Six months of silence

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• Six months alone, and the kangaroos ate the pizza

  In brief: Sometime between 2000 and 2008 his year's sabbatical shrank to six months. Instead of touring, he stayed in a hut in the Serpentine forest…

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  I spent six months without seeing any human being, without talking to anybody else. What had happened was, I was supposed to have a sabbatical, a year off, but then it, one thing led to another, I can only have six months off, so you go anywhere in the world, where would you like to go for six months? I could go touring here, visiting this monastery or that monastery, but I said, "No." Why do people always have to seek for happiness somewhere else? Why can't I find that happiness right where I am in that monastery where I worked so hard to build it up? So I said, “No, I'm not going to seek for happiness contentment anywhere else,” I could go wherever I wanted to, but I decided to find the best happiness and truth and freedom and wisdom right here. So I had a hut in the forest in Serpentine and I stayed there for six months, never went anywhere except deeper and deeper inside.. And it was arranged that we had a box…, actually where's that box now? The box which…, I think it's over… Okay, still is there somewhere, anyway, we had a little box there, and in the morning, at a certain time, about 10:30, one of the monks would actually put my bowl with food in the box, and I'd know the time they were coming, so I knew to be in my hut, and afterwards I will go to the box, open it up, eat the food, and then wash the bowl, put it in the box there for the next day. So I never, it's much better than Uber Eats, it was “Monk Eats". I never got charged, I never saw anybody. So there I was, and they knew I was alive because they see my bowl, and the food was eaten, so and it could have been the Kangaroos, I suppose, eating the food, but no it was me, although sometimes, those kangaroos…, you know, that they're really really really smart, and they soon found out that I was, you know, in that hut, and sometimes you'd leave your food outside on the veranda, it's a walking path, and leave the bowl there just for a few minutes to go inside to get something 'cause I liked eating on the veranda at first, and you know what happened? You find a kangaroo with it's head inside my bowl, (laughs) taking the first choice of food before I ever got to it! And so I from that time I decided to, to eat inside my hut, and so even inside, but, you know, the window was open and the kangaroo will come up onto my path, and look at me through the window, and ahh… a poor kangaroo, so you know, you felt sort of some compassion for this poor.. They had plenty of grass, but then, I started by putting some healthy food outside, I remember, like a carrot, or some…, but you know, they weren't interested in that, you know the food they liked the most when I was on retreat? Pizza! Honest! (laughter) Like…, it was, I don’t know if it's healthy for them, but, you know, that's what the Kangaroos decided they wanted to eat, see a little kangaroo with a little pizza in their mouth, they loved that

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• “This robe, or naked”

  In brief: A Norwegian manager ordains in Perth to his family's dismay. When his father falls ill his mother writes: come home, but wear a suit, not…

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  there a lot of people I tell about one of my monks I don't mind mentioning his name cuz he won't mind it's Venable Nito he was from Norway when he first came over to here to Perth to ordain as a monk his family were really upset they didn't want him to become a monk why are you being coming monk he had a good um career I think he was a manager of something or other and a very good education why you me become a monk for for goodness sake so that when he went home because his father was very sick he showed me the letter from his mom he says you can come home but please wear a suit no robes I'll be embarrassed to see my son in a brown stupid rope and so I told told him to write back to his mother it's this robe or naked take your choice so he went there with a robe on but they weren't happy but then his father died and so he went back I think to look after the family he did the funeral service organized everything and then his elder brother one of the most negative wrote to me saying I don't know what you've done to our brother that carry on now we really appreciate you know what you're doing over here in Australia we don't know what Buddhism is but whatever it is it works our brother has changed he's such a wise strong compassionate person and he's helped the whole family so much he said thank you please the whole family give his monkhood our blessing it's wonderful actually to see that change over in a couple of years just when they saw saw that what these teachings actually do they respected it enormously

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• Volunteering with the kids who taught him to be hugged

  In brief: At Cambridge, when a Christian friend starts volunteering at the local mental hospital, Ajahn Brahm feels he'd better go too. The…

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  Again, just when I was at university, I was the only Buddhist, I knew at that college. So it was very lonely. So, you had your friends and you have great philosophical arguments. There's one guy who was a very close friend, he was Christian. So we had these great discussions. It wasn't sort of antagonistic, but it was animated. And when I heard he was going to the local mental hospital to do voluntary work, I thought I'd better go along as well. I'm a Buddhist, I'm supposed to be compassionate, even though you are very busy and all this other stuff you're supposed to do at university, I went. And I enjoyed it so much that I kept going for 2 years, those Christians, they just actually dropped out. And I went for 2 years, sometimes, "what are you trying to prove?" they asked me. And I think about it, actually it went way beyond doing service, I wasn't there to do service, I was actually getting joy out of this. It gave my week meaning, just to go and hang out with Down's Syndrome kids, and that's really all I was doing. I wasn't an expert, I wasn't trying to do anything much with them, except just be with them. And to this day, I credit that with teaching me what I call like "emotional language". So if I'm a good teacher, 4 years, not just the way you speak, anyone can say words, it's just where they come from. These were kids who can't speak, in the same way, at least these kids, were institutionalised, couldn't speak the same way as I speak to you if you come to ask me a question or we just talk about whatever. They didn't have the vocabulary or the way to articulate their thoughts. But they communicated through their emotions, through their hugs, through their facial language. And my goodness, they were just so clever. I remember many times, just going there and they, they sized me up straight away, if I was in a bad mood, they'd know - what's wrong. They'd give me hug. It was the first time as a man I'd allowed another man to hug me. I was a heterosexual. I was afraid of, sort of homosexuality. That's just the way I was conditioned and they had to allow, as a male, a young male in 1969 or 70, allow another male to hug you. That was tough, you're English, stiff upper lip and all that. But it was so wonderful for me to learn just how to be loved. I got so much from those kids. I really thank them so much. So I thought I was giving when I first went there. No, I got heaps and heaps, I got enormous gratitude, what I learnt when I gave that's where you start to understand what meaning is.

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• “Why?” — Ajahn Chah's answer: nothing

  In brief: After an inspiring talk by Ajahn Chah, the young monk skips attending him at the sauna and sits two blissful hours in meditation behind…

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  He did have psychic powers sometimes. He could read people's minds. I remember he read my mind once on a retreat. You want to hear this story? Yeah. Come on. Because this is a deep part of this talk. Many of you heard it on retreats. But when people give really good talks, I mean very deep talks, they're inspiring. And on this occasion, Ajan came to the monastery where I was staying and he gave a talk and that day really hit the spot. everything being explained so beautifully and just oh your your mind is so inspired and peaceful and joyful and then know we had actually built a sauna for him you know sauners were not invented in uh Sweden or wherever they had sauners in Buddhist monasteries in India from the very beginning they talk about it in the ancient books you know sauners for the monks and nuns And [gasps] uh so we built him a sauna and he came over. So he gave a talk. I was so inspired. Achanta went off to the sauna and I was basically so inspired. There's so many other monks looking after acha. I decided just to go around the back of the hall and sit quietly meditating. I just I didn't want to waste that beautiful energy. cross my legs two hours. Oh, just blissing my head out. Beautiful meditation. So deep, so peaceful. And of course, when you go in deep meditation, you just don't know how long, but [snorts] you know, 2 hours it was. When I came out of that meditation afterwards, the first thought was you got lots of joy and peace and happiness is to do something good for your teacher. So I decided, well, I'm probably too late. Let's go and walk see if I can be of any service to him. So off I went walking towards the sauna and I was too late because he'd already finished the sauna. He was walking back with his driver and another Thai man. And we would cross the path and as we were about to cross you he looked at me and he l you know sometimes like only great teachers can really look at you just looking right into you. And for once, for once I didn't mind him looking into my mind. Other days, no. [laughter] I'd be embarrassed. But that day, my mind was, you know, just after a very deep, beautiful meditation, so pure and so peaceful, so bright. And it's very hard for me to uh to make you believe this, but many [snorts] of you know that I'm honest. I don't gain anything out of these stories, but you can actually feel him. This is my perception which I remember very clearly inside your mind just having a look just checking around like going in somebody's room or house and just having a walk around and I just yeah please come in for once I don't mind you having looking around today is is quite [snorts] clean and peaceful and beautiful inside and then when he emerged out this is just how I felt okay his body didn't disappear and just go up my nostrils or I think this was just you know his mind coming into my mind and reading everything and afterwards he looked at me very you can't say kindly you can't say fiercely was some other expression on his face just grabbing your attention eye to eye and of course my name is Ajan Brah but the full name is Brahma so he looked at me and said Brahma quite fiercely but kindly And then he said, "Why?" And he looked at me with so much kindness but strength. Why? And I was still only a young monk. And my answer was, "I don't know." And he laughed his head off. These stupid Western monks. [laughter] He was trying his best to try and enlighten me. He saw I was very peaceful and give it a shot anyway. But whenever you do something stupid like that, idiotic, you know, as far as wisdom is concerned, a child just burst out laughing. Our idiotic responses and behavior cause him so much pleasure, so much laughter. I think that's why he had so many western monks in his monastery to entertain him. No, there's a lot of kindness there too. But then he became serious again and he looked at me once more. He said, "Broma, I'll tell you the answer." And wow, I was really excited. This great monk was giving me a personal teaching just after come out of a deep meditation and he asked me the question why I got it wrong. But he wanted to tell me what the answer was. the answer to the question why from Achan he looked at me I'll tell you the answer I was so excited and he said my me I any Thai people here oh yes you know what that means he said there's nothing there's nothing. And then he looked at me and said, "Bamsa, do you understand with a lot of kindness?" I said, "Yes." And he looked at me again and said, "No, you don't." [laughter] And he went away. Oh, that really hurt. [laughter] But what a beautiful lesson that was. Just when he gave me that wonderful answer, what's the answer to the question? Why? Why? Answer is is nothing. Do you understand? No, you don't. [laughter] But one day you will. Seeds have been planted.

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