Stories about craving
17 Buddhist wisdom stories about craving from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Bob Dylan on being famousStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A fellow monk, Garry, who grew up in Los Angeles among the famous, once sneaked into Bob Dylan's hotel and spent an evening with him. When Garry said it must be great being…
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Even when I was a young monk, there was a fellow monk his name was Garry, and I remember as a young man he grew up in Los Angeles, he met that filmstat who was that who played 'dirty harry' what was his name? Clint Eastwood, he met Clint Eastwood in his early days because they went to the same university together he told all these stories about being with the rich and the famous but he remembered once when that Singer Bob Dylan was in Los Angles he found out from his friends which hotel he was in and managed to use on of his contacts to sneak in the back and spend a whole evening and night with Bob Dylan. This is a famous man, at that time he was multi famous and Bob Dylan was saying ... no he was saying to Bob Dylan Ah it must be great being famous; Bob Dylan swore no its xxxx whatever it is, I can't repeat it here its terrible being famous. It's such a pain to be well known.
- How the donkey caught the carrotAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A stubborn donkey is driven by a carrot dangling on a string from a stick tied to its own back — always two feet ahead however fast it runs: that's your life. But a donkey that…
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It's a story, one of my favourite stories of the donkey and the carrot. Those of you who know the story because you've been on the retreats, it's also in the book of "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond." You know that donkeys are very stubborn animals, that's why they say in English - as stubborn as a donkey. You hit them with a stick, they won't move. So the only way you get donkeys to move, is you tie the stick to their back, so the front of the stick is about 2 feet, in front of the donkey's head, at the end of the stick you put a string, on the end of the string, a carrot. So there's this donkey, seeing this carrot 2 foot in front of it , craving is what drives the donkey, not fear of punishment. So there the donkey moves forward to try and get the carrot but because this carrot is on the end of the stick, and the stick is tied to the donkey, it doesn't matter how fast the donkey moves forward, the carrot goes at the same speed so it's always 2 foot in front of the donkey's head. But it's stupid enough to think, well, if I run a bit faster I might catch that carrot. You understand the simile - that's called your life [laughter] chasing a carrot. Do you ever get it? Now it's always 2 foot in front, you almost get it, sometimes, just perfection you know, happiness, even deep meditation, it's almost there, and you just go a bit further, and it goes further away from you. But many donkeys have actually heard my talks on YouTube. [laughter] And they now know how to catch the carrot! How to find meaning in life. You know how you do that? The donkey's already been running really fast, and the donkey hears the word, "stop", stop chasing that carrot, "stop" so the donkey stops. You know what happens when you stop? The carrot moves further away than its ever been before. If you've got patience and trust and faith, you've heard Ajahn Brahm, you actually believe he may be on to something, so you stop. And as soon as it's 4 foot away from you, twice as far as it's ever been you get a little bit of doubt, is this going to happen, is it true? But then something amazing happens, the carrot starts coming towards you. And soon it's in its normal position, 2 foot in front of your mouth, but now it's coming at great speed [laughter] towards you, you don't have to do anything, you just sit there, And just at the right moment, you remember the most important phrase, "The door of my mouth is now open to you, carrot" [laughter] And the carrot gets into your own mouth!
- I want happiness — scrub I, scrub wantJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Cartoon: angry man brings a monk a sign 'I want happiness'. Monk scrubs out the I (let go of self), then scrubs out want (craving), and holds up the remaining word: happiness.
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there was a cartoon first. This really angry guy going to the monk. I want happiness. And the monk takes one look at that. Problem number one, I let go of the sense of self. Yeah, just part of nature. Just just let that eye go. So he scrubs out the eye and then the sign reads want happiness. Second problem, want. So he scrubs that out and then he holds up the sign happiness
- Joke: four monks with a vow of silenceJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Four monks take a vow of silence. One sneezes. The first says, 'Bless you.' The second says, 'You've just broken your vow of silence.' The third says, 'Ha ha, so have you.' The…
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there was four monks with a vow of silence one monk sneezed the first monk said bless you second monk said you've just broken your vow of silence the third one said haha so have you fourth one said I'm glad I'm the only one here who can keep quiet
- Old monks don't lieStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A wandering old monk spends the rains retreat in a hut a poor farmer builds for him. Leaving, he says a great treasure lies close by: at sunrise stand at your threshold facing…
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there was an old monk who would Wander from place to place not staying in any Monastery but a Wandering Monk and he came to a farmhouse one day and the farmer gave him some food and the farmer was a devoted Buddhist and it was getting close to the retreat time we call the rain's Retreat now the was the the puns are in tire and the man said have you got any place to stay for the three month Retreat and the old monk said no I haven't please come and stay with us not far away is a beautiful Meadow next to the river I can quickly put up a simple Hut for you and I'm more than happy to feed you every day all I would ask all I would ask is once a week you teach me some DH and answer any questions on meditation that's all and the old monk said yes I would accept your invitation so the farmer built a simple Hut next to the river and every day the monk would go for his arms food very simple food but very nourishing and the monk could meditate nice and peacefully and once a week he would teach the farmer and his wife and their kids and after 3 months they got to love that old monk he was like part of the family and so when the old monk said it's time now for me to go the retreat is over they all started crying and even the dog put his tail between his legs and started whining CU even the dog fell in love with this old Monk and They begged him please don't go stay here forever you know you're like one of us but the monk said I have to go but said the old old monk I've had some very deep meditation and in my meditation I have discovered very close by closer than you think is buried a great treasure I know how poor you are and I want this to be your karmic reward I want you to have this treasure and this is how you find it listen carefully tomorrow morning said the old monk I want you to stand at the threshold of your house that's just where the door is I want you to face eastwards towards a Rising Sun and take up that old bow and arrow which you have which you know used to hunt and face the Rising Sun with your bow and arrow in your hand when the Sun rises stand and face the Rising Sun and let the arrow fly and where the arrow drops there you will find the treasure follow my instructions and you'll be rich beyond your wildest dreams and at that the monk left the following morning the father was up an hour before Dawn he was so excited he knew he would find a treasure you know why because all monks don't lie and he had the bow and arrow and he waited for the sun to rise and as the sun rose he picked up the bow and arrow faced the Rising Sun and shot the arrow and the arrow went a long distance and they all ran after it the wife the kids and the dog and where they Arrow fell he made his wife dig a big hole sometimes men are like that but don't worry if you're like that to your wife you have some karmic reward and see what's going to come up they dug a big hole or she dug a big hole where the arrow fell and what did she find nothing only trouble cuz that Arrow fell in a land belonging to a rich man and that rich man saw them and said you are destroying my land that's against the law I'm going to sue you I'm going to find you I'm going to give you lots of trouble and the wife said it's not my fault it's his fault pointing to the husband and the husband said it's not my fault it's the old Monk's fault and that word monk the rich man fell silent he said oh Monk I'm a Buddhist I'm a Buddhist said the rich man and old monks don't lie how come there's no treasure here what did he tell you and the farmer told the instructions of the old Monk and the rich man said I know your mistake look at you you're a poor farmer you've got no muscles on you you have to be someone rich and fat like me to be able to to shoot a bow and arrow look said the rich man tomorrow I will shoot that arrow and we'll split the treasure 5050 is that okay or do you want to go to jail so so the farmer said okay I'd accept that deal so the following morning they were there and the rich man shot the arrow in the direction of the Rising Sun it went much further and so they all ran after it the farmer the wife the children and of course the dog and this time because of the law of karma the farmer had to dig the hole and he dug and he dug this huge hole where the arrow fell and what did he find nothing only more trouble because this time this time the arrow fell in a field belonging to a general in the Army and he came with his soldiers and said you're destroy my property and he ordered the soldiers to cut them off cut the heads off right there and then he's a very Fierce General you don't mess around with generals and straight away the farmer said not my fault not my fault the rich man told me to dig this hole rich said no no no no not my fault it's this old monk this old monk said we'll find a treasure and that word monk even the general fell silent and he told the soldiers put away your swords I'm a Buddhist too said to J and old monks don't lie what did he tell you and when they told the instructions the general said look you stupid people you don't know how to shoot a bow and arrow you have to be a soldier trained in archery to know how to shoot a bow and arrow so he said tomorrow I will shoot that bow and arrow and I'm sure we'll find a treasure cuz old monks don't lie we'll split it three ways evenly so following morning the general was there and don't worry because this doesn't go on much longer the general shot the bow and shot the arrow and it went a huge distance because the soldier had practiced he trained in archery and they all ran after it the rich man the farmer his wife the kids and who else the dog yeah dog as well and this time it was a rich man's job to dig the hole where the arrow fell he d a really huge hole and what did the rich man find nothing only more trouble because this time this time the arrow fell in the King's Garden that's big trouble and the King arrested a lot of them and put them on trial and he told everybody destroying the king King's Garden is a capital offense punishable by death before I execute you explain what you were doing and the general said sorry it's not my fault this rich man's fault and no no not my fault it's his Farmer's fault and the farmer said not my fault the old monk the old monk got us into trouble and at that the king said hang on I'm a Buddhist too and oh monks don't lie I've got to get to the bottom of this I'm going to put you in jail until I find out exactly what's happened so he put them in jail and he sent his soldiers out to find that monk they soon found him and they dragged him back to the palace and the King said oh monk you've got these people into really big trouble they're about to be executed why and the old monk said because your majesty they did did not follow my instructions what do you mean said the king listen your majesty tomorrow you go to that poor Farmer's house you take the bow and arrow and follow my instructions and I guarantee you will find the treasure cuz I'm an old Monk and old monks don't lie and your majesty out of fairness to all these other people please split the treasure evenly four ways even the shareff of a king would satisfy you how much more would it satisfy the poor man and the King agreed so the following morning the King was at the threshold of the house with the general the rich man the farmer the father's wife the children and the dog who else the old monk yeah I forgot the old monk he was there too this time the king stood at the doorway of the house he waited for the sun to rise he picked of first of all he asked the monk said oh monk am I standing in the right place yes said to the old Mark you're following instructions and he waited for the Rising Sun and the old monk said correct your majesty you're following that instruction he picked up the bow an arrow correct your majesty and he faced the Rising Sun correct your majesty and he was about to shoot the arrow wrong your majesty what do you mean said the king and the monk said I told you your majesty to let the arrow fly not to shoot it and the King understood straight away instead of shooting the arrow he opened his finger and thumb and let the arrow fly and it fell right between his feet right where he was standing and there he got the general to dig a hole only a small hole and what did they find a huge huge treasure even a quarter of which satisfied the king and made the farmer and his family and the dog the richest dog in the whole of the Kingdom with a beautiful Diamond collar and the best food in a gold doggy Bowl for the rest of his life
- 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.
- Sensual pleasure is a loanAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: The Buddha's simile, as Ajahn Brahm gives it: sensual pleasure is like taking out a loan — joy at first, then the payback; and to repay it you take another, bigger loan, until…
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he compared such sensuality like to borrowing money, taking out a loan. Which is actually very deep and profound because when say you are watching pornography or you know getting into some sort of sensuality there's a lot of joy there at the beginning. But often we have to pay it back afterwards. And sometimes like a loan the only way you can pay it back is by taking out another loan to the pay off the original debt and the loan gets bigger and bigger and bigger until one gets into such a great financial mess, there's no way you can actually pay back your loan.
- 'She'll do'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A now-senior monk honestly admits that as a young monk he'd sit in the temple and find himself eyeing a girl who came in — not particularly attractive, mousy hair — and think,…
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one of the monks who is a great Monk and he when he was a young monk you he was very honest and he used to come and tell us he said yeah you know it's a young mug we're not supposed to like girls you know we're supposed to be monastic but he said sometimes he was sitting in the temple and this girl would come in and he start looking at her and you know she wasn't that beautiful you know her hair was mousy flat breasted not particularly not particularly attracted but he said she'll do and now was a wonderful Insight that m c he's still a monk because he realized what was going on
- The blind cats of the closed coal mineStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm recalls a journal article from decades earlier. After Thatcher's government closed a coal mine in South Wales (near Cardiff or Swansea, he can't remember), locals…
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Now, the evidence which uh got me interested in this. Many, many years ago, I saw this article sort of in a journal. And this was the evidence of the the mutant cats. This is a timely one here because we've got a little kitten in the back there. But some years ago, it must have been about um 24, 5 years. No, it must be about 30 years ago. Uh when uh Margaret Thatcher, she was the Prime Minister of England. One of the first thing she did when she came into power was to fight the unions in that country. And one of the things was to close the coal mines because they were uneconomical, so she thought. So, they closed many coal mines and many of those coal mines were in South Wales. Some were up in the north, but this particular one which was closed was I think next to Cardiff or Swansea, I can't remember which. And once it was closed and a fence was put around it, the people in the local area, if they had extra kittens, instead of actually dropping it at a Buddhist monastery and getting the monk to bring it and see if he can find a nice home here, they were far more cruel. They would go under the fence in this coal mine. They'd go to the edge of the pit which went hundreds of meters down and they'd throw these unwanted kittens down the shaft. Just throw them down. They were so cruel. But the only reason I found out this was happening was about I don't know, it was maybe 10 years later. They sent engineers down into that mine to check on its stability to make sure that it wasn't going to collapse. So, they had to do an inspection. And when they went down the bottom of the shaft, that's when they found this whole mound of like, you know, dead cat flesh and fur of all the cats who'd been actually thrown down there. But you also know that cats, especially kittens, that sometimes they do fall, they land on their feet. They're incredibly agile, almost supernaturally agile. Because many of the cats survived. They survived the fall. They knew that because there was a heap of cats underground. But in those 10 or 15 years, I forget how long, but it wasn't that long. They knew when the coal mine was closed down and they knew when they actually like this happened, they found a whole new species of cat underground. Cats with huge ears that they came from rats who were blind, born blind, but huge ears. There was a new species of cat had evolved in the space of 10 or 15 years. How did that happen? It's obvious. Those cats living down hundreds of meters underground where no light came, they didn't need eyes. So, basically, the eyes weren't developed. They needed ears because it was sound which would lead them to their their dinner, sound which would protect them from their enemies, sound which would lead them to their mate so they could reproduce. So, the ears, because the ears were really necessary, they grew grew grew grew grew. The huge ears. Eyes not necessary. They were just blind. And a whole new species. I remember seeing a photograph of them. I'd never seen a cat like that. It had evolved.
- The burglar who came back for compassionStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An abbot finds a knife-wielding burglar at the donation box, hands him the key, notices how thin he is and offers him leftover food — 'don't rush, there's plenty of time' — and…
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its a nice story about a monastery somewhere in the world and in the middle of the night the Abbot was woken up when he heard a noise in the main shrine room So he got up and checked, and sure enough there was a burglar in the temple. As soon as the burglar saw the Abbot the burglar was trying to open the donation box and he told the Abbot just get out of here. And the Abbot took one look at the burglar instead of actually stopping the burglar opening the donation box 'here's the key' so the burglar took it and told not to do anything But the Abbot took one look at the burglar and like many burglars and this guy was so thin. So the Abbot asked him when was the last time you ate. Burglar said 'shut up' . When I give talks I always like to wake people up every now and again (audience laughs). 'Shut up' he said. But the Abbot didn't shut up he said 'look there is some left over food from this mornings meal in the cupboard, help yourself. And the man was hungry. So just looking at the Abbot and brandishing a knife from the kitchen he said 'don't come near. He quickly sort of stuffed some food into his mouth and the Abbot said 'don't rush, there is plenty of time' and the bugler opened the donation box emptied it, took some more food and ran away saying don't call the police, Abbot said I wan't the donations are there for charity, for compassion you are a poor person just take whatever you want I will clear with the committee tomorrow So the next day when the committee heard about this At least the guy was being kind and they liked the Abbot for being kind but usually what happens a few days later that bugler was caught robbing another house somewhere and was sentenced to jail The abbot forgot all about that and few years later The bugler returned with another knife. He came and said you remember me? I robbed this temple five years ago, now I have come to rob again; but the burglar said this time; but last time I took the wrong thing I took the money Putting down his knife he said now I have come to take compassion and wisdom, please show me how you were so kind to me, even though I was about to kill you and rob your tample. So the Bugler realizing for the first time he thought that money was happiness after those five years realized that kindness is more important than money he said the first time he have stolen the wrong thing now he come to take the right thing and asked the Abbot to teach him; compassion and Kindness.
- The leaf moves only because of the windAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Simile (from Ajahn Chah, as he tells it): Ajahn Chah would hold up his hand and wave it — not at flies — saying this is a leaf on a tree. It moves only because of the wind; when…
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This is a meditation teaching from Ajahn Chah, he would hold up his hand, [waves hand] this is for Liza in the United States, I'm not saying goodbye to you. He said: ‘This hand represents a leaf on a tree. And it only moves like this because it's the wind blowing. If the wind stops, the leaf still moves, but less and less and less, until it comes to a stop. Because the default position of a leaf is to be still. It's only the wind makes it move.' And Ajahn Chah said: ‘The default position of the human mind is to be still. It's the wind of wanting something makes you move.
- The lottery winner led to jailStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A happy man of modest means wins a US lottery of over a hundred million dollars; soon his picture is in the paper as he is led to jail. With wealth came friends he couldn't trust…
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A classic story is few years ago one of the people who won a huge lottery in the United States hundred million dollars or more , his picture was in the newspaper being led to jail He was a very happy man before he won the lottery and as soon as he won the lottery things started to go wrong in his life Sure before he won that lottery he didn't have much money he had enough to enjoy his life, to be able eat and have a modest little house and go out with his friends but as soon as he became really really wealthy all of his friends he could not trust anymore. all were asking for loans or bits of money here and there it was one of the problems with wealth; even though it promises you so much it tends to limit your enjoyment of the world rather than facilitate it
- The moon in a still lakeAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Simile (on a full-moon retreat night): if there are waves or ripples on a lake you can't see a perfect image of the moon and stars; when not one ripple crosses it, you get a…
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the simile I usually give is a simile of a lake if there's waves on the surface of the lake you can never get a a clear reflection of the stars and the full moon and if you look up the sky this evening and tomorrow the the moon is full it's a very beautiful time to start meditating and if you go to one of the the Lakes the lake down the bottom and you look at the image of that Moon if there are waves or ripples in that Lake you can't see a perfect image but you can imagine when that lake is perfectly still when there's not even one Ripple moving across the surface of the lake you get a perfect reflection of the moon and the stars and that's just like the mind to be able to reflect reality to see things as they truly are without Distortion we got to use a mind which is perfectly still so there's not even a ripple on the surface of that mind
- The sandflies weren't in the brochureStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Invited to teach in New Zealand, Ajahn Brahm gets a brochure of Alpine mountains and placid lakes — just the kind of place a monk loves. But in the South Island he can't stand…
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I remember to seeing a cuz I was invited to give some talks in New Zealand and so I got a brocher on New Zealand the most beautiful countryside there and know his mountains you know like the lakes with his like the Alps with his beautiful Placid lakes and there wonderful scenery there and I thought wow that is the sort of place a monk likes to go to mountains lakes beautiful Forest but when I went there I couldn't stand still for one minute sandflies for those who've been to New Zealand you know what I'm talking about and the South Island sandflies everywhere and so it was very tranquil on the pictures but the glossy u crossy pictures in the magazine they couldn't show you the sandflies
- The sludge that started to taste niceStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Told that monks should eat plain food, he recalls that in his first year as a monk, as a practice, he stirred everything in his one daily meal — sweets and all — into a single…
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My first year as a monk, for a practice, I put all the food together which was disgusting anyway, and I got the spoon and mixed it all up. I only had one meal a day. It was a sludge, it was a slop and if you saw it, you'd actually pour it out straight away. It wasn't even fit for pigs, let alone for monks. But the trouble was it was an interesting experiment which I did. Every food no matter what it was, the sweets, everything in one bowl and stirred it up so it was absolutely consistent. After a while, it actually started to taste nice.
- What boys and girls really wantStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a big youth conference in Kuala Lumpur, Ajahn Brahm splits the teenagers by sex. He asks the girls what makes a boy attractive: not strength or showing off, but someone they…
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I've talked to youth groups you know young people 14 I the last time was over in quala had this big youth conference and I was talking to the boys and the girls I I separated them out first of all because it's a waste of time talking religion because what boys and girls are interested in is each other so I talked to the boys first of all I said what do you want in a girl girlfriend what would you like in a girlfriend and all the boys suddenly started paying attention you know this is something they don't teach in school and this is something the boys really wanted to know I know when I grew up no one told me you had to try and figure it out for yourself you used to ask other boys and what did they know about what girls want so I asked the girls what do you like in a boy what would make a boy really attractive and they talked with each other and they came to the conclusion it they didn't have to be strong and mash show and show off they wanted boys they could trust they were well groomed not dirty wanted you know people who would make them happy were fun to be with they didn't have to be strong and big it was like trust caring reliable fun to be with that was high on the list of what these girls told me they wanted in a boyfriend he asked the boys what you want in a girl do they have to be drop dead gorgeous well it helps I'm a boy but it's not that important what the boys wanted and they said this we wanted someone we can trust someone who will care for us someone who's fun to be with it's amazing it's exactly the same thing you want someone who you can be with trusting care he in you can relate with and have fun together with they were the highest priority
- When am I going?Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At Wat Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah tells the young monk Ajahn Jagaro he is being sent to another monastery ('the banana garden'). Jagaro asks when he's going; Ajahn Chah changes the…
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Agent Chow won't tell me when I'm gonna go. " He kept going there every day to ask him when he could go so that he could actually make arrangements and agent Chow would never tell him. This went on for about two weeks and agent Jack kept on asking, "When am I gonna go? I need to make preparations," and agent Chow would never tell him. Then one day, agent Jackrow never went to ask. And then agent Chow told me, "You're going the next day