Stories about fortune-telling
2 Buddhist wisdom stories about fortune-telling from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- “A very good year for romance”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: For Ajahn Brahm's birthday, a kind, wealthy Malaysian ex-lawyer quietly asks his time of birth (about 5:30 p.m., 7 August 1951, UK) and pays one of Australia's best astrologers…
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I can't resist this birthday story. This true my birthday many years ago. And on my birthday that it's so hard to get a present for a monk. What does a monk need? Nothing. People ask me, "What can we get you?" Nothing. I said, "But I got you that last year." Yeah, but I haven't finished it yet. I need some more. Give me some more. Nothing. But this fellow, he was a Malaysian ex- lawyer, very wealthy and very nice man, very kind. So he decided, he didn't tell me, just said, you know, about what time of day were you born? And as far as I remember, it was about 5:30 p.m. on 7th of August, 1951 in UK. Oh, he said, and I didn't really know what he was up to, but on my birthday, he came up and he said, I spent a lot of money getting a professional horoscope of you with one of the best astrologers in the whole of Australia. Cost me a lot of money, but it's my birthday gift to you, Ajan Brah. Would you mind? He asked if I read it out. I said, okay. He spent all that money. Why not? So he read out my horoscope for that year, you know, by this really professional, expensive, you know, [snorts] uh, astrologer. He said, "For anyone who's born at 5:30 p.m. in UK on the 7th of August, 1951, I started reading out all the different steines which were in alignment or in conjunction or whatever else." And he said it began with this coming year, the next 12 months, said the person who did the horoscope, will be a very, very good year for romance. [snorts] We never got past that line. [laughter] We all laughed our head off, especially me. Totally wrong, cuz I'm still a monk. No romancy. [laughter] But instead of asking for the money back, you just say, "Oh, what a wonderful joke that was, and what a wonderful entertainment that was for my birthday. I'll always remember that one.
- The fortune tellers looked so poorStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In Hong Kong Ajahn Brahm was taken to a street of fortune tellers who looked ill-dressed and out in the rain — if they cannot tell their own fortune, how can they tell yours?
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they took me to this street where all the fortune tellers were and i looked at those fortune tellers and they were just so ill dressed poor and some of them were out in the rain and i realized my goodness you call that a fortune teller they certainly can't tell their own fortune how on earth can they tell yours