Dewdrop on the green hills nimitta

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• Hay Street Mall — two hours outside Time Zone

  In brief: Years ago Ajahn Brahm sat two hours on the cold pavement of Hay Street Mall right in front of a noisy Time Zone arcade, no cushion,…

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  Hay Street mouth many years ago and hey Street mile we met it sat down on the cold pavement no cushions about for two hours as right in front of a shop called time zone and that was really noisy but I wanted to test out what I told others can you do yourself and of course that was wonderful you could I'm not honest so you could do that it's not that hard we imagine a bubble around you and you're in that bubble and the sounds are kind of outside they're not in your space you can hear the sounds but you don't listen to them listen to them what's that song what they saying what they're doing if you don't give them attention and importance then they are just a different type of sound they're just noise at a distance but they don't really affect you and they don't disturb you

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• Safety Bay — combining metta with the breath

  In brief: At a Catholic nuns' retreat centre in Safety Bay, senior monks say you can't combine techniques — so rebellious Brahm combines…

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  Safety Bay. And that was when we used to hire this Catholic retreat center. It was run by Catholic nuns. They're very nice to us. And honestly, I didn't mind just whoever was running the retreat center, as long as they kept reasonably quiet, which these couple of nuns did. But while I was doing this retreat, and teaching it as well, in order to allow yourself to innovate, and to actually to experiment, to try other ways of teaching. One of the things which I did was uh combine two of the most powerful popular meditation techniques. And I remember asking monks who are much senior to me, "Can you do that?" And maybe I I hope that some of them said no, cuz that is a sure way of making me try it. I'm rebellious. You say you can't do it, of course you can do it. And I combined loving-kindness meditation together with breath

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• One Heinz baked bean after the retreat

  In brief: After a long retreat, breakfast is baked beans from a tin. Ajahn Brahm puts a single bean on the spoon — taste sensation so amazing he…

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  after the retreat was finished I had my breakfast the first breakfast and during that breakfast I just was a baked bean baked beans were given for breakfast they had baked beans this morning and when I bought I just put one baked bead just one a single one on a spoon and put it in my mouth I'm not exaggerating that was amazing it was a taste sensation I didn't know who would cook that baked bean was it one of these celebrity chefs who just made it just the most delicious single baked bean I've ever eaten in my life and I asked the cooks in my Monastery hook up there oh just out of the tin a tin of baked beans Mr Heinz or something but because my mindfulness had increased enormously that bait being tested so amazing

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• She sat all night in the stupa

  In brief: On a Hong Kong and Indonesian retreat, a woman begins sitting on the stupa floor in the evening and is still there in the morning. Others…

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  this lady she started she was in the evening she started meditating on the floor of the stupa. And she just carried on all night. And then other people saw her. It was cold so they put a blanket around her. She never responded. And they know that you're meditating I describe these things to them or they knew exactly what was happening what to do. But then they came in the morning they said they shouted at her come on it's time to go for breakfast we're leaving today we've got a big ceremony first. And she didn't respond. So I told them don't call any ambulance just go back there and instead of shouting at her tell her very softly and very kindly Ajahn Brahm asked you to come to the main hall. Just once. And about half an hour later she appeared in the main hall and said you asked me to come here. I said yes. You know we've got to get ready to actually to go today. And so do you want a breakfast? She said no. Listen I said can I carry on meditating

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