Stories about complaining
4 Buddhist wisdom stories about complaining from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Junior-monk suffering, senior-monk sufferingStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a skinny young monk Ajahn Brahm resents the senior monks: they get the cushions while he sits on concrete (they have their own 'upholstery'), they do no hard labour, and they…
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When I was a young monk, when I first or date, I wasn't as fat like this. I was really skinny, all bones and hardly any meat on me, any flesh at all. And when we would sit meditation or sit in a ceremony, only the senior monks had all the cushions, the junior monks, we had to sit on hard concrete. And I thought that was really unfair because those senior monks, they don't need a cushion. They've got their own upholstery. It's called fat. Then also those senior monks they didn't have to do any physical work you know in the monastery whether it was shoveling earth whether it was using the wheelbarrows or the hard labor was done by the junior monks and those fat lazy senior monks they didn't do anything and now it comes to the food as well because if you ever come to any of our diners ders is the what the giving especially feeding the monks and the nuns you always give the f the best food to the senior monk first of all and then it goes down the line one after the other to the junior monk and maybe the lay people afterwards and I was so thin in those days and I thought that's really unfair. The best food should start with me first and then go and then go to the big monks afterwards because after all know all the senior monks they're all enlightened already. They didn't need the good food. People like me did but I had to get the leftovers every day and really thin. I started getting what I called junior monk suffering and now I'm a senior monk. Now I don't need cushions, but I get lots. Now, now I don't need to do physical work. Other people do that for me. Now I get first choice of the food every day. But have I let go of my suffering yet? No. Cuz I see all these junior monks, they don't have to talk to people all day. They don't have to hear all the problems people actually load on me about their marriage, about their children, about the economy, about terrorism, about climate control and all these drives me crazy sometimes. I became a monk to get rid of all of that and all the other administration work, any complaints, it comes to me first of all. So now I do not have junior monk suffering anymore. I have senior monk suffering.
- One sentence every seven yearsJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In a strict silent monastery a monk may say one sentence to the abbot every seven years. After seven years, the wise words he rehearsed vanish and he blurts: 'The food in this…
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This is an old joke about this man who joined a monastery, and as he joined this monastery, was a very strict monastery, where you weren't allowed to speak at all, its absolute silence except after seven years, you are allowed to say one sentence to the abbot, the idea was so he could have some idea of your spiritual progress. So this young man joined this very strict monastery. And after six years, 11 months and 30 days of absolute silence, you can imagine his excitement when the next morning he could say his first sentence to the abbot. So he decided to practice in his cell something wise, you know, to inspire his abbot, something very meaningful something, you know, like one saying you find in a book. And he practices this amazing wise saying, when he went into the abbot's room, his mind went totally blank, you know what it's like, and the words which came out was “the food in this place is terrible”. Now the point was he didn't have another chance to say a word, he'd had his sentence and he'd blown it and he felt so terrible! Now he has to wait another seven years. So 13 years 11 months and 30 days, now he had his second chance to say something, and this time he was more relaxed, you know, spiritual life had done something, he is more in control of himself. So he had a good night's sleep, really relaxed, rested and his wise words he was supposed to say seven years ago, he went to open his mouth and again he forgot and the words which came out he said “you make us work too hard.” Very good, said the abbot, come back in another seven years. He blown at the second time! And of course, after twenty-one years, now he was totally at ease and he went into the Abbot office, he said precisely what he intended to say, his one sentence was this: “can't stand this place any longer, I'm leaving.” And the abbot replied “very good because you've done nothing but complain ever since you came here.”
- “Pushing the wheelbarrow is easy; thinking about it is the hard part”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Chah asks the young monks to move a mountain of leftover earth; three days of gruelling work on one meal a day. While Ajahn Chah is away the deputy says it's in the wrong…
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My teacher Ajahn Chah had just built his hall. And there was lots of earth left over. And instead of paying people or getting earth movers to move the earth, why pay money when you've got so many slaves. Like me, young monks. In those days I was fit, I was healthy, I was handsome. Not fat and old like today. But I didn't mind helping a teacher. It was like gratitude when someone had helped you so much, you just please give me something to do, I just want to help you. And so he asked us to please move this earth, all the leftover earth to put in the place around the back. Now that was not easy. It was three days of hard slog. We'd only eat one meal a day. And you really couldn't even call it a meal. It was just subsistence rations. Just sticky rice with a frog on the top. That was one of the meals. It was rotten fish curry, it stank. It was… that's what we had to eat. Because this is what the villagers ate. There was snail soup. I remember the snail soup that was just so disgusting. Because the snails are so chewy. You know, just it's really hard to break them up. You know like those rubbers you use to erase pencils that's what it was like it reminded me of. That was one of the common ones. Or the fried crickets, the bugs, the ant soup and egg soup was very common. Or buffalo afterbirth. That was vegetarian food. Think about it. It doesn't harm the animal at all. It's just extra. But anyway, really gross food. And then from nine o'clock on till about ten o'clock in the evening shoveling earth into the wheelbarrows, pushing it you know to where it's needed to go. A huge amount of three days work. And it was so hot. It was in the jungle. And there was so many mosquitoes. And it was so tiring. You didn't have time to have dinner. There wasn't any lunch or any afternoon snacks or dinner. We only had one meal a day. Wow! Even prisoners of war never had to work that hard. And I had faith. After three days it was all finished. But you can imagine how dirty you felt, how sweaty. All your robes stank and just, you know you didn't have time for a shower. As soon as you got back to your hut you just collapsed. And you woke up in the morning, alms around, have a quick meal and bound moving the earth again. Three days of really really hard work. But it was finished and when I went to bed after the third day I thought “great! Tomorrow I can have a really good wash and wash my robes and do some meditation, just relax a bit.” but that night my master Ajahn Chah, he went to visit another monastery. Just like I'm doing tomorrow. We do those things. We visit each other, help each other out. And that morning after our breakfast, the deputy monk, he made in the announcement. He said “I've been thinking of where we put that earth. It's the wrong place,” he said. We need to move it. And you know he, that deputy monk, he never pushed a wheelbarrow. Never touched it. He was one of the bosses. You know what bosses are like. They always tell you what to do but they never do anything themselves. All full of ideas but no experience. So three more days of hard work in the jungle pushing those wheelbarrows, shoveling the earth. But I still had faith. After six days it was finished. Because the deputy monk had a point, you know. Well it was almost in the wrong place. And that night, guess what happened? Ajahn Chah came back. And the following morning after breakfast he said “I told you to put it over here. Why'd you put it over there? Move it! And it was at that point I lost my faith. I never became a monk to move wheelbarrows of earth. I came to meditate, become enlightened, you know, learn the Dhamma and… that's what I was a monk for. Not as a laborer. Not as a slave. I got very angry. And you know I did say I think in the book, it's absolutely true. You did start to swear. In English thinking that you know, the Thai monks couldn't understand you. But of course they understood. The body language showed you're really really unhappy. And that I was stressed out. I was angry. For a good reason you're being exploited. You've been taken advantage of. I was so angry and upset. And that's when one of the Thai monks came up to me and he said something which I will never forget which I've shared with thousands of people. One of the great ways of overcoming stress in life. He said to me: “pushing the wheelbarrow is easy. Thinking about it is a hard part.” you know, that was worth all of that torture. Just to learn that. Pushing the wheelbarrow is a hard part. Going to work with a terrible boss that's easy. Thinking about it is a problem. Having to do all of that job being the president of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia it's easy. Thinking about it is a hard part. And of course once I got it straight away you know that the rest of the three days went really quick. And it was fun. You know we'd have races with the other monks, you got there first. And if they beat me you know, just for a bit of revenge you know, shoveling the next bit of earth and it was oh just sorry, sorry that's of I… I didn't get it in the wheelbarrow. Got it all over your face. Shoveling over each other. Just a bit of fun and games playing around. And that was really good fun. After nine days it was finished.
- The hole is too deep — or your arms too short?Analogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Man can't reach forest-hole treasure; complains the hole is too deep. Second man uses a stick: problem isn't depth — your arms are too short. Extend them.
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it's not the hole is too deep, your arm is too short So when he extended his arm by picking up a stick and hooking the treasure out I always liked that simile It's not the hole is too deep your arm is too short so lengthen the arm problem solved