Guards with machine guns — to keep the world out

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• The tycoon's mansion that felt like a prison

  In brief: Visiting a Kuala Lumpur tycoon's mansion to give a blessing, Ajahn Brahm passes machine-gun guards, huge walls and CCTV everywhere, and…

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  I just remember just going to give him in a blessing and his mansion It was over in Kuala Lumpur somewhere I won't say which guy this is I went to his mansion and there were guards with machine guns the guy You know he was a private person just a tycoon Guards at his gate huge Huge walls see CCTV ninety-three two seats CCC saw something TVs and guards everywhere And I thought this is like going in a prison And it was like a prison He reminded me of a prison, so these guys are very very wealthy actually lived in their own private prisons And they couldn't go anywhere by themselves Always had to have somebody take them around Bodyguards everywhere and so what type of life is that?

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• One toe in the pool

  In brief: Simile: a four- or five-year-old who has only just learned to walk is taken to a pool for the first time. Mummy lets it dip one toe and…

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  just like the story of the kid being taken, maybe four or five year old kid taken to the swimming pool to learn how to swim for the first time. Imagine what it must feel like be a child. You've just learned to walk, you know, be able to stand up and run without falling over. And now you have to to somehow understand and cope with this stuff which is not solid water, the whole pool of it. It's okay jumping in a puddle and making everybody wet but just a whole pool. So how do you get a kid to do that? So the mommy just lets it put one toe in first of all. Take it out. That feels okay. A whole foot. Take it out. Let's say it's only a foot. A leg. then dip it in and then take it out again. Mommy's still holding it. And then eventually you let the kid go into the pool. And once the kid's in the pool splashing about enjoying itself, it's very hard to get the kid out of the pool again. It's too much fun.

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• The mango tree with no mangoes

  In brief: A king sees two mango trees — one laden, one bare — and almost curses the bare one. Returning for fruit he finds soldiers have stripped…

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  one of the kings in his Buddhist story he went went this is in the time of the Buddha he went with his soldiers to train and as he was coming back to his Palace after doing the training he saw two mango trees one of those mango trees had so many ripe mangoes on them the other tree had no mangoes at all and he thought what's the point of being a mango tree if you don't have any mangoes so he almost cursed that mango tree with no mangoes and the tree with lots of mangoes he thought that when I finished and got back to the palace and got changed I'll come out and enjoy some of these R mangoes that's what he did so he changed and got on his horse and came out to taste some of those right mangoes and only then he saw that his soldiers who's helping train they never bothered to get changed they stripped that mango tree which had the mangoes of every fruit which was on there and as they were stripping every mango they broke so many branches and stripped off so many leaves that mango tree which was once full of succulent mangoes was actually destroyed he looked at the mango tree which had no mangoes and that's the still had all its branches and leaves intact and he thought I'm going to renounce being a king if you have power and wealth there's other people who want it isn't it more happy to be someone who has enough to live but not too much so other people will never want to break into your house they never want to steal anything that's just like Monastery you know right now where I live the door of my coutti is open I never locked it this after oh it's actually this morning when I left bodana to come here my cave those doors are open too there's nothing in there just space there emptiness who can steal emptiness we can't st

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• “Can you tell my parents for me?”

  In brief: A girl who has come to the Perth temple since she was a toddler comes to Ajahn Brahm at 16 or 17: she's pregnant by her boyfriend and…

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  she'd been coming to the temple since she was 1 or 2 years of age playing making a racket and a noise as kids do that's why you know please bring your kids to the temples let them get familiar with the monks sometimes playing with them but means when she got to 16 or 17 she came to see me said hmm I'm in trouble there was a trouble I'm pregnant with my boyfriend and I said have you told your mum and dad yet said no that's why I've come to you can you please tell them for me so why don't you tell them they'll kill me and she was scared of her parents she thought she'd be punished so she wanted me to be the intermediary so I went to the parents look kids make mistakes she's a good girl but she's got herself into trouble don't know why could be peer pressure you know she lost her her mind for us because if she liked her boyfriend one thing led to another and then now she's pregnant she doesn't need to be afraid of you she needs your help and support children make mistakes

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