Old treasurer — migraine into the dark room

Related stories

• Ajahn Chah stopped breathing — medic takes blood samples

  In brief: After Ajahn Chah's stroke, a royal medic freaks when Chah stops breathing for hours. Monks say he's meditating. Compromise: frequent blood…

  Read full story▾▴

  stopped breathing and the medic on duty you know because the king of Thailand he the uh the former King he sort of paid for a medic to be on duty eight hour shifts and the medical Duty that night got freaked out when agent Charles stopped breathing and now I leave him alone he's only meditating he said no he's not breathing that's death if you don't do something quick there's no Oxygen going to the brain you get permanent break and he's already got Strokes I don't know what more you can do but he will die and so freaking out and it's very hard for monks to explain to doctors you know what's really happening and this was like a very highly trained medic and he was paranoid you know you get in trouble with the king of Thailand if you're the agent child die so they came to this wonderful compromise it was very interesting he wasn't breathing for a couple of hours so the medic would take blood sample

  Open story page·Watch this telling

• 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

• “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

• “I never expected to see you in here”

  In brief: Feeling awful and waiting at the local doctor's surgery, Ajahn Brahm is greeted by a friend from the temple: “I never expected to see you…

  Read full story▾▴

  Years and years and years ago, I had, I think, some sort of sickness and never found out exactly what it was about, over 20 years ago now, the last time I was really sick.. And I went to the doctors and I was sitting there in the doctor's surgery in Byford waiting for the doctor to call me in, and somebody who knew me came into the doctor's surgery and they saw me, this monk, who meditates, who lives a nice peaceful lifestyle, who doesn't get involved in the stresses of normal life, and they looked at me and they said “I never expected to see you in here!” [laughter]. And I felt really guilty - maybe I wasn't eating enough brown rice, maybe I wasn't exercising.. I'm supposed to be a monk! I'm supposed to be healthy, living a good lifestyle, and he made me feel guilty about being in a doctor's surgery. Okay, if I was in a pub or a brothel or something then and I should feel guilty [laughter], but what's wrong with being in a doctor's surgery!?

  Open story page·Watch this telling