A loose guitar string

Related stories

• The donkey in the well

  In brief: A farmer tries to bury a donkey that fell into a dry well; with every shovelful of dirt, the donkey shakes it off and steps up on it,…

  Read full story▾▴

  there was a donkey, just walking happily along in the forest, just munching and minding its own business. Because it wasn't mindful, he fell into a well, the well was dry so it didn't drown, and he didn't really injure himself, just a few bruises and scratches. When the donkey came to his senses he realized he was at the bottom of a well and there's no way up because donkeys can't climb. The only thing the donkey thought he could do was to cry for help to get someone's attention otherwise he would die down there of starvation. So he started crying for help. [makes donkey sound] I can't really do donkey noises, as I think now you have understood because probably I've got no previous incarnations as a donkey. [laughter] Ajahn: Those people who imitate animal noises, it must be that in your last life you were an animal. [laughter] As for me, I wasn't a donkey in my last life so [makes donkey sound] is the best I can do. " [makes donkey sound] ," said the donkey again and again. After a couple of hours actually somebody heard him. It was the local farmer. "What's making that noise?" He came over and saw it was coming from the well. He looked down, "my goodness, a donkey has fallen down that well." Now that farmer never liked that donkey. The donkey was always eating his farm produce and was being very stubborn. He'd never do what the farmer wanted. He also realized that well was a very dangerous thing. Somebody might fall in that well, a human. He thought of a wonderful idea. He could get rid of that dangerous well and the donkey at the same time. He got out a spade and started filling that well with earth. The cruel farmer. Now, if you do something like that it's called "bad karma." If you do any bad karma you're going to get unpleasant consequences, as you will see as this story develops. [laughter] So this donkey at the bottom of the well, thinking at first the farmer would help him, realized the farmer's trying to kill him by shoveling all this dirt over the donkey. When the donkey realized that, [makes donkey sound] even louder. [laughter] But that didn't stop the farmer. He just kept shoveling more dirt over this donkey, more and more dirt, trying to fill in the well and bury the donkey alive. After a while the donkey went quiet and never said anything. The farmer thought, "I've killed him." "I've buried him. Good riddance," and kept on shoveling. But the donkey hadn't died. The donkey, who must have also gone to Nollamara in the previous life... [laughter] Ajahn: ...had insight. He was a very smart donkey. Never underestimate donkeys. His insight was this. Instead of complaining when people throw dirt all over you, instead of complaining, just shake it off, tread it in, and he found he was growing a centimeter taller. The next shovel full of earth, shake it off, stamp it in, he's another centimeter higher. Every shovel of earth, he was getting closer and closer to the top of the well. Now the farmer, thinking the donkey had died already, paid no attention at all, shoveling, shoveling, when a pair of donkey ears appeared above the top of the well. Shovel, shovel, shovel. Shake it off, stamp it in, until a donkey head appeared at the top of the well. Before the farmer realized, the donkey was close enough to the surface it jumped out and bit the farmer on the backside. [laughter] Ajahn: Not because the donkey didn't like the farmer, but because he had to show the farmer the law of karma. [laughter] He was just an agent of cause and effect. He ran away. That's how the donkey escaped from the well.

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• Laughing when you hit your head

  In brief: As a young monk in Thailand, Ajahn Brahm travelled to ceremonies in the back of a ute under a tarpaulin stretched over a metal frame. On…

  Read full story▾▴

  And I learned this when I was reminded of this story by one of uh our Thai followers that when I was a young monk that we used to go over the for invitations here all over the place uh in Thailand uh in the back of a of a ute, a pickup truck. And uh I did actually go once on a back of a motorbike as a monk. Never again on a motorbike. Cuz you know what happens? You can imagine these robes and a motorbike. Once they pick up any speed, the wind gets inside of them and it balloons up. And I was I always thought I was going to fly off because like a big balloon. And but fortunately I managed to hold on just so I never go on a on a motorbike with loose robes like this. But anyway, on the back of a truck, the old utes, they would have like a cover on it, a metal frame over which was draped a tarpool in. And that was a place where you'd sit in the back with all the other monks going to this or that um ceremony. And number one, it was really dusty. At least the top water would keep off any rain. And these were those days where the roads were all uh just dirt roads with lots of potholes. In fact, because there was lots of potholes that every time every time that truck, that ute hit a pothole, what would happen was the ute went down and I would go up and hit my head on the metal frame. And that really hurt, especially because I've got no padding. So you hit your head really hard on this metal again and again and again. And I just this was getting too too much. It's really hurting. And I noticed that when any of the Thai monks or lashed monks whenever they crack their head on one of these uh the metal um frame on which the tarpon was was was covered, when they hit their head, they never sort of grimaced. They never swore. They laughed. And they must have been hurting as much as I was, but they were laughing at the pain. And I thought, what's going on here? And because scientists before, so I used my science, my western sort of logic to actually think of explanations and theories why when Thai monks hit their head, they laughed. And my first theory was they must have hit their head so many times that they were brain damaged. But of course that wasn't the case cuz they were really nice monks. They're very smart. And so then I thought I couldn't understand. So what do you do? You do experiment. Know western culture do an experiment. Find out. So I resolved. So the next time I hit my head, I was going to laugh instead of swear. I'd always always swear in English because the time I couldn't understand me, I thought, but they did. But anyway, when the next time I hit my head, I laughed and I discovered an amazing theory. You should get the Nobel Prize for things like this because it's actually practical that when you laugh when you hit your head, it hurts much less. And if you don't believe me, get the person sitting next to you to hit you on the head. Better not do it here. I get in trouble with insurance. But you can see that just one's attitude towards sickness and pain changes many many things. It does actually hurt much less when you laugh.

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• “You're a much better mum when you come home”

  In brief: A tired mother tells her children she will skip the meditation group; her daughter insists she go, because she is a much better mum…

  Read full story▾▴

  Many times when I've been teaching meditation, especially down at Armadale, I don't know why this happens always in Armadale group. In Armadale group, sometimes after the meditation, talking to people afterwards, and very often people say, "You know, this evening, I never wanted to come." "It's Tuesday evening, I've been at work, and I'm tired, and I told my kids I'm not going this evening, and my daughter said, 'Mommy, you must go to meditation.' I said, 'I don't feel like it darling, I'm tired.' 'Mommy, you must go to meditation!' 'No, not this evening.' 'Mommy, go to meditation!!' 'Why darling?' 'Because you're a much nicer mommy when you come back.'

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• Meditating through Cambridge finals

  In brief: During six days of Natural Sciences finals in 1972 — three hours each morning and afternoon — Ajahn Brahm skips lunch to meditate in his…

  Read full story▾▴

  when I was doing the final examinations at Cambridge University that's where I did my studies, 1972, Natural Sciences Tripos final exams, final exams I really meant that FINAL, everything else in the whole time you did in the University counted for absolutely nothing. You got your Degree or you failed on one series of examinations. Those examinations on Natural Sciences, that year, 6 days -- Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, one after the other, morning examination 3 hours, afternoon 3 hours, 1 hour for lunch. I don't think Amnesty International was formed at that time, if they had found out that was torture, 3 hours, 1 hour lunch, 3 hours, 6 days in a row. The worst of that, everybody was telling me that my future depended upon those examinations. If you did well, you would have a wonderful life, if you failed you will be snuffed for the rest of your life. If only I had known I was going to become a monk, I wouldn't have worked so hard. I didn't know at that time so as other people I really worked hard But my trick was, this is how you deal with stress, this was a stressful situation for me, how I dealt with that was using basic tricks of meditation I've already had started meditation about 2-3 years when I first went up to that University. So, I never had any lunch for those 6 days. Had a big breakfast and a nice dinner in the evening. At lunch time I went back to my room only 5-10 minutes from the examination room, and I meditated for half an hour, Now this is what happens, as soon as I sat down, the first thing which came in to my mind was the morning exam, how did I do, did I do that question correct, we all know how stupid that is, the examination paper is in, right or wrong is too late to change it, it's obvious isn't it, you should let it go, let go of the past this is not the time you can do anything anymore, it's easy to say but I trained, I could do that, I could let go, of that very very important exam in the morning. This is what you can learn in a place like this. It doesn't matter what has happened in the past, you can't change it, examination paper of your past is in, it's a waste of time thinking about it. Good or bad you can't do anything about it. I could let that one go. So, the next thought I was not concerned about the morning paper, The next thought which came up in my mind was the afternoon exam. Should I get out of my meditation, get out a book and start studying, last minute just in case and of course if you remember your studies, every time I did that, whatever I looked at, half an hour before the examination never ever came up, never, total waste of time. It was a waste of time, because this was the time I am supposed to rest, not work, if you are worried about the future, you can't stay in this present moment, and do the preparation necessary for success in the future, that preparation was resting. If you don't know how to rest you will fail again and again and again, because you don't know how to prepare your mind for the challenges it faces in the future. I had to let go of the future because I trained in meditation, it was easy to do, even though important, what I thought was a life defining moment, those afternoon examinations, I could totally forget about them and stay in the moment. So, that was called present moment awareness, when I put in the context of an important part of my life you can understand how relevant it is. But what happens next shocked me because when I stopped thinking about the past which for me was the morning exam, the future-the afternoon exam, I found out I was physically shaking, Look ! I go up here every Friday and talk to people, watched on internet by 1000s of people, I go on live TV, I am not a nervous person, but at that time I found out I was physically shaking, the pressure of final examinations had got to me, I was nervous. What shocked me even more than being nervous, was that I hadn't noticed it before that point. I've been so fixated, with the future exam, what I'v done in the past I was totally unaware of the present reality of my body. That shocked me and from that moment on I learnt why many people get sick. They get sick because you are not aware of your body, so up in the future, so up in the past, so busy, you are not here, with your body, listening to the signs. When I got into that present moment and saw I was shaking, it was pretty easy to relax the body, exactly as I told you here at the beginning of the meditation. With mindfulness, kindness the body totally relax and all that shaking stopped. The next part of that meditation when I let go of the past, let go of the future, the shaking all stopped, the next thing I noticed was how tired my brain was. How totally worn out it was. I compared it to like a tea bag which had already been used, no juice left, an old used tea bag that's what my brain felt like. And again those experiences told me again why a lot of depressions and negativity, where they come from. Most of the people in this room, if you've only noticed the status of your brain, you'll probably know it's really tired. It just really needs a rest, because I noticed the need for my brain to rest, I could just keep it not working for 10 or 15 minutes, really relax it keep it still, so by the end of that meditation, all the energy had come back to my brain. I was awake, alive, clear, energised and I still remember, my friends after the examinations they commented, I was the only student who went in to that examination hall in the afternoon with a smile on my face. I could do that because I was relaxed and that's why I did really well.

  Open story page·Watch this telling