The man in constant 'saw-cut' pain who was at peace

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• The paralysed man who forgave his surgeon

  In brief: As reported in a Singapore newspaper article someone sent him: during spinal surgery a surgeon drops an instrument on a man's spine and…

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  there was actually an article uh which was in one of the newspapers in Singapore about a man who had an had a sort of some spinal problem and had an operation and during the operation the surgeon actually dropped an instrument on his spine and paralyzed him it's a surgical accident what would you do if that happened to you in Australia would you sue the doctor this guy said I forgive you it's an accident never mind even though he was paralyzed he forgave the doctor and had no anger or ill will and so not hardly being able to walk just to be able to stagger with incredible pain he goes to the hospital every week to actually to to help some of the medical students learn about these difficult conditions like paralysis he offers his time there for free without a complaint just getting on in his life not with any negativity but learning how to be with his So-Cal disability and this is an important thing in life a person could do that and he's inspiring so many people apparently simply by the fact that something terrible happened to him and instead of being negative about it instead of complaining about instead of getting a a lawyer and suing this doctor he's learning how to be with his disability to embrace it and use it for something wonderful to inspire other people on how we can live a much more beautiful life without complaining so much

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• The monk who pulled his own tooth

  In brief: Rather than travel to a dentist, a Bodhinyana monk pulls his own tooth with workshop pliers; he explains that only the twenty seconds of…

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  I know that one of our monks many years ago, he, you know, he had a bad teeth, and you know, we live in Serpentine, it's a long way to go to the dentist. And you know what it's like these days, you have to make an appointment, and when you go to the appointment then you have to wait and then... It's just such a pain in the... actually probably the pain in the neck is worse than the pain in the mouth to go to the dentist sometimes. So this monk decided "ah yeah, it's a waste of time going to the dentist". So he decided to pull his own tooth out. I saw him! He just, he went to the workshop, got a pair of pliers and just yanked his tooth out. And I just happened to be going to the workshop at Bodhinyana Monastery and I saw this bloody tooth, you know, in a pair of pliers. "What have you been doing?" "Oh you know, took my tooth out, It's much cheaper and much quicker than going to the dentist." And I thought "How did you do that?" And he said "It's very easy, because..." It's a wonderful little teaching He said: "When I decided to pull my tooth out, that didn't hurt. You know, thinking about, planning doesn't hurt. And when I went to the workshop that didn't hurt, when I picked up the pliers that didn't hurt, when I put the pair of pliers on the tooth that never hurt, when I wiggled that hurt! But you know, just for, maybe, twenty seconds, thirty seconds and it was out and it didn't hurt much afterwards. It's only twenty seconds of pain, that's all." But if that was you, (Points at audience), even before you'd even picked up the pliers it would hurt like hell (Laugh). You see what pain is? Anticipation. He trained himself not to anticipate, being in the present moment, so it's only ten seconds of pain.

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• All his questions vanished before Ajahn Tate

  In brief: Ajahn Tate, a famous monk once sent home from hospital to die of cancer (he lived another 25 years), is so revered that young Ajahn Brahm…

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  I went to visit this famous monk called Ajahn Tate in Sri Chiangmai on the Mekong River over in Nong Khai Province, the north of Thailand. He was supposed to be an amazing monk. In fact, when I first became a monk, he was dying of cancer. He was in the main hospital being looked after by the King of Thailand because he was a famous monk. And the doctor said okay, waste of time looking after you anymore, there’s nothing more we can do, you’re going to die. So he said, well I might as well die in my temple in Bangkok. So he went back to his temple and he died about 25 years later. [laughter] And he was an amazing monk and of course he had such a good reputation that, I could speak Thai, and I just wanted to go to these great masters and ask all my questions. It was just like, you know, we all have these questions inside of us, you get these incredibly wise beings and you just wanted to ask questions from someone who knows what they’re talking about. And so, you know, he was very famous, had to make an appointment, went up there, spent about two days waiting. When I went into his room, and you know what happened, all the questions totally vanished. My mind was so blank but what I felt instead, was this incredible, and I mean just this incredible unconditional love. I was a young monk. I still had my fantasies, my defilements and all that sort of stuff. And this guy he loved me for who I was, I didn’t have to become enlightened. I didn’t have to sort of be a good monk. I didn’t have to clean up my act. You felt totally accepted for who you were with all your faults. And that’s the feeling I had. As soon as I got a feeling like that, the next feeling I had, I don’t want to move, I want to stay in here. for the rest of my life. I’m not going anywhere because it was such a beautiful feeling of having this total, absolutely hundred percent acceptance. This guy would not criticize me at all and he never would.

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• Seeing his monastery through a visitor's eyes

  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…

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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?

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