Stories about contentment
25 Buddhist wisdom stories about contentment from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- A terrible retreat — he only got the first jhānaJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A retreatant complains his retreat is terrible because he can only reach the first jhāna, not the second. Ajahn Brahm: one jhāna is more than good enough — a complaining mind…
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this guy who came up to me once and said he's having a terrible retreat. He can only get into the first genre. He can't get into the second. This is crazy stuff. If you know what the jas are, there's deep meditation. You're blissing out. Just one janna is more than good enough
- Barefoot in the Korean snowStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After the Pope's visit to South Korea, Korean Buddhists organised a World Meditation Masters gathering, planning seven famous monks (only four came). At the end of February, on…
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So when I was off in Korea, it was the World Meditation Masters Conference. It was started ... the reason behind this ... again, Buddhists, Christians, we are all the same. The Pope visited South Korea last year. And the Buddhist were... Urgh!!! The Pope visited South Korea We Buddhist must do something as well. What can we do? We don't have a Pope and the Dalai Lama can't go there because of the Chinese influence, trade and stuff like that; so that was a no go. So they decided to have ... it was based on, I don't know if you remember the old movie -The Seven Samurai... What's it call... the seven... whatever it was. Somehow rather seven is a lucky number especially in South Korea. That is a lucky number 7. And they decided to invite 7 famous meditation monks to have a debate. I don't know what they are expecting, I really thought when they first suggested it, sit all the seven monks together and see who could meditate the longest. (laughter) the first person to move, loses. Or even better--Psychic powers... come on Tibetan.. lift up in the air Ajahn Brahm .. come on. see how far you can go. The one who levitate the highest ... hah, hah... It's not like that being a senior monk you don't compete at all. That is just not part of Buddhism, competing with each other, we just enjoy each other's company. Anyway in the end they could only get four to go over there. So I was one of them. Many of those monks are just too old. They shouldn't really go there anyway. So one of the most important features of being a wise monk is you are supposed to be old. So I don't really qualify yet, for being a wise monk I am not old enough. As they said I am the baby monk which I was. So anyway what we did do there. They wanted us to go..... this was in the mountains of Korea and this in .. was it February yeah end of February. And it was deep winter. And the mountains were full of snow. We went right to the very top on the highest peaks in the region. It was actually a ski resort. They asked me if I could bodyboard I said "should be with a body like this!" I would not need a board. (laughter from the audience) But then no we can't do things like that. But what they wanted us to do is to do this walk and it was going to be called ... "The Saints walk" afterwards. That's marketing again. But anyway it was minus 15 degrees. When I left it was 42C plus here... 42 to minus 15. And it was on national T.V because it was a big event in Korea. Forcusing on Buddhism and all different Buddhist monks coming from overseas walking in the snow -15 degrees. And after awhile I found all the cameras they weren't looking at me or the other monks they were looking at my feet because I never had any socks on just my sandals and bare feet. And they thought, " Wow!" Ajahn Brahm won the seven meditation masters (laughs) I didn't win, I was messing around. But how can you walk -15 degrees in the thick snow with no socks on? Just so easy. Just be content! Be happy to feel cold and then there's no problem. It's when I don't want to be cold. This cold is going to be bad for me; I am going to get frostbite. My feet, my toes are going to all fall off, I better count them before I go to the hotel afterwards. What's going to happen to me? I am going to get gangrene! No, that's not the case because I always figured out a long time ago that cold is good for you! It's good for you. People who live in cold places live much longer. They have a much longer life. And the reason is... same reason why you put things in the refrigerator to extend their lives. (laughter) It's obvious, it's science. That's why my fingers were fine they were frozen, didn't feel a thing.
- Declining Amnesty International's dinnerJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Invited by Amnesty International to speak at a dinner for an anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Ajahn Brahm declines: a monk can't eat in the evening, so…
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a few years ago there was I think the 25th anniversary of the international Declaration of Human Rights and Amnesty International invited me to the dinner to give a speech I had to decline I said to them your Amnesty International of all people you should never invite a monk to dinner cuz if I came I'd have to sit down in front of an empty plate we're not allowed to eat in the evening I'd have to look at all the delicious food you guys are eating and I can't taste any of any of it that's as you would understand Amnesty International that's torture for a month and you should be embarrassed even contemplating torturing a monk you bunch of hypocrites so that's how I declined
- Economy class was paradiseStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After seven years in austere forest monasteries he flies Bangkok–London on a cheap Philippine Airlines economy fare. He can't believe the luxury: a chair, ripe Western fruit, ice…
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I also remember the first time that after seven years I flew on an aircraft. From Bangkok to London. I got a cheap fare on Philippine Airlines, an economy class. This is 25 years ago. I couldn't believe just how sensuous and luxurious economy class on Philippine Airlines was. [Laughter]. It was my senses were, "Ah! Amazed!" Because I'd been in a forest monastery which was very, very austere. What I realized from that, that sensuality is also very relative. To other people cramped in the economy class of an aircraft 25 years ago that was just so tough and it was such an ordeal. But for me, who had never sat on a chair for seven years, being served ripe fruit which was hot and which was Western which I could eat. I even got ice cream. I remember that ice cream. [Laughter]. But in the tub instead of in my bowl. That was just melting into my rice and curry. [Laughter]. And even the muzak, the muzak on the plane that was.. I mean, I hadn't heard music for seven years. That was amazing, that was just so sensuous, I couldn't get that out of my head afterwards. So you see that's obviously a joke for you because you go on an aircraft and the muzak on there is just yucky and the food, aircraft food people think is disgusting. An economy class you're so cramped up. But for me, because I'd been living a far more austere existence in these forest monasteries. That was amazing. In the aircraft there wasn't even any mosquitoes. First time in seven years I was free from mosquitoes for more than an hour or two. That was to me, was luxurious and sensual.
- Hopeful a burglar might leave us somethingStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In a tiny London council flat, young Brahm asks why they don't lock the door. Father: not afraid of burglars — hopeful one might take pity and leave something.
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why don't we lock the door when we go out aren't you afraid of burglars?" You know what my father said, he said: "No, I'm not afraid of burglars in fact I'm quite hopeful a burglar might come in take pity on us and leave us something."
- Imprisoned in a six-star hotelStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a conference tour in Japan, his hosts put Ajahn Brahm in what he later hears was a six-star hotel room. He's afraid to touch the taps of the big bath and jacuzzi, can't watch…
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I remember going this one time and I was giving some talks in Japan and going to I'm not sure if it's possible because I couldn't speak Japanese, but this hotel, it looked like it was a six-star hotel. It was crazy. We was just, you know, going to give a series of talks and conferences and stuff when I got inside of there in this hotel and I don't know if you know the Japanese culture said, "Please, we want you to be in here because we want to know where you are." It was a bit of a conference and so had to make sure I was in the right place. And then just I was inside this and I thought this is like a prison for me. I'm a monk. I'm not used to hotels. They had this big bath and a jacuzzi or something. I never been in one of those before. I own too scared to turn on any tap cuz any button or something. If I turned it on, I don't know what would happen. And of course, being a monk, you can't turn on the TV. That's against our rules. And the beds not like beds we have in in Serpentine where monastery where I live. And let many of you been inside my place where I live. And it's just it's not a bed. It's just a mat on the floor about that that thick. That's happy for me. I don't if you put me on big bed, it's very hard to fall asleep. And a small bed is very very easy and comfortable for me. And so what am I doing with this big beds? They're buttons on them. I don't know what to do with those buttons. I must admit though, when I went inside the toilet in this fancy hotel, I well, I couldn't resist pressing the buttons and see what happened. It was crazy. They don't have toilet paper. They just press a button and something squirts out in the right place. And sometimes it's in the wrong place, but never mind. [laughter] you get it hot and cold and all sorts of stuff. It was good fun. But then after a while I said, can't I just have a simple place to stay and it was one thing which I noticed that it was obviously that somebody paid a lot of money for me to spend a night in this hotel. It was part of a conference tour and and I was thought I don't want to be in here. I just want to be a nice little cave know where I stay in serpentine or under just over here just a nice little room. You don't need all this special stuff. And you know after a few minutes I didn't want to be in there. I want to get something else more simple. It's just too elaborate for me. They had many sort of TVs in there. Obviously didn't know which one to turn on. I didn't turn any on. And after a while I realized that I was suffering. You know what was probably I think I heard later on it was a sixstar room in the hotel. Six star. Have you ever been in a six-star hotel room? It really sucks. It's terrible. If you're a [laughter] monk, why on earth? And I realized that what is suffering is not if it's a six-star hotel or if it's just out in the bush somewhere. Any place you don't want to be is called suffering. Any place, even a six-star hotel, any place you like to be, you can feel something nice, beautiful, or simple, or whatever it is. If you want to be here, then you're free. you're happy. If you don't want to be here, you are in a prison.
- Income: nilStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Renewing his low-income health care card, Ajahn Brahm writes 'Nil' in every income box. The first time, the office wrote back asking him to explain how he supported himself:…
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A monk who every time I write off to renew my health care card, 'cause I'm low-income, when I write in all the boxes, "How much money do you earn a week?" "Nil." "How much money do you earn from rental property?" "Nil." "How much money do you earn from shares?" "Nil." "How much money do you earn from other sources?" "Nil." "Sum total of your yearly income?" "Nil." I love sending that form off [laughter]. When we first did it we'd get the letter back, "Can you please explain how you've supported yourself." And I said, "very wonderfully, very peacefully, and I'm fat.
- 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.
- Lower where you should beStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Just before a talk at Nollamara a woman shows with her hands: 'this is where I should be, this is where I am,' and the gap is making her miserable. Ajahn Brahm's solution: stop…
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this is where I should be they use their hands to try and describe it this is where I should be this is where I am right now and I'm trying so hard to move myself up to where I know I should be it's caused me so much stress and difficulty in life and that's where I said okay you know I can understand your problem and the solution is very simple it's very simple here is where you're supposed to be here is where you are and you're trying to push your where you are up to where you're supposed to be how about lowering where you're supposed to be to coincide with Where You Are
- Monastery waiting list — want to be hereStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Prisoner asks what monastery life is like; routine is far more austere than WA prison, yet there is a waiting list to get in and a waiting list to get out of prison. Only…
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Staying in a monastery is much tougher than staying in a prison. But there's always a waiting list of people trying to get into a monastery. There's a waiting list that the people trying to get out of a prison. Why? And the only reason why is that a prison is where people do not want to be. A monastery is where they do want to be
- Nine years dreaming of fish and chipsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After nine years of NE Thai monastery food (frogs, snails, buffalo afterbirth), Brahm finally gets hot fish and chips after a funeral — vinegar, salt, paper. Nine-year dream:…
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I will tell fish and chips story now. This is my own experience okay? But I was in Thailand for 9 years. And the food there was absolutely disgusting. And I I You know, I told many stories about the food there. I mean, you know, you know, your dog wouldn't want to eat it. I'll tell you that because this was in the northeast of Thailand. Anything which slithered you had in your bowl. Literally. Now, what would it What were the sort of things? Not just like boiled frog, snails, lizards, uh grasshoppers, uh ants' eggs, um water buffalo afterbirth. That's what we ate. Disgusting stuff. So, you can you can im- You can im- You can imagine just, you know, just when I came to Australia, I can get fish and chips. You know. And I'd dream of fish and chips. Even I was a vegetarian but when I was dreaming of these things. But, I dreamt of it something and at last, after about a year or two here in Australia, I was doing a funeral service for somebody. And the timing was that I couldn't get back to monastery for the meal. So, Ajahn Jagaro, the other monk was an abbot at the time, so he said, "Okay, just get yourself something on the way back." This was my chance. I could get hot fish and chips, you know, in paper. The whole works was in the vinegar and salt, the whole works. Not like sometimes sometimes you get them in the monastery, but you put the chips and the fish in your bowl and then you have to put curry on top of it or the custard comes out. It's not not the same and it's all cold anyway cuz you have to give all these blessings. That's the worst part. If ever you come to the monastery and sort of, you know, see how the monks actually eat. You know, we go down there and the food is actually hot when it goes in your bowl. By the time you've given all these blessings and all this rigmarole, you're looking at it and it's all cold. This was the real thing, real fish and chips, nice and hot. And it was so disappointing. You know, for 9 years I dreamt of this moment. And this was it. What a waste of time
- One buffalo, or wanting twoStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Living among subsistence farmers in north-east Thailand, young Ajahn Brahm wonders why some equally poor villagers are happy and others miserable. Every house has a water…
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But one of the things which I did notice living in that village. yeah sure many of those poor people were happier than the people I knew sort of from the great university like Cambridge I also saw some miserable people in that village. When I saw those miserable people in that village I wanted to find out why some people were miserable other people were happy when they both had very few things. and I found out that basically it worked out like this Every house had a water buffalo which they used to plough the fields. and the dung from the water buffalo would be the fertilizer for their fields The buffalo would plough their fields and do all sorts of tasks like pulling the cart and that was a very important part of their house But I noticed the farmers who had say one water buffalo and happy with one water buffalo seem to be the ones always smiling But the farmer who had one water buffalo but wanted two that was the farmer who was unhappy. who didn't seem to have so much time and so much joy in their lives Seemed to me that happiness was not so much how much you have but how much you want.
- 'Pass this, and then you'll be happy'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a boy Ajahn Brahm gave up soccer to study, because everyone said that if he passed his O levels (at 14) he'd be happy. Then it was A levels — so he gave up chasing girls. Then…
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I noticed this when I was at university because over in UK, you know, you had to first of all, the first big exams you did were the O levels. That was done usually about 16. I did my O levels when I was 14. And so I work really hard for those O levels because my friends and my families and teachers said if you pass your O levels then you'll be able to get good jobs in life and get enough money you'll be happy at that time I like playing football soccer in the park and I was pretty good you know I I could have been a millionaire by now if id have carried on playing soccer instead of going to [sighs] You seen how much these soccer players get. Anyway, I gave up soccer and just studied and I did very well in my old levels. Was I happy? No, because I had to do more exams, A levels. [clears throat] But A levels were important. You do well at A levels. You can go to university, you can be really happy. So I at that time, as I say, I wasn't chasing footballs then. I was chasing girls. And so you know my family and friends says look stop going out so much just you know just stay at home do your studies get your A levels and then you'll be happy. I I believe them you trusted others. So I did my A levels, did really well and so went to university and that big university Cambridge I mean that's a really big university say wow get your degree from Cambridge and then you'll be happy and that's when I started getting suspicious cuz I saw other people who had got degrees were they happy no they had to do more work either to get an MA or a PhD or something. Or if they didn't do that, they got a job. Were they happy getting a job when you got a degree? No way. They never got enough money. And you had to save up for a car, save up for a place to live. And at that time, you were trying to get just, you know, transport and a place to stay. And also, you know, just trying to get a wife in life if you're a guy. And that was really a lot lot of trouble. I always thought, yeah, once you get a nice wife, I thought, why why do men go to so much trouble getting them? I don't believe it's going to make them happy. So I thought once I get a nice wife and save up to have enough money, nice house, and a car, then I'll be happy. But I did some research. I was smart enough then to know some people who are older. And then what happens? Were they happy? No way. Because once you got married and that was really expensive, you know, you didn't in a bigger house and then you had to have mortgages and have to work hard to pay off the mortgages. You never pay it off because, you know, after four or five years of marriage, you have kids and that's really expensive. And many people kept telling me, "Oh, once the kids grow up and leave home, then I can be happy. And then what happens is by that time most people are close to retirement and they kept saying oh when I retire then I'll be happy I don't have to go to work every morning not so much stress and then when they retire are they happy no that's when I noticed that most of the people who went to especially Christian churches were people who are really old there's quite a few of them here too. You know why? Cuz they think if you go to a church or a mosque or a a temple, then when you die, then you'll be happy.
- Photo op in the galleyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a Garuda flight from Perth to Bali, a flight attendant puts her hand on her heart: 'I am your greatest fan!' After the meal service she invites him to the galley, where all…
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So for me when this, I was on this Garuda flight just the airhostess, the flight attendant came up to me. Actually she didn't come up to me, she was on the aisle, I was in the window seat I always think the window seats are the best because at least you only got one person on one side the others are windows. So at least the window can't ask you questions.... (laughter) It happened I was on another flight once, really tired from Kuala Lumpur back to Perth sitting on the window seat, a woman come pass and she said "Are you Ajahn Brahm? I really need to talk to you." and I said "there is another fellow who is in the aisle seat" Never mind. You know what this woman did? She bent down and asked this guy in the aisle seat "Would you mind exchanging seats?" And I was praying "please say no, no, no!" (laughter from the audience) That bastard; he said ''Yes'' So this woman all the way from Kuala Lumpur to Perth asked me about her marriage, her relationships.... And I had to come back and give a talk that night as well.. Really unfair... but anyway it wasn't so bad on the Garuda Flight because the flight attendant just turned around and looked at me and said "Are you Ajahn Brahm?" Yes.... And she put her hand over her heart You know the flight attendants are very beautiful she said "I am your greatest fan!" (laughter from the audience) If I wasn't a monk a many years later you may be quite excited at things like that. Way past that stuff... So I said... yes I am She said "you are such a wonderful monk" I got really good service but interestingly ... Indonesians She came up... once they have given the meal service she came up to me and said ''would you please come to the galley?'' That's the back of the plane where all the flight attendants hang out. And they were all lined up. Photo op. (laughter from the audience) They don't even know me, even during a flight they wanted to take photos with me Every Flight Attendant, smile, click, OK Another one click... ok next one Satu Dua Tiga Those who know... that's one two three. I don't know anything pass three in Bahasa Indonesia. Because you only need one two three to take the photo. That's why I know Satu Dua Tiga That's one two three in Bahasa I don't know what four is They never say that ... one two three smile! They all lined up and If you have ever been on the back of an aircraft, the galley. When anybody presses the ... calling the flight attendants the light goes on there. All these lights were going on ding ding ding This was an Australian flight... from Perth to Bali Most of the people on there were Aussies going surfing or holiday And they all were pushing the button for a beer. And they couldn't get any beer because all the flight attendants were having photographs with me! (laughter from the audience) So they were not happy with me I think they lost a lot of faith in Buddhism because when I was there they couldn't get a beer.
- Six months alone, and the kangaroos ate the pizzaStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Sometime between 2000 and 2008 his year's sabbatical shrank to six months. Instead of touring, he stayed in a hut in the Serpentine forest without seeing or speaking to anyone.…
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I spent six months without seeing any human being, without talking to anybody else. What had happened was, I was supposed to have a sabbatical, a year off, but then it, one thing led to another, I can only have six months off, so you go anywhere in the world, where would you like to go for six months? I could go touring here, visiting this monastery or that monastery, but I said, "No." Why do people always have to seek for happiness somewhere else? Why can't I find that happiness right where I am in that monastery where I worked so hard to build it up? So I said, “No, I'm not going to seek for happiness contentment anywhere else,” I could go wherever I wanted to, but I decided to find the best happiness and truth and freedom and wisdom right here. So I had a hut in the forest in Serpentine and I stayed there for six months, never went anywhere except deeper and deeper inside.. And it was arranged that we had a box…, actually where's that box now? The box which…, I think it's over… Okay, still is there somewhere, anyway, we had a little box there, and in the morning, at a certain time, about 10:30, one of the monks would actually put my bowl with food in the box, and I'd know the time they were coming, so I knew to be in my hut, and afterwards I will go to the box, open it up, eat the food, and then wash the bowl, put it in the box there for the next day. So I never, it's much better than Uber Eats, it was “Monk Eats". I never got charged, I never saw anybody. So there I was, and they knew I was alive because they see my bowl, and the food was eaten, so and it could have been the Kangaroos, I suppose, eating the food, but no it was me, although sometimes, those kangaroos…, you know, that they're really really really smart, and they soon found out that I was, you know, in that hut, and sometimes you'd leave your food outside on the veranda, it's a walking path, and leave the bowl there just for a few minutes to go inside to get something 'cause I liked eating on the veranda at first, and you know what happened? You find a kangaroo with it's head inside my bowl, (laughs) taking the first choice of food before I ever got to it! And so I from that time I decided to, to eat inside my hut, and so even inside, but, you know, the window was open and the kangaroo will come up onto my path, and look at me through the window, and ahh… a poor kangaroo, so you know, you felt sort of some compassion for this poor.. They had plenty of grass, but then, I started by putting some healthy food outside, I remember, like a carrot, or some…, but you know, they weren't interested in that, you know the food they liked the most when I was on retreat? Pizza! Honest! (laughter) Like…, it was, I don’t know if it's healthy for them, but, you know, that's what the Kangaroos decided they wanted to eat, see a little kangaroo with a little pizza in their mouth, they loved that
- The cold stone benchAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A simile he made up: on life's journey you come to a rough, cold, lumpy stone bench, the only place to stop. It's uncomfortable at first, but the longer you sit the warmer it…
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a Sim which I made up is like on life we're always moving always going on to the next thing and sometimes it's because we got no place to stop so sometimes on the Journey of your life you find this old rough Cold Stone bench it's not even even it's all lumpy and it's cold and it's really hard but it's the only place you have so you stop your journey and you sit down on it for a few seconds and it's not comfortable when you first stop but on that stone bench the longer you sit on it the warmer and more comfortable it becomes soon the cold has disappeared and it's quite warm next the bumps disappear so it's very even next it's not hard anymore it becomes soft like a big cushion like a sofa and soon it becomes the most comfortable place you could ever sit the hard bench transforms into something so comfortable and so wonderful
- The fifth child wished to need no more wishesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Five children play the wishing game. First wants a Big Mac; second a McDonald's restaurant; third a billion euros; fourth three wishes forever. The fifth wins: 'I wish I was so…
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five children playing the wishing game it's a great story a wishing game goes like this every child has to think of a wish and the child who comes up with the best wish wins the wishing game so the first child a young boy was thinking and said yep if I had a wish I would wish for a Big Mac with double fries an ice cream afterwards and a coke cuz my mother never allows me she's a Buddhist she comes to the temple vegetarian she never allows me to go and have a Big Mac so that was his wish fair enough and asked the second girl what was your wish and the girl was thinkinking and she'd heard what the boy said had a bit more time bit smarter than the boy and said if I had a wish I would wish for a McDonald's restaurant when I've got a restaurant I can have many burgers whenever I want and fries and everything else cuz I own the joint so that would be my wish for McDonald's restaurant and obviously a much better wish so the third child a boy had again longer to think and he thought he was a very smart guy he said if I had a wish let's put away in this just restaurants let's go big time if I had a wish I would wish for $1 billion us I think it's going up again now was it which is worth more actually which is is euros worth more now okay 1 billion euros cuz with 1 billion EUR I can buy my own McDonald's restaurant that' be first of all there be plenty of money left the next thing I would buy said the boy was my own video game store cuz I love playing video games I can get whatever video game I want but thirdly my mother is always stopping me playing video games saying I should do my homework so the third thing I will buy is my own school cuz when I own a school I can always give myself top marks I employ the teachers and at the end of you know my school career I spent all time playing video games and no homework cuz I own the school when I graduate from the own my own school I sell the school and buy my own University you got lots of universities in the United States where you know they can give you degrees for anything so I buy my own University and at the end of two or 3 years give myself a first class honors degree or whatever and I can spend all my time doing video games and he said with $1 billion when I grow up I still have billion euros sorry I'll still have many many millions left to do whatever else I want whenever I wanted cuz $1 billion you just cannot spend in a whole lifetime and so the third child was a child with a $1 billion wish beat that saying $2 billion or 3 billion is it's not beating at all it's the same it means like as much money as you can ever spend so the fourth child the girl had to think very deeply how can I do better than the billion Euro wish she was really clever said I can beat that she said if I had a wish I would wish for three wishes that's a wish for my first wish I'd have the madonald restaurant my second wish I'd have the billion billion EUR and for my third wish I'll have three more wishes that way I can go on forever be that so the fourth child was a child with the Infinity of wishes can you do better than that the fifth child won the wishing game very clearly he managed to think of a wish which was clearly Superior than having an Infinity of wishes granted whenever you wanted a wish it was granted for you that fifth child said if I had a wish I wish I was so content I never needed any more wishes ever again
- The hundred-baht wish listStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A grateful Thai supporter who knows the rules offers the young monk a 'mendicant allowance' of 100 baht for anything he personally wants. His mind goes blank, so he asks for a…
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Cos that happened to me many years ago, maybe over thirty years ago in Thailand, I had helped a man with some problems, and he was very grateful, he knew the rules, cos he was a Thai, been around the forest tradition a long time, so he came up to me and asked me, "Is there anything I can get for you? Just for you, not for the temple, one hundred baht." That's thirty-seven years ago, and these days, it's only worth about two or three dollars, but that to me was a lot of money. So you know, my mind went blank, as it often does, maybe I meditate too much, I don't know. But anyway, I couldn't think. And he was getting very impatient, and he had his work to go to. I came up with an idea, I said to him, "Why don't you come tomorrow morning? Tonight I'll think about what I want, and I'll write it down and give it to you tomorrow." He said, "Good idea - I'll be here about the same time tomorrow." So that night, after the evening meeting, chanting and meditation, I went back to my room, I lit a candle, cos there's no electricity - and I got out a old piece of paper and a pen, so I started thinking, "what do I want?" Straight away the pencil broke, so I said, actually - I need, not pencils, pencils are hopeless, I need like a pen. just a simple, biro pen or something. And as for the piece of paper, it's just a scrap piece of paper, I need a little exercise book - you know, nothing fancy, just a little exercise book, and also you know the candle is very, very difficult to write, it's bad for your eyes, just you know, reading or writing by candle light. What I wanted is one of these little oil lamps, little lamps you know, you see maybe on the boats, over here in Australia, just a little oil lamp, and a bit of kerosene, and talking about lights, my flash light was really terrible, and I needed a new flash light, and some batteries - and I put all of those things down. I suddenly realised one hundred baht, was not enough. And you know, it was so difficult to actually take any of those things off the list now, Cos now I thought about it, I don't know how I survived without them. I mean how can you survive, you know, and actually I needed some new sandals, you know, if I'm going to be walking through those forests, I needed some more new sandals, and actually talking about pieces of paper, I really needed to write to my family, I needed these aerograms. And soon, a thousand bahts was not enough. And every one of those items I put on the list, now was so important to me, I just could not scratch any one off. And that's when I had the insight, I realised what's this thing was doing to me. At that point, I screwed up that piece of paper, and I threw it in the waste bin, this little spittoon we had. And the following day, when that man came, I scolded him, "Don't you ever do that to me ever again. I was such a happy monk, before you gave me one hundred dollars. Or a hundred baht, now I had all these desires."
- The Mexican fishermanStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An American business professor on holiday meets a Mexican fisherman unloading his morning catch: enough to feed his family, then lunch, a siesta, playing with his kids, dinner…
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it's a story of the old Mexican fisherman you know there was American who went on vacation to the Caribbean coast and when he was uh just walking around by the shore he saw a fishing boat come in to unload its morning catch and his Mexican fisherman unloaded the catch and this American came up to have a conversation with him said what are you doing seor he told the American I've been out fishing all morning I've got enough fish here to sell to feed my family so now I'm going to go home and have a nice lunch after lunch I'm going to have a sleep a cesta it's good for your health you don't get stressed out if you have a siesta can you have a siesta or you're too busy I'm going to have a cester and after cester I'll be home when my kids come back from school they play with them help them with their homework and in the evening I'm going to have dinner with my wife and maybe you know go to the the canteen or the pub in Mexico having a a couple of tequilas not much and play the guitar with my friends now life is good and that's when the American said sir I am a professor of business studies in a business school in the United States I think I can help you don't be so lazy you are not exploiting this wonderful resource of a fishing boat yeah go home and have lunch but go out in the afternoon you'll catch twice as much fish with the extra profit from twice as much fish you'll be able to buy a much bigger boat with a crew that way you'll soon be able to catch about four or six times as many fish with that extra profit you'll be able to buy a second boat in about four or five years you'll probably have a whole Fleet of boats and then with a whole Fleet of boats you can even make your own caner so you can process the fish it's Downstream processing to make increase your profits and then with that business you can actually uh move the center of your business to Mexico City or even better to LA and then because you own the whole business you can float it on the stock market know sell shares because you're the CEO you can award yourself these amazing obscene salaries and give yourself stock options which means if the stock goes up you can buy if it doesn't you don't need to you can make a millionaire many times over in about 10 years now I'm a professor of business studies that's how it's done and the Mexican fisherman listened very respectfully until the end of this presentation the Mexican fisherman said but Senor what will I do with all those millions of dollars and Professor thought for a few moments he hadn't thought the business plan out that far so he had to think that's all people think about making the few Millions but then what and the professor said well yeah with all that Millions few Millions you know you can retire you know you can retire to you know a nice fishing Village like this buy yourself a small boat just to go out in the morning for fun you'll be able to have lunch with your your wife every day you'll be able to take a siesta afterwards and you always be home to play with your children when they come back from school and you'll be able to go out in the evening with no worries at all Senor I do that already
- The most beautiful sound in the worldStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Sydney trekker lost in the Himalayas shelters at an ancient monastery and at midnight hears the most beautiful sound of his life. The abbot will only reveal its origin to a…
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he got lost and getting lost in the hillary mountains or the foothills is really really dangerous so the the sun was going down really quickly but he was lucky you saw there were some lights in the distance so he made for those lights and it was a monastery an old monastery been there for centuries and so you know they allowed him to come in because apparently he wasn't the first westerner got lost in that part of the world and the the abbot really kind monk he said well look you know the place is pretty full but you can actually have my room for the night it's got like a nice mattress there sort of thing you're used to it's only for the night in the morning we know where the the group has gone to we'll take you there and you can join up with your your trick so they put him in the albert's room overnight it was very comfortable they gave him some food for the night and but about midnight he was woken up by this sound he called it a sound but it was almost like music but it's much better than music is the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard in his life it brought tears to his eyes and it was just so peaceful so melodious i didn't know what instruments it was but he used to say afterwards that it was even better than anything good to hear the sydney opera house it was really fine fine music and it put him into a very calm and deep sleep when he woke up in the morning he was so rested and they gave him some food before they were going to take him over to the the place where the rest of the trek was and he couldn't help asking said what was that music last night and the alberts just stopped and said oh you heard that last night said yeah i was just woke me up in the middle of the night what was it and the abbott said and sir i'm afraid i cannot tell you the origin of that sound the only monks are allowed to know that and for you it's forbidden and so what the australian did he got out his wallet okay how much he said no i don't you give me the whole thousands of dollars we still won't tell you the only way that you can find that sound is you have to become a monk yourself and so he's he got really fed up he said look you've got to go now otherwise you'll miss the trek again so this guy from sydney joined the trek and eventually came back to sydney and what that noise was or the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard in his life you know that just bugged him so much he went to every psychologist and therapist he could find in sydney because you know he couldn't even forget it he couldn't put it aside and after one year of suffering not knowing what it was he said well nothing more to do he just got on the plane to kathmandu went up into the himalayan mountains found that monastery knocked on the door and said to the upper who remembered him he said i was here about a year ago and i heard this amazing sound and i can't put it out of my head it's obsessing me please tell me what it is and the abbott said look i can't tell you exactly said this man so you know you say i have to be a monk to know the meaning of that sound so please ordain me as a monk and the other said it will take over a year of training before you can become a monk i don't care i'll do that training please ordain me so i can hear what that sound was so he entered the long hard training of being a monk learning all the chanting learning all the rules and 12 months later on the anniversary of his arrival they gave him the ordination and as soon as he was ordained what did he ask the abbot i'm a monk now please you must tell me what that sound was the most beautiful sound in the world he said okay look i'll do better than tell you i'll show it to you tonight come to my room at midnight and i will show you so he arrived of course about about half an hour before midnight he was so excited he given up so much of his life to become a monk and so he could find out the meaning of this sound and i was a monk yeah but could tell him you would better show him so that night about 10 minutes to midnight the abbot let him into the room and he drew a curtain aside from the room behind that curtain was this very ancient wooden door i mean like really old it must have been built there hundreds of years ago and the abbot from this desk took out these ancient keys the first one was a wooden key and he put it in the the keyhole turned the wood key and opened the door almost as soon as he opened it you could hear the noise the music it was like heavenly music not the sort of thing you'd hear at any concert hall much much better than that and he was so excited he waited such a long time to hear this and he went down the passage with the abbot and there was another door and that was an iron door solid iron must have been dug from the mountains again centuries ago and cast into this really heavy iron door you can see the rust on it had been open for years had the iron key put it in the latch turned the key and opened the door and of course the music was even more sonorous even nicer to here and it went down the the passageway a bit further and the third door was a silver door it had lots of uh jewelry in it no precious stones they're getting closer to the source of this most amazing music and by this time he was shaking with eggs not with anxiety anticipation he put the silver key in the silver door turned it and it opened and you could see the last door was a as you would expect a golden dog solid gold but embedded was precious jewellery ancient heirloom of this monastic order and you could hear the music so much clearer by now and it was just so thrilling again he was crying it was like weeping it was so beautiful and by the time they got to that last door the abba got out the gold key but then stopped and said look what's beyond this door the source of this music is almost supernatural are you okay to actually to look at this because some people look at this some monks who see it go crazy i mean it's not just ordinary stuff it's really supernatural it's powerful stuff are you ready for this and yeah but you know you got to know this abbott over the last year or two and of course you know he trusted the albert the apple wasn't playing games with him so he thought for a while he said look i've come so far if you don't show me i'll go crazy for sure so please open the door okay said the abbott he put the key in and he opened the door and what he saw inside was i'm sorry i can't tell you because you're not monks
- The mouldy hay outside the fenceStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A stingy farmer wants to get rid of last year's mouldy hay. His cows won't touch it in the paddock, and when he mixes it with good hay they nose the bad hay aside. Then he…
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the farmer with moldy hay. A long time ago, this Aussie farmer had a whole lot of hay, which was from last year, which was moldy. And of course, trying to save costs, he wanted to give it to his cows before he would give them the new hey. But the cows they knew that was moldy old hay. So, would they eat any of it? No, they refuse to eat it. So, plan number two - let's mix it up with the good hay, the new hay, the moldy hay, and the new hay, mix it all up together and the cows won't know what's what and they'll eat it all. That way he gets rid of the old hay. And the cows were much smarter than the farmer, they just with a nose pushed the old hay to one side, pushed the new hay to the other side, and ate the new hay. It is just like the kangaroos in Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine. Because when we go on retreat, we take food, the food that is given to us, we got all this food, the monks give us far too much, and a lot of time we put the excess food out for the kangaroos. Now people might say oh, that's bad for the kangaroos. Ask the kangaroos! They don't think it's bad, they love it. As I remember the first time I did that. You care for the animals, so you give them some healthy food, some carrots and lettuce and some apples and stuff. But I couldn't believe the first time I did that, had this really healthy food there for the kangaroos, they, with their nose, they pushed aside the carrot, they pushed aside the lettuce, you know what they went for? The pizza! They did! They left all the healthy food, they loved pizza. And I think this is the only kangaroos in the whole of Australia who get pizza. The kangaroos in a Buddhist monastery It is their good karma to be reborn in a Buddhist monastery. They get pizza, no other kangaroos get that. And they like it, they love it, so good on them. And some of those kangaroos that they know the monks now. Because the monks are just so kind, you know, and so sort of gentle. I remember that happened to me once - you put your bowl just outside the door, you just go inside to get something, and before you know it, the kangaroo has got his nose in your bowl. That's your one meal of the day. And he's getting the first choice - going to bowl, looking what he wants. It is nice to be with animals, but anyway. So the cows pushed aside the hay that didn´t want and ate the hay they did want. So, he was still left with all this moldy hay and didn't know what to do next. Until he got a brainwave, an insight; he should have done this to start with. If ever you go into the countryside, and you see cows in a field or sheep in a field, have you ever noticed there's always a fence around to keep the cows away from the road. But the cows or the sheep love putting their head through the fences. And eating the grass just on the other side of the fence. You always see that well eaten, well grazed. So, what he did? Very simple solution: he put all the moldy hay, not in the paddock, but outside of the paddock. Away from the fence, but just far enough, if they really stretch, they could just get it. And the moldy hay was gone in a day. Anything which is forbidden, anything which you don't know, anything, which is just on the other side of your fence.... is very delicious. I know that people did once say that hunger is the best sauce. No, that's not the best sauce. Being forbidden is the best sauce
- The nun, the mouse, the cat and the cowStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A nun living contentedly in a cave finds a mouse has chewed her robe. To keep mice away she asks a supporter for a cat; the cat needs milk, so she asks for a cow; the cow needs…
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In this particular story, it was a story of a Buddhist nun. A Buddhist nun, who was living in a cave, just happy, meditating, peaceful, just being content with the simplicity of her life. But one day when she came back from her morning alms round, because the monks and the nuns, we traditionally go out in the morning, with our bowls, to collect almsfoods, from our disciples, and that's what we feed on. It's a very simple way of living. And when she came back from her alms round, she found that one of her robes, which she left in her cave had been chewed by a mouse. And so, then she had to get out some spare cloth, needle and thread, and sew up her robe. I remember doing that, many many times in Thailand, sometimes you had to be very careful, sometimes very poor. I remember one monk, he hung his robe on the line, he just went to the toilet, and a cow chewed it. [laughter] Now, this is the only robe we got, we can't go to the robe shop and get a new one. So we just get some rags, or whatever, to sew it up. But after spending all this time sewing up her robe, she thought, "Why don't I get a cat?" The cat, you know maybe won't kill the mouse, but at least it'll chase it around, chase it out. The mouse will be able to smell the cat and it'll disappear. So the next time she was on alms round, she told one of the villagers there, her supporter, "Look, I really need a cat. You know, to make sure there's no mice, so I can keep my robe safe." So, they managed to find a little cat, and just left it with her. So she had a cat, so no more problem with the mice. But then the cat needed some milk. And she only got a little bit of food on alms round. So she had to ask one of her disciples, "Look, when I go on alms round in the morning, can you give a bit of milk? For the cat, not for me." So the disciples, and they're very supportive, so they started giving her some milk. But you know, sometimes it's hard to always be asking for things. So she thought, "Look, instead of having, asking for milk everyday, why don't I ask him for a cow? Because then I can actually make my own milk and I won't have to bother everybody." So she ask another of her disciples, "You got lots of cows, can you spare me one, so I can get some milk for my cat. So the mouse won't eat my robes." So they're very kind, Yeah, you're all very kind to the monks and nuns here. So they managed to give the little nun, a cow, a very nice cow. But of course. the cow have to eat as well. And so, they were always asking the people in the town, "Can you bring some grass?" And so they'll come every morning, to bring grass for the cow. And she thought - such a hassle getting grass for the cow everyday, and then she asked, "Is there a small little piece of your farm - little field - can I just let my cow graze in your field?" And they said, "Okay, fine - we're Buddhists, we're very generous." So they gave her a little field so she could graze her cow. But you know what cows are like, sometimes they go in other people's field. So she realized, that, you know, to be able to make sure that she didn't allow her cow to go and graze in other people's field, she needed a little boy to look after the cow. So, you know there are such things like temple boys, those people who have been to Sri Lanka and Thailand. The young people, they can actually stay and look after the monks or the nuns, or the cows - in this case, and you know, they can go to school as well. So, that, one of the supporters said, "Yeah, I've got this son. It'll be very good, because they can associate with the nun, and maybe learn some Buddhism, and get very good character." So they sent this little boy to her, so she had a boy to look after the cow. But then, just like for monks, monks can't have, like women staying in their caves so she need some place for the boy to stay. So she asked the villagers, if they wouldn't mind sort of, building a little hut just outside the cave you know, for the boy. And then one day, one day, someone came up to her and said, "Um, I'd like to ask you a few questions on meditation." She said, "No, I'm sorry, I can't make it right now, because I've got to look after the builders who are building the hut for the boy, who looks after the cow, who looks after the cat, who keeps the mice away from eating my robes." And, then she realised where she had gone wrong. Just a simple thing, just like trying to keep the mouse from eating her robes, and led to her having a cat, a cow, a field, a boy and trying to find a place for the boy to stay, And she realized, just how complicated things get. So what did she do? She sent the boy home, she sold the cow or gave it back, she sold the field, She even gave the cat away. And from then on, whenever her robes, the mouse returned, and she was very happy with her little mouse. And everytime the robes were bitten, and chewed, she would just put a little patch on it. Because that gave her much more time than having to look after all these other things.
- The woman who swapped seats to talkStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Exhausted on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, Ajahn Brahm sits by the window. A woman asks if he's Ajahn Brahm because she really needs to talk; he points out there's someone…
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It happened I was on another flight once, really tired from Kuala Lumpur back to Perth sitting on the window seat, a woman come pass and she said "Are you Ajahn Brahm? I really need to talk to you." and I said "there is another fellow who is in the aisle seat" Never mind. You know what this woman did? She bent down and asked this guy in the aisle seat "Would you mind exchanging seats?" And I was praying "please say no, no, no!" (laughter from the audience) That bastard; he said ''Yes'' So this woman all the way from Kuala Lumpur to Perth asked me about her marriage, her relationships.... And I had to come back and give a talk that night as well.. Really unfair...
- They can steal the donations, not our happinessStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: During the rains retreat thieves break into the monastery's donation box; nobody knows how much they took. Instead of anger, Ajahn Brahm resolves: they can steal our money and…
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We had a robbery in monastery. They broke into our donation box and how much do they steal? I don't know how much they steal. But instead of getting angry at them taking donations and say they can steal our money, they can wreck our donation box. So we have to fix it up again, but they'll never let them steal my happiness and my forgiveness and my contentment. We wish you well with that money. We can't get it back. So, let's let you have a happy time.
- “Why don't you come and stay with us?” — the monk in Casuarina PrisonStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A monk teaching at a high-security prison describes monastery life (4 am rising, one meal, hard work, no TV, sleeping on the floor); horrified, a prisoner invites him to come and…
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And this particular story is an anecdote when one of our monks, when I was too busy doing all these other things, we used to go teaching in prisons, but another monk started teaching in prison. When he started teaching in prison, this was in Casuarina Prison, at one of the top-security jails. After a while the prisoners there said "Can you stay back a bit longer, we want to sort of talk to you, just find out about you." So he stayed back a little bit longer, they gave him a cup of tea and some chocolate now if you give a monk a cup of tea and chocolate, they're gonna stay forever, so he stayed behind for a bit of tea and chocolate. They started asking him questions about life in a Buddhist monastery in the West. What do you guys do? Have you ever wondered what we do in our monastery? So he said, "Okay, the day in the life of a monk, we get up at four o'clock in the morning." And just at that the prisoners were aghast. "Four o'clock in the morning! Even in prison, you don't have to get up at that time." And the monk he did actually make a qualification, he said, "Actually it's voluntary, it's optional, getting up at four o'clock in the morning," which is true, it's optional, you can always get up earlier, if you want to, that's the option. "And then what do you do?," and he told them, "We meditate." They said, "Can't you just watch the end of the late night movie?" He said, "No, we don't have TVs." "You don't have TVs in the monastery, we have TVs in our cells in prison, that's terrible. So what you do then, you have your breakfast?" We do have a breakfast at the monastery, we usually have just one cup of cereal in it and that's about it, or you know someone, you know has his noodles, but it's only one cup, that's all. They said, "Wow, you know in Casuarina Jail we can have bacon, we have pancakes, we can have cereal, you have everything there, whatever you want." And they said, "Why don't you do that in the monastery?" "No, no, we only have a bit of cereal and that's it." "And then what do you do in the morning?" "And then we work hard at Bodhinyana Monastery." We do these amazing chores, you know building, and even I do that, and if you go down to the retreat centre, we're doing this ramp and I was spending two days cutting the bricks, it was a huge angle grinder, really heavy work, getting myself all dusty. I like some joining in when there's any concrete work. Tell the story once with doing concrete work, when you do concrete work, even as a monk, you get it all splashed all over you. So you know just boys being boys, I'm still a boy you know, still just maybe a bit old to be a boy, but I still like getting myself all dirty. So I got all this concrete on top of me, as I was walking back to my hut to have a shower, I passed a Sri Lankan woman and she was in this really expensive sari, she was visiting the monastery. She came up to me and I'll never forget this, she said, "Uh... I've come to see the abbot Ajahn Brahm." I thought very quickly and I said, "Madam, if you go to the hall over there he'll probably be there in about fifteen minutes." That was enough time for me to go to my room, get a shower and get changed into some clean robes. So I went up to the hall, and there she was waiting, and I said, "Oh! I'm Ajahn Brahm," you know she never recognized me. That's how dirty I was. I gave her a nice talk, you know about the monastery and about Buddhism, what we're doing here and she was really impressed, so just before she left she said, "You know you've got a really good monastery, are you're a really good monk, but if you don't mind me saying this, I saw this really dirty monk when I came here and I think you should do something about that." I said, "I'll talk to him later, Ma'am". Which I did. So that's actually how hard we work, and when the prisoners heard this, again they were really surprised, 'cause yeah, in prison you have to do jobs, but they take it real easy in those jails in Australia. They said, "They'll never get us to work that hard." They said "And then you have your lunch?" Yeah, we have our lunch, many of you have been to our monastery, we eat it out of a bowl, everything goes in one bowl. Sometimes it's true you do get curry on spaghetti. No sorry, I got that wrong, you got custard on spaghetti. That's right, you ever had custard on spaghetti? Why do you say "yuck" for, you've never eaten it, but actually you're right, it is gross. Sometimes you have custard on spaghetti. I've had ice cream on curry, chocolate ice cream, yeah, that's also yucky. 'Cause you know, you put it in your bowl, and for me because I'm the senior monk I put it in the bowl myself and I give it to somebody to take up, 'cause that's their duty. By the time, they're not really careful, they just shake it all over the place, you know I put it in the right position when I start, by the time it gets up there it's all over the place, but that's life. And they were saying that even in prison, even when you go to solitary, you get a tray the custard is here, the spaghetti is over there, it's separate compartments. "Don't you have compartments in your bowl?" Have a look at our bowls, we don't have separate compartments, it goes all over the place. They said, "That's disgusting!" "So what you do in the afternoons?" He said, "We meditate." "Can't you sort of play some music, or sort of play a game of footie or something." "No, we're not allowed to play footie, we just meditate all afternoon." They said, "Don't you get bored?" "No, that's what we're supposed to do." "So I suppose you hangout for dinner?" "Dinner? We don't have dinner in our monasteries, we just eat in the morning time, there's no dinner." They said, "Well, even in prison they give you something to eat in the evening and you have snacks throughout the day, whatever you want. So what do you do in the evening then? You know, can you play cards play monopoly or something, pass the time?" He said "No, we can't do that." "Don't tell us" they said, You meditate, don't you?" "Yeah, of course we do." "Oh God, that must be terrible. Then what time do you go to bed?" And the monk said, "Bed? Bed?... we don't have beds, I sleep on the floor." They were absolutely disgusted. Even in prison they put you in that little cot with the mattress on top, not in our monastery, I sleep on the floor. Anyway, the prisoners were actually really surprised. They were really surprised, but not only surprised, they felt sorry for this monk who had been visiting them, and this is true story, one of them was so upset that this man who they got to like was living in such a hard situation, one of them blurted out, "That's terrible in your monastery, why don't you come in here and stay with us instead?" And they had a point, it is actually much more comfortable in any prison in Western Australia than in Bodhinyana Monastery, or even in Dhammasara Nun's Monastery. So why is it that people are trying to get out of jail, and they're trying to break into our monastery, to stay there, waiting lists. That got me thinking, what's the difference between our monastery and the prison? Prison is actually more comfortable, the monastery is much harsher. What's the difference? The only difference is in a monastery people want to be there. In a prison, doesn't matter how comfortable it is, people don't want to be there, that's the only difference.