The company that banned overtime

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• The executive who slept for three days

  In brief: On a retreat in Sydney many years ago, an executive arrived at 11:30 at night after tying up loose ends at work. Told in her first…

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  the classic story many many years ago teaching a retreat in Sydney and an executive you know from some big company in Sydney she arrived really late about 11:30 at night because you had to try and tie up all the Loose Ends before she could arrive at The Retreat so she arrived in the middle of the night so she missed the evening talk and when I sort of uh she asked for quick interview in the morning when I told her this that most people are tired so to practice your kindness and take as much sleep as you want she really took that advice on board she went straight back to bed got up for lunch after lunch went to sleep again she got up in the morning just before breakfast after breakfast went to bed got up for lunch went to bed again afterwards she said for the first two or three days she slept and slept and slept she was just catching up after 3 days she had hardly done any meditation at all but you felt so good as you do do when you really caught up on your sleep I really feel got energy now I feel healthy and then the next three days you know she started to get into her meditation and she caught up with everybody else so by the sixth day she was on a par with all the other people and of course the last few days she just took off she was one of the star meditators really got some really deep meditation and I used her courage and wisdom as an example for all others

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• Lying down for the benefit of all beings

  In brief: The Buddha takes an afternoon nap, and Māra taunts him: you're no real monk — lazy, sleeping while others work to feed you. The Buddha…

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  where one day the Buddha took a nap in the afternoon and then this being called Mara called him out I've caught you out you're not a real monk you're lazy look all these other people have to work hard feeding you they're not sleeping during the middle of the day you lazy monk he said what are you doing that for why are you sleeping and the Buddha replied I'm laying down for the happiness and benefit of all sentient beings

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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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• The big rocks go in first

  In brief: A business-school professor fills a jar with large stones and asks if it's full; the students say yes. He adds gravel, shaking it into the…

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  This a professor came into his lecture hall. This was at uh a business school. And he had a jug and he asked he took out some from his briefcase took out a bag of stones and one by one put the stones into this jug until he could get no more stones inside the jug. And he asked his students, "Is the jug full?" Said, "Yeah, of course. You can't get any more stones in. He smiled and from his briefcase he picked out a bag of gravel, smaller stones. And one by one he put those into the jar, shook the jar, and many of those smaller stones found their way in the spaces between the big rocks and the smaller rocks. Is it full? No, they said they were on to him by now. So from his bag, he picked out his briefcase. He got a bag of fine sand, sprinkled the fine sand onto the rocks and gravel, shook the jar until much of the sand found its way in the spaces between the rocks and the gravel. "Is it full yet?" he asked the class. He had nothing more in his briefcase and said, "No, you'll probably find some other thing to put in there. He got the water jar and poured the water into that big jar. So that much of the water found its way between the rocks, the s the gravel and the sand. And he didn't want to try and find any other thing to put in that jar. He said, "Now what is the meaning of this lesson?" Modern times. Okay. Business school. One smart ass kid put their hand up and said, "It shows us, sir, no matter how busy we are, we can always fit something more in." Have you ever heard your bosses saying that? No, said the professor. What it shows us, if you want to put the big rocks in, the precious stones, you have to put them in first. Otherwise, you'll never get them in. You can fit the other stuff in afterwards, but the important things in life, you have to put in first priority.

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