And they did this on the simplest of new strategies. They banned all overtime. No one was allowed to work beyond their allotted time. Nor were they allowed to take work home with them. They finish work, go home to your families. Relax. Because that little strategy meant when they went back to their families, their kids saw them, wives, husbands saw them. They had really rich family life and they could relax. So when they had a good sleep at night instead of just working all hours and finishing off some project or some contract or something had a good evening with their family, they went to work the next morning. They were fresh. So they work really well. Yes, they did not spend as much time in the office, but the time they spent there was far more productive because imagine what happens. You know, you may unfortunately have experienced this had a argument with your your wife or your husband, the kids are in trouble at school and you go to work the next day and that's praying on your mind. You can't focus on your job which you're being paid for. You're worried about the family life and that's not going to be very good for the company. Imagine great family life could spend time with them. You go to work mindfocused, fresh, energized, you do really well. So productivity went up even though they weren't spending so many hours at the office. And number two, staff turnover went down to zero.
- The executive who slept for three daysStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a retreat in Sydney many years ago, an executive arrived at 11:30 at night after tying up loose ends at work. Told in her first interview that most people are tired and that…
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the classic story many many years ago teaching a retreat in Sydney and an executive you know from some big company in Sydney she arrived really late about 11:30 at night because you had to try and tie up all the Loose Ends before she could arrive at The Retreat so she arrived in the middle of the night so she missed the evening talk and when I sort of uh she asked for quick interview in the morning when I told her this that most people are tired so to practice your kindness and take as much sleep as you want she really took that advice on board she went straight back to bed got up for lunch after lunch went to sleep again she got up in the morning just before breakfast after breakfast went to bed got up for lunch went to bed again afterwards she said for the first two or three days she slept and slept and slept she was just catching up after 3 days she had hardly done any meditation at all but you felt so good as you do do when you really caught up on your sleep I really feel got energy now I feel healthy and then the next three days you know she started to get into her meditation and she caught up with everybody else so by the sixth day she was on a par with all the other people and of course the last few days she just took off she was one of the star meditators really got some really deep meditation and I used her courage and wisdom as an example for all others
- The free afternoon after schoolStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 13 or 14, with an afternoon off school and all his homework done at lunchtime, the boy walks out of the school gates with nothing to do, nowhere to go and no appointments —…
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You know one of the first times I felt free, going back to my experience in childhood I had this afternoon off school and at lunch time, I did all my homework. So as I walked out those school gates, and actually had nothing to do, and nowhere to go, I had no appointments, no business which I needed to complete. I remember that afternoon even now I was then about 13 or 14 at the time it was my first experience of freedom. I could do whatever I wanted, go wherever I wanted with no constraints at all no force, no compulsion, totally free. It's a beautiful feeling. Can you ever feel like that? You don't have to achieve anything you don't have to fulfill any duties, complete any projects you can just be. That told me what freedom was.
- The NHS invitation — bad for my healthStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After an HR conference in London (business class, hotel, family visit paid), the UK National Health Service asked him back to Birmingham for the same talk. He replied that they…
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I got another invitation from uh the National Health Service in UK. They said they attended my talk they liked it. Can you please come back to London? Actually the their conference was being held in Birmingham. can you please come to Birmingham in UK to give the same talk for the National Health Service? And I replied to them. I said, "Listen, you're the National Health Service. You should know better. I've just did an international tour, a long flight all the way from from London back to Perth, and now you want me to come back again. That's bad for my health." and you're the National Health Service. The lady who invited me wrote this lovely letter back saying, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's on my desk. It cheers me up. Instead of complaining, you made me laugh. Made me happy
- “What's done is finished”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Thai abbot sends the builders home for the three-month rains retreat, leaving his new hall without a roof or windows and with timber and cement bags strewn about. A visitor…
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that is a wonderful story of this monk who was building his main hall in his Monastery and of course it takes a lot of time and effort to make a big building like that but it come to the time of the the rainy season the monsoon season in in Thailand as in most Buddhist countries when it comes to the wet season all the monkss go on Retreat we have a 3 month Retreat period and so the Abbot of this Monastery told the builders look we're all going to be meditating for the next three months and anyway it's going to be raining it's not the best time to build anyway all the builders you can go home and come back in 3 months so he sent all the builders away so a few days later a visitor came to the temple and they saw this whole incomplete and so just in general conversation with the Abba they asked when is your hall going to be finished and the Abba replied it is finished to which the visitor was quite stunned and said what do you mean it's finished the there's not a roof on it are you going to leave it like that there's no glass in the windows there's pieces of wood and old cement bangs all over the floor what do you mean it's finished to which the Abbot replied his Immortal words sir what's done is finished and after that the abber got up and went to meditate