Let her come and bow

Related stories

• Kindness after the dye shed

  In brief: Wat Pah Pong: three monks dyeing robes two nights without sleep; young Brahm secretly helps so they can rest. Next morning chanting he is…

  Read full story▾▴

  three monks and they were dying their robes and they hadn't slept for a couple of days know you can't sleep you have to keep on working that was why almost a test of endurance for them you know that sometimes I remember reading in the Buddhist books when I was young that to make sure that a monk or none was really uh wanted to become a monk or none They would actually test them by having them sit outside the front door of the monastery for three days and just to see if they really wanted to become a monk or a nun. And over in Damasara, you don't have to do that. You just have to make your own robes. It's just kind of similar. Don't make it too easy. See just what your your commitment is. But anyway, over in uh W Babong in those days, we had to uh cut sew white cloth, sew it all up into the monk's robes and make the dye and dye it. [clears throat] It took a long time. And these three monks have been up at the dying shed two nights without sleep and had another night or two to go before they could finish. I what would you do? You know, I would just felt so sort of sorry for them. I've got compassion just like every other monk and none and each one of you as well. I said, "Look, um I won't tell if you won't tell. I'll do the dying tonight. You go and take, you know, 4 hours of rest." And that's what they did. They didn't argue with me. They were off, you know. I felt so good about that because you could see they were suffering in pain, you know, not physical pain like you've broken a leg or something, but just really, really, really tired. So, I did that work for them that night. I hadn't slept that day. I didn't sleep that night cuz I was busy looking after the dying pot. And then also in the morning, the bell went 3:00 in the morning. would get up in Thailand when the bell went they all came back thank you thank you thank you just that you know 4 hours of rest you know just meant a lot of difference to them me I went back to the morning chanting and that morning I still remember the morning chanting we did in Thailand It was really depressing. Honestly, I'm not I'm not just saying that because he didn't have any energy, you know, and just getting up really early in the morning, 3:30, and just chanting. But that morning, yo, I had so much energy inside of me and it was unique. I think the other monks told me quiet down a bit, [laughter] but why? And I hadn't slept all night and I just I couldn't figure it out why I was just so full of energy. And I asked one of the senior monks and that's what they told me. He said, you know, I confessed, look, and we're not supposed to do this. I'm sorry, you know that they're supposed to make those robes up for themselves, but I helped. And and I said, "I had so much energy." Why? He just said, "Because of kindness." When you're really kind and you sacrifice something, you get a big boost of energy and power back

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• The razor wheel in hell (Borobudur)

  In brief: Shown a Borobudur carving, Ajahn Brahm tells of a man who pushed over his mother and, out of guilt, is reborn in hell, where a razor wheel…

  Read full story▾▴

  it was an old Buddhist story of a guy who had actually pretty good guy but he did one bad act he pushed over his mother and she injured herself and of course he felt so guilty about that that when he died he got born in this hell realm and he he went down to meet this guy you in this terrible realm and he saw this fellow you know having his head cut with a razor wheel you know just cutting into his head continuously you know obviously without him dying and he's in great pain but this guy said at last you've come because when I got this wheel it was 600 years ago cuz I hurt my mother and I was told that in 600 years time another guy will come cuz he also hurt his mom and when he comes the wheel will leave my head and I'll be free of this torture and it will go into this other guy's head and here you are here's a wheel so the wheel left this other guy and the guy sort of know vanished from this torture and he went into this new guy's head and he was cutting his head in an incredible Agony but this fellow this new guy he had thoughts of kindness of compassion and he said I'm going to take this wheel not for 600 years but for 3,000 years so the next four or five guys don't have to bear this I'll take their punishment for them and that kind thought the wheel shattered and he was taken away from this hell realm and reborn in the heaven realm Just one thought of kindness and compassion did that

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• The trail of blood into Mum's council flat

  In brief: Staying at his mother's London council tower block (a supposed 'hotbed of crime'), Ajahn Brahm is about to walk to a talk when the lift…

  Read full story▾▴

  I remember when I went to visit her and stayed in that tower block for a short while I was going to give a talk in the Sri Lankan Vihara is Chiswick one day and it was not that far from where my mother lived so I wanted to walk. I enjoyed those walks in the streets of London especially in my robes. Because I was always a radical I wanted to surprise and stagger and confront people with my sartorial elegance of brown robes. But I also enjoyed having fun because people would look at me and sometimes not knowing exactly what you were dressed in these robes, these are like what people used to called bed blankets sometimes they are cross the other side of the road but I'll always take pleasure in wishing them Good Morning with a smile to an Englishman when someone actually wishes you 'Good Morning' you have to say Good Morning back. It is psychological torture for them. Being a sadist I enjoyed that. But anyhow on this particular occasion when I in the elevator when I got to the bottom as the door was open I was the only one in the elevator and as the door was opened I was confronted by an old lady who was covered with blood. It was like scene out of a movie I didn't know what had happened to her whether she has been attacked, mugged or whatever but she actually told me that she had fallen down by the flight of steps. She must have been about sixty five or seventy because she could still stand so immediately I forgot about giving a talk at any sort of Vihara it's more important I am kind and compassion; I like to practice Buddhism rather than teach it. So I forgot about the talk and I took this old lady upstairs to my mother's apartment where we bathed her wounds called the ambulance, she did have a broken leg but because of the shock she couldn't feel the pain at the time, so we bathed her, comforted her, called the ambulance but the wonderful thing which happened was that because it was an accident and because I took her into my mother's apartment very quickly, my mother left the door opened and there was a trail of blood which was leading into my mother's apartment and I was so pleased in a matter of five minutes I don't know how many people had come into my mother's apartment to find out what was going on and whether she was alright. And when they found out the reason why one of the tenants in these apartment blocks had an accident, fallen over and was wounded, it was wonderful to see the community coming together and helping one and another I was bathing the wounds because my mother doesn't like blood someone else was going to her house to actually to turn her oven off because she had something in the oven cooking and somebody was going to ring her daughter somewhere else and everybody was working together so well I thought, this is not a hot bed of crime this is a community where people cared about each other.

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• The politician who talked the walk

  In brief: On a free afternoon in Singapore, Ajahn Brahm takes his followers to a charity walk raising funds for a fellow monk's indebted Buddhist…

  Read full story▾▴

  that reminded me that i was in singapore many years ago and i did have a free afternoon i can't actually remember what they're like but had a free afternoon and i did hear that one of you know the fellow monks he was the the head of the buddhist library in singapore and they were in a lot of debt because they wanted to get a good center but you know it's very expensive and they were having to pay off that so i heard they were having a charity walk in the afternoon so all the people who were following me over in singapore i said if you feel this afternoon let's go and help somebody else let's do some some nice kindness and raise some funds for one of my mates so we all went over there and of course the head mark over there was very very surprised and very happy that i turned up and that's because i was well known over there i was also asked to give a little speech but before i gave the speech it was a politician gave a speech first they invited a politician to also to speak at this event and he said you know best of luck i really support this it's a good temple and all the best and then i asked him when i gave my talk i said are you actually going on the walk he said no no it's too important i just i'm just giving the speech i'm going to another event and so i told him he said you're one of the politicians who talks the walk but you don't walk your talk and he took it well

  Open story page·Watch this telling