Teased on the Charles Street bus

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• “You're old enough to know better”

  In brief: Walking in robes through Doncaster early one morning with Ajahn Sumedho, about 20 years his senior, a businessman on his way to work looks…

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  I was walking through the streets of um what's it uh Doncaster in the north of London many years north of England many years ago. And uh you know, wearing our robes, I was with this monk Ajahn Sumedho. He was about 20 20 years uh older than me. And this guy came up in this suit, a business guy and he's way to work early in the morning. And he looked at us, you know, really with disgust. But he turned on this Ajahn Sumedho, looked at him and said, "You're old enough to know better." And I was young enough to be stupid, but this guy he was now 40. That's a great comment.

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• 'We'll never forget you'

  In brief: The day after giving a talk at Mercedes College, a girls' school next to the Catholic cathedral in Perth, Ajahn Brahm is walking down St…

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  there was Mercedes Girls School. Is it still girls school or is it co-ed now? girls still girls cuz I I will never forget that school one I did give a talk there once it's what's fascinating being a monk go to all sorts of places to give talks so I went into the to give a talk and the next day I was walking down St. George's Terrace. I forget exactly what I was doing, what business I was attending to, but then a couple of the girls came past me and they said, "Oh, you're the monk who gave a talk at our school yesterday." And I said to them, "Wow, I'm surprised you remembered me." And they replied by saying, "We'll never forget you." Ah, that's so kind. And then they said, "We'll never forget you." How can you ever forget a monk called Ajan Bra, the teenage girls trying to trying to tease you and instead of getting upset, I said, "Thank you." And I've repeated that story so many times. I'm glad that they gave me that extra uh material for my Friday night talks.

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• The kids throwing stones on Bunbury beach

  In brief: In the early years in Australia, while Ajahn Brahm meditates on Bunbury beach, stones start whizzing past his ears. He stands up and walks…

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  once they threw stones at me. And that was over in Bunbury beach many years ago. These kids - I was just meditating there, minding my own business - and this stone came whizzing past my ears. Very good they were bad shots, but as they got closer and closer, I thought I better do something. So I just stood up and turned around. And there were these kids. For those of you who were old enough, that was when the orange people were here. They thought I was an orange person, fair enough mistake, this is pretty orange. But I actually started walking to them, and it's amazing, when you face people who do things like that, as soon as I started walking <u>towards</u> them, they started running away. [laughs] There was about six or seven kids there, and they could have easily beaten me up, but just the confidence there was enough to get them to scatter. And I just rushed after them, caught them up, and said "Look, why are you throwing stones? I'm a Buddhist monk". "Ohh, you're a Buddhist monk, sorry! We thought you were an orange person. Buddhist monks are cool.

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• The donkey in the well

  In brief: A farmer tries to bury a donkey that fell into a dry well; with every shovelful of dirt, the donkey shakes it off and steps up on it,…

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  there was a donkey, just walking happily along in the forest, just munching and minding its own business. Because it wasn't mindful, he fell into a well, the well was dry so it didn't drown, and he didn't really injure himself, just a few bruises and scratches. When the donkey came to his senses he realized he was at the bottom of a well and there's no way up because donkeys can't climb. The only thing the donkey thought he could do was to cry for help to get someone's attention otherwise he would die down there of starvation. So he started crying for help. [makes donkey sound] I can't really do donkey noises, as I think now you have understood because probably I've got no previous incarnations as a donkey. [laughter] Ajahn: Those people who imitate animal noises, it must be that in your last life you were an animal. [laughter] As for me, I wasn't a donkey in my last life so [makes donkey sound] is the best I can do. " [makes donkey sound] ," said the donkey again and again. After a couple of hours actually somebody heard him. It was the local farmer. "What's making that noise?" He came over and saw it was coming from the well. He looked down, "my goodness, a donkey has fallen down that well." Now that farmer never liked that donkey. The donkey was always eating his farm produce and was being very stubborn. He'd never do what the farmer wanted. He also realized that well was a very dangerous thing. Somebody might fall in that well, a human. He thought of a wonderful idea. He could get rid of that dangerous well and the donkey at the same time. He got out a spade and started filling that well with earth. The cruel farmer. Now, if you do something like that it's called "bad karma." If you do any bad karma you're going to get unpleasant consequences, as you will see as this story develops. [laughter] So this donkey at the bottom of the well, thinking at first the farmer would help him, realized the farmer's trying to kill him by shoveling all this dirt over the donkey. When the donkey realized that, [makes donkey sound] even louder. [laughter] But that didn't stop the farmer. He just kept shoveling more dirt over this donkey, more and more dirt, trying to fill in the well and bury the donkey alive. After a while the donkey went quiet and never said anything. The farmer thought, "I've killed him." "I've buried him. Good riddance," and kept on shoveling. But the donkey hadn't died. The donkey, who must have also gone to Nollamara in the previous life... [laughter] Ajahn: ...had insight. He was a very smart donkey. Never underestimate donkeys. His insight was this. Instead of complaining when people throw dirt all over you, instead of complaining, just shake it off, tread it in, and he found he was growing a centimeter taller. The next shovel full of earth, shake it off, stamp it in, he's another centimeter higher. Every shovel of earth, he was getting closer and closer to the top of the well. Now the farmer, thinking the donkey had died already, paid no attention at all, shoveling, shoveling, when a pair of donkey ears appeared above the top of the well. Shovel, shovel, shovel. Shake it off, stamp it in, until a donkey head appeared at the top of the well. Before the farmer realized, the donkey was close enough to the surface it jumped out and bit the farmer on the backside. [laughter] Ajahn: Not because the donkey didn't like the farmer, but because he had to show the farmer the law of karma. [laughter] He was just an agent of cause and effect. He ran away. That's how the donkey escaped from the well.

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