Stories for road rage
4 Buddhist wisdom stories for road rage from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- 'Number one!'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On the monks' Saturday-morning alms round in Perth, a young Australian gave Ajahn Brahm the one-finger sign. He chose not to be offended: maybe the man was really saying the…
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the last time I went on arms round, this uh young Aussie guy saw us and gave me the one finger sign. Now, they gave you know, you know, you know the one finger sign. I'm not going to demonstrate it here, otherwise you may think that I'm doing this on purpose rather than just a demonstration for um educational purposes. So, they gave me the one finger sign. So there you had a choice again to be offended or to laugh or to even see if you can perceive it in a positive way. So I looked upon that and saying what he was really saying but he just got the finger the wrong wrong way round that we were number one Buddhism is the best. So that's where you have the choice and I exercise that choice not to get offended and interpret it. I mean, it's very unlikely that that was actually the truth, but it could have been.
- Road rage left him without a carStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In a New York road-rage story he tells, an angry driver stopped at a red light, jumped out and beat on the other car's window. The lights changed and the other car fled — but he…
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that famous example which I don't know where the last time I told here apparently was in New York I don't know what caused this road rage but this one driver was very upset the other Drive was chasing him through through the streets of New York and managed to catch him at a red light the two cars had to stop at the traffic light and the angry driver got out of his car at the stops at the traffic Junction and started beating on the window of the other car trying to get in and of course that driver inside the car was terrified if that glass had broken if the know the angry driver had got in there he'd be in big trouble but fortunately the lights changed in time so the driver inside the car sped off but what happened to the driver who was trying to break in was actually a good illustration of the law of karma why you should never get Road raage why you should never get angry because when he jumped out of his car to try and get into the his enemy's car he left the door open with the keys in the ignition and the engine running and you don't do that in New York cuz when he turned around to get in his car it always sped off some Street kid had stolen his car and there he was standing in the intersection with with no car
- The 18-hour flight delayStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm's flight to Indonesia is delayed 18 hours; he thanks the desk and goes back to the monastery, while the passengers behind him thump the counter — which does not make…
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And just was it in January, when I was going off to Indonesia to give a series of talks I got to Perth airport and found that the Garuda flight was cancelled. It was actually delayed by about 18 hours. And I was a monk so I just went up to the counter and said, "Oh is it delayed? When is it going to leave? 18 hours. Okay, thank you very much," and I sort-of called the monastery and got a lift back to the monastery. But the people behind me they were thumping the counter - "You can't do this to us! I've got all of these arrangements and plans!" I had arrangements and plans as well - thousands of people were waiting to listen to my talks. But I couldn't do anything about it. And you know all that anger and all that thumping and all that shouting.. it didn't make the plane leave earlier. It didn't do anything good at all except making people upset. Themselves upset, and other people upset.
- The man who shouted at the traffic lightsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a hot day on Leach Highway, Ajahn Brahm sits in the passenger seat with the window open. A foot away, the driver in the next lane, caught at the red light, rages at it: “You…
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Just that man, actually it was in Leach Highway, on a hot day, many years ago. Pulled up at this, I think it was 3 lanes going in either direction. Pulled up at the red traffic lights, and because I was at the passenger seat, my window was open. Right next to me, maybe a foot away was the driver. His window was open as well. He got caught at the red light and he was raging at the traffic lights. Saying "You stupid damn lights!" Why did you have to change now? I was late! This is not the first time you've done this, you did it last time!