“I wish I could do that”

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• Three thousand Singapore executives heard the gaps

  In brief: In a Singapore hall of about 3,000 busy executives who said they could not meditate, he asked them to notice the gaps between his words —…

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  First time I did this was in Singapore in a big hall about 3,000 people and people said, "Oh, we can't meditate. We got too busy minds. Always these are executives, business people. I mean, it's very tough in Singapore to get by and to make a dollar and to keep the dollar and whatever else they're trying to find and keep. So, we can't meditate. It's waste of time. Oo. Oh, [laughter] there's another thing which there's always noise around or is there? Can you hear the space between the noises? That's amazing. After a while, you find that so delightful. And that's actually in this little exercise I did for these Singaporeans, 3,000 of them. Simple. Just ask them to please be aware when I'm speaking. You always, you know, listen to what I say, but also there's a reaction to what I say. Sometimes I say something stupid. Oh yeah, I've heard that one before. Oh yeah, that's not very smart. Oh, I don't agree with that. You have a reaction in your mind. But now, what is the reaction in your mind as I'm speaking now? Because you'll start to notice many gaps between my words. In those spaces, what was happening inside? Nothing was happening. And it felt so peaceful. It felt profound. And that was the first time many of those 3,000 they were business people. First time they experienced some silence, stillness, peace. There it was again. So simple, isn't it? Now see if you can remain still for half an hour. If you notice it beauty and his joy, his good qualities is so easy to stay there. You don't need to give it a name. You don't need to try and capture it. Peace is very shy. If you mention her name, she runs away

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• How the donkey caught the carrot

  In brief: A stubborn donkey is driven by a carrot dangling on a string from a stick tied to its own back — always two feet ahead however fast it…

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  It's a story, one of my favourite stories of the donkey and the carrot. Those of you who know the story because you've been on the retreats, it's also in the book of "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond." You know that donkeys are very stubborn animals, that's why they say in English - as stubborn as a donkey. You hit them with a stick, they won't move. So the only way you get donkeys to move, is you tie the stick to their back, so the front of the stick is about 2 feet, in front of the donkey's head, at the end of the stick you put a string, on the end of the string, a carrot. So there's this donkey, seeing this carrot 2 foot in front of it , craving is what drives the donkey, not fear of punishment. So there the donkey moves forward to try and get the carrot but because this carrot is on the end of the stick, and the stick is tied to the donkey, it doesn't matter how fast the donkey moves forward, the carrot goes at the same speed so it's always 2 foot in front of the donkey's head. But it's stupid enough to think, well, if I run a bit faster I might catch that carrot. You understand the simile - that's called your life [laughter] chasing a carrot. Do you ever get it? Now it's always 2 foot in front, you almost get it, sometimes, just perfection you know, happiness, even deep meditation, it's almost there, and you just go a bit further, and it goes further away from you. But many donkeys have actually heard my talks on YouTube. [laughter] And they now know how to catch the carrot! How to find meaning in life. You know how you do that? The donkey's already been running really fast, and the donkey hears the word, "stop", stop chasing that carrot, "stop" so the donkey stops. You know what happens when you stop? The carrot moves further away than its ever been before. If you've got patience and trust and faith, you've heard Ajahn Brahm, you actually believe he may be on to something, so you stop. And as soon as it's 4 foot away from you, twice as far as it's ever been you get a little bit of doubt, is this going to happen, is it true? But then something amazing happens, the carrot starts coming towards you. And soon it's in its normal position, 2 foot in front of your mouth, but now it's coming at great speed [laughter] towards you, you don't have to do anything, you just sit there, And just at the right moment, you remember the most important phrase, "The door of my mouth is now open to you, carrot" [laughter] And the carrot gets into your own mouth!

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• The moon in a still lake

  In brief: Simile (on a full-moon retreat night): if there are waves or ripples on a lake you can't see a perfect image of the moon and stars; when…

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  the simile I usually give is a simile of a lake if there's waves on the surface of the lake you can never get a a clear reflection of the stars and the full moon and if you look up the sky this evening and tomorrow the the moon is full it's a very beautiful time to start meditating and if you go to one of the the Lakes the lake down the bottom and you look at the image of that Moon if there are waves or ripples in that Lake you can't see a perfect image but you can imagine when that lake is perfectly still when there's not even one Ripple moving across the surface of the lake you get a perfect reflection of the moon and the stars and that's just like the mind to be able to reflect reality to see things as they truly are without Distortion we got to use a mind which is perfectly still so there's not even a ripple on the surface of that mind

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• Two hours on Bunbury beach

  In brief: With a free afternoon before teaching at Bunbury prison, Ajahn Brahm meditates for two hours, eyes closed, on a deserted stretch of beach.…

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  there was one time when I did go to sit quietly on a beach and that was a time when I sat on Bumbbury Beach. I had a free afternoon before going to the prison to teach. And when I was sitting on that beach, it was an abandoned part of the beach. There's no one there at all. Just me and the waves. And I sat there. It's peaceful. So I sat there for two hours, eyes closed, going nice and deeply inside. And when I opened my eyes, what I saw shocked me. It was only two hours. I opened my eyes and I saw on my left was a 17-year-old young woman in a bikini, a blonde, young, pretty. She was just sitting right next to me on one side. On the other side, there was a brunette also in a bikini. 17year-old sitting on this side. Honestly, you can't make these situations up. And I thought, what happened? And how did I know it was 17year-old? Because they told me that they had just finished the last exam at school, the year 12s. And that's usually 17 year olds take those. The last exams, the school was just opposite side of the road. But when I went and sat there, they was just still doing their exams. So, it was nice and quiet. And then afterwards, they came out in their bthers. The guys were there as well. And they were just enjoying last exam is over. Let's go to the beach and just enjoy ourselves. And they saw this monk sitting there perfectly, perfectly still. I wasn't doing anything. Just sitting quietly by myself. But that inspired them. That's why this young lady on one side and young lady on the other side and they just waiting. They said they'd be waiting for about half an hour or so for me to come out of meditation so they could ask their questions. And they were really impressed that I could actually sit there quietly with these two young uh I better not say was it No. Okay, I won't say that. What does that word spell? Yeah, bimbo. Oh my goodness, I'm going to get in trouble. See the next. But anyway, that's that's all they wanted. Just ask a few questions. So, I answered them and went away as soon as I could. I knew that because if anyone had a camera, honestly, how can you explain that? There's a there's a monk with these two beautiful young ladies in bikini on either side by the beach. I've never done that again. If I want to meditate for two hours, go somewhere else quieter.

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