Cough straight away

Related stories

• Men don't cry in Australia

  In brief: Aussie retreatant cries in meditation; last cry was at 11–12 when his father said men don't cry in Australia.

  Read full story▾▴

  fellow who came on one of my retreats, an Aussie guy. He started crying in while he was meditating. He said, "What's going on here?" And you know what I told him? I said, "When was the last time you had a cry?" And he said, "When I was about, I think about 11 or 12 or something." And my father said, "Men don't cry in Australia

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• “That monk, he's on the gear”

  In brief: At a Buddha-statue installation in an English open prison, Ajahn Brahm is beaming as he circles the statue; one watching prisoner tells…

  Read full story▾▴

  One time, I was visiting a prison in UK You know, we spend a lot of time in prison as monks, I often tell people: Visiting prisons, I always would keep a log of how many hours and minutes I spent doing community work in prison to be used as credit, in case I ever got sentenced for something (Laughs) look, I've already done about... the equivalent of about two or three months you should take that off (Laughs). But anyway, I was inside this jail, cause it was a ceremony, somebody had sweet talked the British government into putting a Buddha statue In the middle of an open prison, a big one! And you know, it's very easy for people to sponsor a Buddha statue especially inside a prison, wow, it's amazing! And so we did a installation ceremony. And for those who ever come and see some of the Buddhist rituals, one of the favourite ones is actually we go around three times flowers, candles and incense, we go around It's like an act of worship, reverence you know, it's interesting, where this comes from we don't know but they also do that in Mecca, when they go around the, whatever it's called ...the Kaaba, always go three times around, wearing white this is incredible similarities between our different traditions where they came from I don't know, but it's... that's Buddhist Anyhow... There we where, going round three times, and I was inspired I was happy, Amazing, something good being done in a prison! Not just locking people up and reenforcing how guilty they should feel but no, just something which is inspiring and I was just so happy with a big smile on my face much more than I usually have cause, you know, more inspiration and at the corner of my eye I saw these two prisoners they just got nothing to do, nothing was on the TV that night so they just hung out to see what the hell was going on with these crazy people with brown robes and a Buddha statue so just, you know, having a quick look and then I heard them, one looking to me... looking at the other prisoner and pointing to me he said: "That monk, he's on the gear" (Laughs) If you don't know what gear means you know, it's like, some sort of drug cause that's the only thing they could explain the happiness from just some medication; it's not medication! you know, it's meditation, not medication

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• Ray-Bans on the meditation demon

  In brief: Early in his practice a blood-dripping, skull-necklaced demon appears in Ajahn Brahm's deep meditation; knowing the mind creates it, he…

  Read full story▾▴

  many many years ago when I started meditating I was getting into a deep State my body had gone and I saw this monster in front of me like a demon know with big eyes red eyes big fangs in his mouth dripping blood fresh red blood uh a necklace of skulls and this really spiky hair that's her tongue hanging out and right in front of me in my meditation now would you guys be scared a lot of times people ask you because they just don't know what to do I was wise enough even by this time to know how I create the world and because I knew that I was a Creator and because of my character the first thing I did was put a a couple of sunnies over this guy's eyes I just needed to think that and this guy had like a pair of Ray bands over his his uh big googly eyes I blacked out a few of his thing fangs like he used to do as a school kid doodling and I put a cigarette out of his mouth to make him look like some delinquent monster I think the last thing I did I put a straw hat over his head with a little flower coming out I created that monster into something which was totally ridiculous at which I laughed inside and the monster went and never came back again cuz I created that thing and I could uncreate it with a positive fun compassionate mind and that actually happened to this one guy in our Monastery years ago who came to see me he was staying for a few uh months or a few weeks he was actually seeing in every of the paving bricks he see a monster come out of him he thought he was going crazy and I told him that technique one day later he a wonderful day amazing how I could create these these funny pictures out of these monsters and of course it just disappeared after that

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• The matchbox on the head

  In brief: A malnourished young monk in steamy north-east Thailand — sticky rice with a boiled frog, under four and a half hours' sleep, up at 3 a.m.…

  Read full story▾▴

  when I became a monk who was in the jungles of Northeast Thailand I was malnourished one meal a day sticky rice I was a vegetarian I sometimes sticky rice and a frog on top that's all we had sweet yeah for a boiled frog no garlic no sauce notice abortive glutinous sticky rice with a fork on top that was all the villagers had in fact they gave us the best Fox it was disgusting but I was malnourished and in the morning we would get up but we only supposed to meditate to sleep for hours and nights I could never get below four and a half so three o'clock in the morning will be up in the hall to meditate steamy jungles I was made in England I was not used to such hot weather such sticky weather malnourished not enough sleep of course I was sleepy so I had the tricks what we tried to do first of all no use effort didn't work so then I tried a matchbox you take the cover off the matchbox you put the tray on your head because it means if you start nodding you see the matchbox fall on the ground you'd hear it only about three or four days I'd overcome my slot and talker I could put the matchbox on my head for one hour meditate in the morning it never fell off at all amazing until one of my monks took me aside and said this is why the matchbox is not falling off you're still sleepy but instead of doing this you're doing this their mind is so sneaky and tricky so after a while I started contemplating look made in England I'm not used to that climate are not enough sleep not enough our food it's natural so I decided to let go when I let go there's not much energy in my mind so you are dull but you knew you adult and little by little just like when the Sun comes up in the morning and it had evaporates all the mists that burns off the mist because I wasn't wasting energy fighting my sleepiness but just letting it be being kind to it opening the door of my heartless my energy started coming back again him my back straightened up my head lifted up naturally and I was peaceful

  Open story page·Watch this telling