Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

The slingshot and the gong

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Give Yourself Peace, Kindness and Forgiveness | Ajahn Brahm | 29 January 2021

1 min read

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

when Ajahn Chah was my teacher and sometimes we would sit together, sometimes you'd be sitting there - I’m sure it's over an hour, it must have been over an hour, we didn't have a clock at the time). And then so, my legs were really hurting. So you know what I thought of doing? I told the monks this, and it's true, this is what I thought, but never had the guts to do it - to get what they call like a slingshot. And practice in the forest first, until I was a really good shot. And then, when the meditation was happening, I’d just open my eyes and I'd sling and hit the bell - ‘GONG’. [Laughter] ‘Oh, it's time to come out of meditation’. You know what it's like, sometimes you're having a really difficult time. And you’re just like ‘it can't be just, it must be more than half an hour, ring the gong!’ [laughter] And other times, oh you're having such a beautiful, peaceful meditation, everything is just so nice and joyful and blissed, all these great insights are coming, everything, and then - ‘GONG’ [laughter] Imagine that was the Buddha under the Bodhi tree just about to get enlightened, and I went - ‘GONG’. [laughter] Shut up.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 16:11 (to 17:33)

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

Sitting with aching legs and no clock, the young monk dreamed of training with a slingshot to ring the gong early. Then he pictured the Buddha, one breath from enlightenment, interrupted by a gong. Clocks and bells can become a quiet prison. Give yourself some unscheduled time and see what happens.

In brief (our summary)

Sitting with Ajahn Chah, with no clock and his legs aching after what must have been over an hour, the young Ajahn Brahm fantasises about practising with a slingshot in the forest until he's a crack shot, then opening his eyes mid-sitting and hitting the bell — GONG. But in a blissful sitting the gong would be unwelcome: imagine the Buddha under the Bodhi tree just about to be enlightened — GONG. 'Shut up.'

Teaching point

Time and bells can become a prison; on retreat at Bodhinyana, minimum bells.

When this story may help

  • restlessness in meditation
  • clock-watching

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Give Yourself Peace, Kindness and Forgiveness | Ajahn Brahm | 29 January 2021 · 2021-01-29 · ▶ watch from 16:11 to 17:33 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is.

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

  • Ajahn Chah sits in the centre of the fever

    In brief: Malaria was an occupational hazard for jungle monks, and Ajahn Chah suffered it for years. During one intense attack, instead of lying in…

    Read full story

    And I know Ajahn Chah's story, my teacher, being a forest monk living in the jungles he had malaria for many years it was for those monks an occupational hazard just like these days, for current monks having tummy aches is an occupational hazard simply because as I told you I don't own my stomach you put whatever you want into it, and sometimes my stomach says 'no' (Ajahn laughs) But nevertheless you get to peace with that. His occupational hazard was malaria for many years I remember him telling me how he overcame his malaria once and for all having a very intense attack of the fever and instead of just laying in bed, sitting up meditating with it instead of running away from the thing or complaining about it, worrying about it what most people do when you got a problem, a disease or a tumor or whatever you think about it too much it creates more problems by the way react to them Instead he sat with it, he said he sat right in the centre of his fever quietly silently had peace with it. And it's a very hard thing to do but it's a wonderful thing to train yourself to be able to do. To be able to make peace with pain or with the fever, or with difficulty to make absolute peace with it so you don't even think you are just there at one with what you are experiencing not making any inner speech with it. he said as he was just with that he sort of felt like he was in the centre of a raging forest fire. but in the centre it was cool. but he could perceive all around him was a fire getting hotter and hotter and hotter which was his fever increasing in intensity and he said at one point the fever got so hot it burst and everything was cool. He never got malaria ever again.

    Open story page·Watch this telling

  • The matchbox on the head

    In brief: A malnourished young monk in steamy north-east Thailand — sticky rice with a boiled frog, under four and a half hours' sleep, up at 3 a.m.…

    Read full story

    when I became a monk who was in the jungles of Northeast Thailand I was malnourished one meal a day sticky rice I was a vegetarian I sometimes sticky rice and a frog on top that's all we had sweet yeah for a boiled frog no garlic no sauce notice abortive glutinous sticky rice with a fork on top that was all the villagers had in fact they gave us the best Fox it was disgusting but I was malnourished and in the morning we would get up but we only supposed to meditate to sleep for hours and nights I could never get below four and a half so three o'clock in the morning will be up in the hall to meditate steamy jungles I was made in England I was not used to such hot weather such sticky weather malnourished not enough sleep of course I was sleepy so I had the tricks what we tried to do first of all no use effort didn't work so then I tried a matchbox you take the cover off the matchbox you put the tray on your head because it means if you start nodding you see the matchbox fall on the ground you'd hear it only about three or four days I'd overcome my slot and talker I could put the matchbox on my head for one hour meditate in the morning it never fell off at all amazing until one of my monks took me aside and said this is why the matchbox is not falling off you're still sleepy but instead of doing this you're doing this their mind is so sneaky and tricky so after a while I started contemplating look made in England I'm not used to that climate are not enough sleep not enough our food it's natural so I decided to let go when I let go there's not much energy in my mind so you are dull but you knew you adult and little by little just like when the Sun comes up in the morning and it had evaporates all the mists that burns off the mist because I wasn't wasting energy fighting my sleepiness but just letting it be being kind to it opening the door of my heartless my energy started coming back again him my back straightened up my head lifted up naturally and I was peaceful

    Open story page·Watch this telling

  • “What day of the week is it?”

    In brief: As a forest monk he lived without calendars or clocks and sometimes didn't know the month or year. In the first months in Perth, at the…

    Read full story

    but then the first few months when i came to perth we were staying in a small house in north perth you know lynn knows that she was there at the time and even erica you know you went there there was she's around here somewhere and uh there was a nepalese man who came to visit he had a um you know buddhist background and he had an epileptic epileptic fit just in front of the house so he called the ambulance and then uh first thing the ambulance guy said to him is what day of the week is it and why do you ask that so what if you don't know what day of the week it is they take you away straight away so oh my goodness if you ask me i'd be in big trouble so from that time on i realized i better always at least know what day of the week is

    Open story page·Watch this telling

  • “Your meditation can't be that good”

    In brief: At the Serpentine doctor's surgery a monk sees an advert for another meditation group and suggests the doctor's people come to theirs…

    Read full story

    I think one of the monks was visiting the uh the local doctor in Serpentine. And when they were visiting that local doctor in Serpentine, they saw an advert there for a meditation group in Serpentine. Not our group, but another group. And he said, "Well, why don't you come to our meditation group?" And he said, "Well, your meditation group can't be that good because you monks are always coming into this surgery for help from the doctor.

    Open story page·Watch this telling

All stories·Find a story for your situation