Being Mindful Stories

Joke · Ajahn Brahm

'I sent you two boats and a helicopter'

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Building Resilience | Ajahn Brahm | 8 November 2019

2 min read

The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

There was this flood. Apparently, this was in southern Malaysia a long time ago. And there was this this Buddhist monk who was a devotey of the goddess of mercy, Quanin. And as the floods came, he had to climb up onto his roof. And as he climbed up onto his roof, the floodwaters rose and rose and the venerable, the seafood, that's what they call the monks in in uh in Malaysia in in China, seafue, the seafue was on top of the roof. When the rescue boat came past and the rescue boat crew said, "Jump in, jump in. We've come to save you." He said, "No, I don't need to be saved. I'm a devotey of the goddess of mercy. She will save me. She's never let me down. I have faith. They said, "Look, jump in now. The flood waters arise." He said, "No, leave me alone. Go and save somebody else who doesn't believe in quanin. I am going to be safe." So, okay. Have you met people like that before? Anyway, the flood waters rose and so the fellow was on top of the roof. You know those curly bits on the end of the roof? He was clinging on to one of those. And the boat came past again and said, "Sefu, seafue, we really admire your faith. It's wonderful, but now please jump in the boat." He said, "No, I have faith in the goddess of mercy. She will save me." So they couldn't force him to jump in. So they went away to save somebody else. The floodwaters rose and now he was holding on to his TV aerial. That was the last thing to hold on to. He was holding on to that as a flood waters were sweep sweeping past him. It was too strong for the boat. So they said helicopter and the helicopter dropped the the ladder down and they shouted out she grabbed onto the rope and he shouted out no need I have faith inwin she will save me how was the special effects with they need some feedback every now and She will save me. Hold on to the rope. No. They couldn't force him. So the the helicopter went to save someone else. You know what happened? He drowned. He died. And when he went to heaven, don't worry whether it's a heaven or not. It fits into the story. When he went to heaven, when he went to heaven, oh, he was in a filthy mood. He was really upset and angry. And the first person wanted to say, "I want to see that Kwan Yin." And he went out, he found her up there. And when he went up, he said, "You really let me down. You embarrassed me. I'm You make me ashamed that all those years I've been believing in you. When I really needed you, you let me down. I'm brown." And like most heavenly beings, she looked down upon this devotey and says, "Sefu in a very soft, kind voice, Seu, I didn't let you down. Didn't I send you two boats and one helicopter?

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 43:38 (to 47:25)

A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A monk on his flooded roof refused two boats and a helicopter, sure Kwan Yin would save him, then complained in heaven that she'd let him down. Didn't I send you two boats and a helicopter? Help often arrives in ordinary forms. Stop blaming and waiting for miracles. Look for the solution in front of you, and take it.

In brief (our summary)

In a flood in southern Malaysia, a monk devoted to Kwan Yin, the goddess of mercy, climbs onto his roof. A rescue boat comes: 'No, Kwan Yin will save me.' As the water rises he clings to the roof's curly end; the boat returns; he refuses again. Clinging to the TV aerial, he refuses a helicopter's rope ladder. He drowns. In heaven, furious, he finds Kwan Yin: 'You let me down!' Softly she replies: 'Sifu, I didn't let you down. Didn't I send you two boats and one helicopter?'

Teaching point

Don't just complain and blame; look for — and take — the solutions in front of you.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Building Resilience | Ajahn Brahm | 8 November 2019 · 2019-11-08 · ▶ watch from 43:38 to 47:25 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'seafood'/'seafue'/'Sefu'/'Seu' = Sifu (Chinese title for a monk); 'quanin'/'Kwan Yin' = Guanyin.

The narrative is Ajahn Brahm's own telling, quoted from the talk captions. The summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk. Markdown version

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