Stories about conditioning
11 Buddhist wisdom stories about conditioning from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Annual visits with Abbot Placid of New NorciaStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A casual afternoon visit to New Norcia with a Thai guest monk grows into yearly exchanges between Bodhinyana and the Benedictine monastery. Ajahn Brahm and Abbot Placid, the only…
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that was abber Placid of the benedic monastery in new noria it took a long while for us to actually establish that trust you know actually because he was a Christian ABT a benedic a Catholic I'm a Buddhist monk and the first time we went up there to new nor was just we had a visiting monk from Thailand and were just looking for someplace to take him you know just for an afternoon let's go and see another Monastery and they were just very welcoming and from that just opening know we we started getting doing things together and we started having this meeting with each other once a year they'd come down to bodhinyana Monastery the whole gang of them and know we'd go to their Monastery just the monks so we'd actually talk to each other and we we get to know each other as actually real friends there's not that many monks you know in in Western Australia so it doesn't matter they're Catholic and you know they're of we were monks and that gave us so much in common especially there's only two abbots in Western Australia know abber B actually can't say the nuns Monastery but that was very small in those days you know myself and the Abbot of the benedic monastery and it's amazing just how much we had in common you know the sort of problems which I faced you got no one else to talk no one knows what it's like to be an Abbot because you don't know what it's like to be an Abbott you don't know what it's like to be a monk but you know this guy did cuz he was the Abit of a Mony I was of a Monas you had these great discussions and then that friendship really took off and then we could really challenge each other and that was when it was really interesting because I was a Buddhist he was a Christian coming from a very different background but we could actually ask the toughest questions of each other passionately but there was that trust there look I don't matter how what you say about me or what you tell me even if you say I'm absolutely fo I know that you know you're my friend before this conversation you'll be my friend afterwards that's a given and no one's going to take that away and nothing you say can take that away and because of that trust and friendship was there we had some marvelous discussions and actually that let me allowed me to change some of my views cuz you know I was actually conditioned to being a Buddhist and I actually when I first understood just how that conditioning how your views how your influences they you know what you actually allow yourself to listen to who you allow yourself to meet does make my thoughts that's where my thoughts come from I realize if you know I have to actually be much wider in my friendship I had to cultivate deliberately non Buddhist friends just like you you may be a Buddhist and you may be sort of just have Buddhist friends and just come here here and on a Friday night and just go just listen to the talks on the website and just have you know go out to dinner with Buddhist friend marry you're Buddhist you know and just go to Buddhist Retreats that is unhealthy have a few Christian friends as well a few Muslim a few atheist friends they're going to keep you honest they're going to ask you the tough questions they're also going to influence you and I didn't Lally did that cuz I didn't want to be a brainwashed Buddhist I didn't want to be sort of an extremist a fundamentalist who just gets Buddhist ideas put into them but nothing else so I deliberately cultivated sort of people who would challenge me you know that's one of the nicest places I went to was was prisons you when you first go into a prison in Western Australia they they told me I remember the first time I went to prison I think was I no it was actually down in uh in bunby but I started going to freem manle prison when it was still open and I remember this guy came out to us and you know I was going to sit around a table and talk to him and he said look you know we don't care who you are but in this Jael no you know BS b u l s h i t I'm not I'm still not g enough to say that word but you want know what I mean that's what they said to me because this is a prison there's a sense of honesty in here straightforwardness you tell it how you feel you be honest and we'll listen to you you try and just make up or just be something you're not and just you might as well walk out of here because we won't listen and accept you and I really respected that thank you that's the sort of people I love talking with straightforward is not just going to listen and accept because I'm a monk some sort of priest which you have to follow no matter what it's not just respecting me because I've got a robe on and a b head because I've been ordained for so many years but what are you actually saying be truthful so when I allowed myself to actually to be influenced by so many different people I thought that was much safer so I couldn't be actually stuck in one particular type of view and have that being self-justified all the time so with those sorts of people that friendship was there for the beginning with abber plaid the friendship was there so we could argue we could argue passionately and I found that's actually where I learned so much from if you're listening to me today if you listen to me a lot it's nothing to do with me it's the condition in which I've got the training which I've had
- Be quiet — children learning sadness at funeralsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At funeral services Ajahn Brahm has watched lively children run, play and laugh until adults snap 'be quiet, shut up'; the children's faces show confusion, then they become quiet…
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I've just noticed sometimes that when little children come into the service they're just full of energy and full of life they run around they play they joke and they laugh and I've seen the adults say be quiet shut up and I've seen those little children just their face show confusion and then be quiet and be sad because they're taught that that's what you have to do when you go to a funeral ceremony I've seen for so many years now how we condition our children to be sad when somebody dies and it's not natural it's imposed upon us
- Dismembered heads that could not be doubtedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An article Brahm read describes someone who lived through schizophrenia and came out wise and free: at the extreme they saw dismembered heads rolling on the floor, visions that…
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I remember reading an article of a person describing their battle with schizophrenia and and just how they came out the other side just wise free living a beautiful life and they said that it was so extreme that sometimes they would see like heads dismembered heads rolling around the floor in front of them Visions which were totally irrationally logical which couldn't actually exist but to them it was obviously true that they had no way that they could doubt the logic the reason of a dismembered head rolling in front of them on the ground and I can understand that how that works once you have a certain world view once you really think that that's that that is actually the truth
- Free coffee for meditating by the corpseJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In Thailand, where people fear ghosts and fresh corpses, the young Western monk announces he will meditate beside a body and is plied with coffee by impressed monks — so he keeps…
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I remember once when I think it was Ajahn Chah's brother that died and was being cremated, I told one of the monks - I'm just going to go and do some meditation by the corpse. He said "what?!" I said "I'm going to do some meditation by the..". He said "have a cup of coffee". I thought - that's really nice. And I couldn't understand why they were giving me all this coffee. And the reason way they were so impressed that anybody could sit in meditation next to a newly dead corpse, because they were just so afraid of that. So once I found that out, I always went to say I'm going to sit by a corpse, and they brought all this nice coffee. [laughter]. A bit of a scam because I wasn't afraid.
- “I don't think I deserve so much happiness”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An Australian nun ordained in the UK visits Perth and comes right to the edge of the jhānas — immense bliss and power. Ajahn Brahm keeps teaching and encouraging her, at his…
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And the classic story was of this wonderful nun, many years ago, who was staying at Bodhinyana monastery. It was during a Rains Retreat, I can't remember exactly, because it's a long time ago. And she was a brilliant nun, a great meditator. And because - I was like giving her interviews - and when her meditation got really hot (that was almost every day), she was coming out to me seeing incredible Nimittas, these beautiful lights which you see in your mind, it's really beautiful. And you're so close to the deepest of meditations. She was so close, but she couldn't get through to the next brilliant stage, the Jhānas. Really just going for it. And I was giving every piece of advice which I could, and it came to this - ‘Well I don't know why, I can't understand why it is you're not just going to these beautiful, blissful, freeing states of mind’. And then, on one interview, she told me. And it's almost like - I felt like I should burst out crying. She said her major problem was she thought she didn't deserve such happiness.
- “It's a bit OTT, isn't it?”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Dragged along to the Taj Mahal on an India pilgrimage, Ajahn Brahm sits at a distance wondering why it's beautiful — only because we're told so? A fellow pilgrim, the late member…
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we went on pilgrimage to india and part of the pilgrimage was actually going to the taj mahal i don't know why we went there but said people wanted to see it so i was dragged along i remember sitting at a distance from the taj mahal in agua in india and just asking myself why is this beautiful it's only beautiful because you're told it's beautiful when i actually look at it from a distance so what's beautiful about this it's a bit of an exaggeration and it almost ruined many many people suffered because of building that but people said it was a work of art what's a work of art is it really beautiful so i was questioning myself there i remember pauline coming up to me and said it's a bit ott isn't it and i said yeah well done c2 was challenging her perceptions were taught to say this is beautiful and when you actually look at it challenge your perceptions it wasn't that beautiful
- Singing the anthem of his own free willStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a Cambridge psychical research society demonstration, a hypnotist puts a student in trance and tells him that when the hypnotist touches his right earlobe he'll stand and sing…
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this was the the time in Cambridge psychic research Society every year we get a hypnotist to come up to teach us a uh a little bit about hypnotism and being students everybody was willing to give it a try I went up there but I was not a good hypnotic subject at the time and there's always a few of the students were really really easy to hypnotize and they do make them do silly things which you know being you know undergraduates 18 19 years of age was great entertainment but what they did to this one poor student put him totally in in hypnotic trance and after he was in trance the hypnotist said when I touch my right earlobe you'll get up and sing the British national anthem in full loud voice and then he said I'm going to take you out of Trance now but you remember that instruction and so he took him out of the trance and he went back to sit in his seat and we were waiting to see what would happen of course eventually the hypnotist uh uh touch his right earlobe and this young man in the middle of a just like you know of 300 students like 300 of you you imagine you just suddenly get up and sing the Australian national anthem in four what an idiotic thing that would be to do but this guy did it he sang the British national anthem beginning to end in a loud voice even all the students were were howling with laughter you know it was the most funniest thing I'd seen and when he finished he sat down and we'd all sort of settled down as well this fellow was not embarrassed at all and so the hypnotist asked him he said why did you decide to sing the British national anthem and this student he gave a logical reason and that was when I realized that that student he had assumed he had sung that Anthem out of his own free will there's no way that he could distinguish between what was hypnotic suggestion what we all seen he was conditioned to do that and what he took to be free will it wasn't free will that was implanted into him by the hypnotist even though it's the most ridiculous thing to do
- The cult-buster who ran from the Buddha statueStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In the early North Perth centre, Western Australia's chief 'cult buster' comes to check the Buddhists out; charmed by the very Australian caretaker he decides it can't be a cult…
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I remember one time this man came, he was a Christian, he was the head cult buster in Western Australia. He was checking us out to see whether we were a cult who indoctrinated people and sort of took over their minds. Well, we do indoctrinate people, but we actually free their minds rather than take them over. When he came in he was met by our caretaker who was a very wonderful girl, and so Australian and so charming he thought, "This can't be a cult," until he went into the room and saw the big Buddha statue. He ran out in fear, he was terrified just because it's a simple Buddha statue. Now you can go in the room next door and see that Buddha statue, and all the time which I've seen that, it has never moved, it's never bitten, it's never done anything, it's just sat there.
- The first beer tasted awfulStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 14 in London, rebellious and egged on by mates, he sneaks his first glass of beer (the drinking age was 18) — and can't believe how disgusting it tastes, like something…
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one of my experiences as a young man is being like 14 years of age, being rebellious, you know, being with my mates, a bit of peer pressure, but also being rebellious, going to take my first glass of beer. The drinking age was 18. I was only 14. Sneak in there. I can take a glass of beer thinking how clever I am, how rebellious. And taking my first glass of beer I couldn't believe just how disgusting that tasted. I did see in the newspapers there was a uh suggestion of actually Perth drinking recycled waste water. You mean from your toilets. And that's what I thought beer was, somehow recycled from the lavatory. Cuz that's that's what it tastes like. Even actually people do call it piss in Australia. So that must have been that must have been recycled from somewhere. But it tasted awful. But because my culture, this was in London, said that beer is fun, beer is good, beer is what you're supposed to enjoy and you spend a lot of money and many evenings drinking the stuff, it only took me about three or four months to start to like the taste. And once I became a monk and I looked back on that experience, I thought why did I like that? Because I had to. I completely reconditioned myself to go against my natural instincts of disliking the taste of beer to actually thinking it was delicious. And being a monk when you stand back and you watch these things, how much more of what I think I like is actually been conditioned into me cuz I have to like it. Cuz my society says I must like it.
- The irresistible tobaccoStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At Cambridge, a TV advert claims the aroma of St Bruno pipe tobacco is irresistible to women: an ordinary middle-aged man lights his pipe and gorgeous shop assistants leap over…
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or like the famous one which I got sucked into when I was of all places at Cambridge University okay I'm supposed to be intelligent I'm not I'm stupid because this was for St Bruno tobacco advertising I always remember this one cuz the advert was on the TV that when you the aroma this was before we knew that sort of no tobacco was causes cancer the aroma of some Bruno tobacco was irresistible to the opposite sex and it was a crazy advertisement this ordinary looking guy you know not particularly big or strong or handsome this ordinary looking middle-aged guy was walking down the street and he took out a pipe and put this tuno tobacco in and lit it and as soon as he lit it he went past his like news agent shop and you know actually real news agent you don't get these drop drop dead gorgeous models working in it but there was one in this street absolutely gorgeous and as soon as she smelled the aroma she was totally Enchanted she jumped over the counter following this guy wining to do his every command then he went past another shop this gorgeous red head and then another shop after about 1 minute had his whole line of beautiful women following him some Bruno tobacco irr resistable now who would believe that you know who would actually take it seriously who would actually go out the next day and buy a pipe and some some Bruno tobacco I did and I knit it walked down the street expecting all these beautiful women to jump over the couch and follow me the only thing which fed me was a dog but I felt so stupid afterwards How could an intelligent guy supposed to be intelligent guy get sucked in like that
- The king's elephant and the thievesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A king's fine elephant turns wilful and troublesome, and no trainer can fix it. A wise minister camps by its stall and discovers that thieves meet behind it every night to plan…
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there an old story from the Buddhist U Canon about this elephant you know in those days people didn't have BMWs or Porsches they had elephants and this was a king so this was know really a high class elephant now the Kings don't have any rubbish for their vehicles and that's actually how you get places on elephants so this King had a really nice elephant you know probably bought it from a very good dealer you know with all the extras and uh so he brought a very expensive elephant it was fine for a while but after sort of a few years in the garage it started to develop problems they tried to get it serviced but you know even the elephant trainers they couldn't fix up the problem the elephant was just not behaving and not doing I was being very willful and negative and causing all sorts of problems so the king wanted to get rid of that elephant but there was a wise minister was a wise minister in these Buddhist stories it's a shame we don't have wise ministers in our state government in our in our other governments maybe they have but anyway this was a very wise minister in our old King's government and the wise men said just leave it with me for a while this is really strange how come this elephant changed character so the wise Minister he just camped out next to the elephant stall overnight just to see what was going on and he found out with his camp there he heard a noise late at night he investigated that was a meeting place behind the elephant store of a group of Thieves who had meet there late at night and planned their robberies later on that evening and because of the way they spoke was so negative that was actually influencing the elephant even though the elephant couldn't understand human language the elephant could still get what we call the Vibes the energy of these bad people and obviously that had been going on so long after so many nights so the minister understood what had changed the elephant's character so the following day he told the king they had those SE arrested but that wasn't enough they had to change the character in another way so the king invited the monks every evening to go and meditate behind the elephant store do a bit of chanting and discuss you know some dummer and the influence of those monks you know every evening for many weeks behind the elephant store and then the elephant became very peaceful and calm just like the monks and that's how they fixed up the want an elephant