Cambridge medicine — then mowing lawns

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• The jewelled goblet: his last drink

  In brief: At an Emmanuel College scholars' dinner in Cambridge, after much port and claret, the students must drain a jewel-encrusted silver…

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  on one occasion the scholars dinner having drunk so much alcohol already we had to do a toast with this goblet silver goblet encrusted with jewels a cottage heirloom that was Emmanuel College in Cambridge and we had to fill with claret if I can remember properly to the brim we had to drain it drink the whole lot and then say a toast in Latin this was supposed to be an intelligent university I decide this this didn't make any sense to me and the following morning I don't know how I got back to my room but I woke up in the morning with a part of vomit on my pillow right next to me I didn't realize that that could have killed me people choked on that and died and I felt terrible for the next 24 hours everyone was saying what wonderful evening that was that was the last time I took any alcohol in my life

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• The actuary they called “Flash”

  In brief: Visiting England, Ajahn Brahm meets a Cambridge friend he hasn't seen for 40 years — now a highly respected actuary, among the top in…

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  a couple of years ago I met one of my friends when I was visiting England. He's an old friend from Cambridge days. Now that was about 40 years now. Now he's this highly respected businessman. He's an actuary. An actuary is this mathematical geniuses who work out just the odds of you know falling off a building. It works out the the the probabilities for insurance companies. And he was one of the top if not the top actuary in the whole of Europe. And so when I met him we hadn't seen each other 40 years. A highly successful very sort of good man. And I reminded him of the nickname we had for him at Cambridge which was Flash. And the reason we called him Flash was because one night at one of the parties we had he did get drunk. He went into the toilets and he came out with nothing on. That's why we called him Flash. And he said, "Better not talk too much about that Ajahn Brahm.

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• “Doctor Buddha's orders”

  In brief: A new Buddhist refuses a drink at a work party — 'I'm a Buddhist' — and a colleague replies that Buddhism is all about letting go, so let…

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  there was this one guy who used to come here, and he said that when he started keeping his five precepts and gave up drinking alcohol, it was very difficult for him because the first time he went to a party or a reception, one of his work friends gave him some alcohol and he said, "No, I can't take it cuz I'm a Buddhist." And his friend said, "Oh, you're a Buddhist? Yeah, I know about Buddhism. I really respect Buddhism. Buddhism is all about letting go. Come on, let go. Have a beer." So, he's caught out. That's the trouble that people know a little bit about Buddhism. They don't know enough. So, he had to take the beer that time. He was put in a spot, but afterwards he told me that he found the solution. Cuz the next time he went to a reception or a party at work and someone offered him a drink, he said, "No, I can't take the alcohol. Doctor's orders." And people left him alone. Because now, if it's doctor's orders, it's a medical condition, no one would actually challenge you. But when he told me that, I actually criticized him back. I said, "Aren't you keeping one precept by breaking another? You're lying. There's nothing wrong with you. You're perfectly healthy." But then he actually he actually taught me some Buddhism because now, he was what So, I make mistakes sometimes. Please correct me sometimes if I make a mistake and he actually taught me more because it was true. He said, "Look, don't you remember Ajahn Brahm? In many of those old teachings of the Buddhas, the sutras, many, many times he actually compared himself to a doctor." And so, it was a doctor's orders. Doctor Buddha's orders.

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• No alcohol from sunrise to sunset — for vassa

  In brief: Thai alcoholic vows during rains retreat: no drink sunrise to sunset; hangs at the temple all day; tops up before dawn and after sunset —…

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  alcoholic but he came up to us and he said during the wasser period for three months I'm not going to drink any alcohol from sunrise to sunset and this gentleman that was a very big sacrifice for him you could see it he would come to the temple and try and hang out in the temple all day because he knew there was no alcohol there and to try and make sure he kept his precept and he was waiting and waiting and waiting in the evening for sunset throughout he'd have some alcohol and he had a big top up before the Sun rose because that's the best he could do

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