Wow, this is good, ain't it, Brahm?

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• I'd rather die in the monastery — 25 more years

  In brief: Famous monk in Thai royal hospital, told nothing more can be done for cancer, asks to die at his Mae Hong Son / north monastery. Taken…

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  there was a famous monk who was in the main hospital being supported by the king of Thailand. All expenses paid. and was dying of cancer. You know what happens sometimes? A doctor says, "There's nothing more we can do." "So what do you do?" He said, "Well, there's nothing more I can do," said this monk. "I'd rather die in the monastery where I spent so many years." It was on the Marong River in the north of Thailand, a beautiful monastery. So he said, "If I'm going to die, I'd rather die there than in hospital." So they took him back to his monastery. 25 years later was when he died. 25 years of extra life

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• The frozen forest and the sacred silence

  In brief: On his first visit home after seven years in Thailand, Ajahn Brahm stays at a new, unheated monastery in Sussex in a winter so cold the…

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  I still remember one of the amazing times of my life one of the mornings which I will never forget when I was staying in England The ..Veriliam.. Monastery, one of the first monasteries which our tradition built in England, in Sussex That was a winter time about now I have gone to visit my family I think it was the first time after seven years that I went after living in Thailand that I went to visit my family for Christmas and this monastery has just been established and it was one of the coldest winters in England at that time in a typical British news-sheet it showed me the headlines -26 degrees centigrade even the beer froze But that following morning even though it was just so cold I went out for a walk in the forest early not many people were up let alone outside of the houses in such cold weather I remember that walk in that forest even now because as I walked in the fresh snow fall you look down in the freshly fallen snow and there were no prints of any animals, let alone human beings the snow has fell the night before and I was like the first person on earth to walk in that forest and as I walked nothing moved there was no wind or even breeze not even the leaves fluttered when I stopped, the whole world stopped moving all the animals were hibernating nothing stirred It was so silent and of course my own mind went silent when you are faced with such profound and deep and powerful peace your mind can't resist resonating with that peace as if the peace gets right inside of you just like the cold can do But this was not unpleasant you became one with that peace. It became one of those magic experiences of my life just walking and then stopping and enjoying the power of silence.

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• Professor Blair and the zero-sum universe

  In brief: At a UWA event with physicist David Blair he asks where the universe's mass-energy came from if it cannot be created. From silence he…

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  I was doing a presentation with with uh David Blair you know he's still the professor of physics at uwa still a good friend and I remember this little um interchange we had you know at an event there and when I said you know about where does the universe come from you know because there's a basic law of science I'm sure everybody knows this one that you cannot create mass energy you cannot destroy it energy Mass it just changes from one to the other but energy cannot be created nor destroyed I'm sure you've heard that so the question comes where did this energy called you know the universe come from where did the planets the dark energy everything where did it all come from because it cannot be created cannot be destroyed was a beginning of this universe a just a time when the laws of physics just didn't hold or is the laws of physics which is basically logic reason was it always there so in that uh little part of the discussion just you know just thinking from Silence I said well look I know from the physics which I remember there is a physical quantity called negative energy now to explain that to you that is like if you remember your high school physics science what they called potential energy that if something is in a gravitational field this clock to take this free from the Earth's gravitational field it takes up a lot of energy that's why they have to have these huge Rockets basically putting an explosion you know up the astronauts bump I think that was uh who said that one of the great astronauts he said that's like going off into outer space you know fortunately got lots of metal between you and the explosion but that's basically what it is a big bomb under your ass T to propel you up into space and please excuse me for using the language which you use so anyway that's what it's like that's the energy you need just to free this from a gravitational field so being in a gravitational field is a form of negative energy that's one and there's many others so just thinking outside the box you know because you know how to be silent so what would it be like Professor Blair if the total amount the sum total of negative energy negative mass energy in this universe equaled the amount of positive mass energy in this universe that's a a valid concept so if all the the planet solar systems everything and the energy Fields all came together they totally balance so mass energy vanishes you cannot create mass energy we don't need to because the sum total is zero so go back that's where it came from if you add everything together it's zero sum universe is a zero sum game and when I said that he looked at me and I still remember the expression on his face actually bro I never realized you are so up toate Omega equals 1 I don't know what omega mean but it was a ratio to negative and positive energy said wow where did you get that from Easy from silence and that's in the world the wisdom born of Silence

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• Lao Tzu and the beautiful sunset

  In brief: A disciple walking with Lao Tzu breaks the rule of silence to exclaim at a sunset and is never taken walking again; the master explains…

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  That's why there's this old simile, it's an old meditation story of Lao Tzu. Every evening he would go on a walk and he'd choose one of his disciples, only one could go on a walk with the great master. There was a golden rule, if you went on a walk with the great Taoist master you have to be quiet, you weren't allowed to speak, not even one word. One day this young man was going on a walk with the master and they got to a ridge in mountains at sunset and it was one of these amazing gorgeous sunsets and the young man couldn't help himself but say, "Wow, what a beautiful sunset." He broke the rule. Lao Tzu turned around, went back to the monastery, would never allow that young man to go on a walk ever again. The young man's friend pleaded for him, said "Look, it was only one sentence, give him a break, cut him some slack what's the big deal anyway, of keeping silent?" And that's when the master said this very profound explanation. He said, "When that young man said 'what a beautiful sunset,' he wasn't watching the sunset anymore, he was only watching the words, he wasn't watching the sunset, he was only watching the words."

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