Stories about hope
11 Buddhist wisdom stories about hope from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- From prison to 'Reservoir Dogs'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A boy who fled an abusive Los Angeles home at six becomes a career criminal. Near release in his late 40s or 50s, his case officer gets him a job advising on a gangster film; the…
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about this young kid, six years of age is when he ran away from home in Los Angeles I think he had one of these very abusive families, beating him, not really looking after him. So he left home and lived on the streets from the age of about six years of age. It's incredibly he survived but you know the only way to get by was petty crime and you get sort of arrested every now and again and from petty crime to bigger crime he became a career criminal and what changed his life. He’s in his late 40s or 50s was when he was shortly to be released from another spell in jail. He had a case officer who was trying to find him a job. How can he get a job? You know, once you've been in prison most of your life, who would employ you but she was very resourceful, she found just the right job with his life experience qualifications cos she knew a friend of a friend who was making a movie about gangsters and they wanted someone who really knew how true criminals spoke and acted. He was about to be released so she got him a job as a consultant in this gangster movie that he was highly qualified for that. But once the director saw him, he was so authentic, he gave him a part in the movie and he became one of the stars. The movie was called Reservoir Dogs it was a breakthrough movie of Quentin Tarantino. And this guy, he wrote this article, he was only six months out of jail he made this movie and he was sitting in a mansion in Malibu somewhere with more money he had ever had in his whole life. Because this movie was a success and he married that case officer he couldn't believe just how life changes so quickly, six months ago he's in prison with no money and prospects now he had more money than he could deal with and he was free and married and happy.
- George's lungs clearedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A heavy smoker, George, is shown X-rays with cancer throughout both lungs; his Armadale doctor offers treatment that might add a couple of months. After talking with his wife he…
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stage four lung cancer, should be dead, came along, now he comes every year. Every year, another year of life, another donation to my monastery, "thank you very much Ajahn Brahm", still keeps coming back again, should be dead. There
- My soul is darkStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Years ago at Port Hedland detention centre, Brahm sits with a ~22-year-old Cambodian refugee held 3–4 years. Limited English; the boy says 'My soul is dark. I have no hope.'…
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going to the Port Heden detention center to see some of the Cambodian refugees who came here and having a talk for 5 10 minutes with this young boy, maybe about 22, 23, who'd been in the Port Head and Detention Center for about 3 4 years. His English was not much, but I remember him telling me sitting opposite this wooden on this wooden little uh table on benches, you know, it's like a barbecue area and just saying, he said, "My soul is dark. I have no hope." And that went straight inside of me. I will never forget that
- Surrounded in Burma: “Sit down and make a cup of tea”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An older fellow teacher tells young Ajahn Brahm how, as a frightened WWII conscript in Burma, his patrol was surrounded by Japanese troops; he wanted to fight out heroically, but…
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It was a story of the guy who was a soldier in Burma during the 2WW. This was a fellow school teacher in the one year I was a school teacher. This guy told me this story is very old about to retire. Because he had been drafted into the British Army during the Second World War and sent to Burma to fight Japanese and he wasn't a military man, he was like just a schoolteacher. Everybody had to join up in those days. So he found himself fighting a war in a foreign country which he didn't really understand with real bullets and he was very very afraid and what happened one day he told me that his fear got reached its peak. When he was out on patrol in the jungles with a small group of fellow British soldiers. And the captain or other Scout came back to tell them the news that they had stumbled into a huge number of Japanese troops. They were vastly outnumbered and now they were surrounded and there was no way out. He thought he was going to die. This was war, surrounded by the enemy, outnumbered, about to die. Now those of you have ever known people who've fought in wars or battles you will know from the tales of soldiers that no one ever knows who's going to be the hero and who's going to be the coward. These big strong guys sometimes in those terrible situations they just fall apart where these little guys you know you never think will be the hero stand out for the occasion and they become tall they're the heroes and this was this guy he said he had all this great heroism coming through his system, he decided to be the hero. He told the captain ''let's fight our way out''. the chances of anyone surviving, a zero but who knows sometimes you know somebody might survive, they certainly survive in the movies but against all the odd. Who knows? And anyway, even if we do all die we take some the enemy with us into death. That's the heroic thing to do that's what real men do. So he wanted to fight his way out. But his captain said no, we will not fight our way out. That's an order. and they had to follow that order instead said the captain I order you to all sit down and make a cup of tea and I often say at this point. It was the British army after all. And he couldn't believe this order ‘make a cup of tea ‘ when we're surrounded by Japanese troops at war, outnumbered, about to die. How could you think of having a cup of tea but an order was an order they had to follow it, he thought this was the craziest thing he'd ever done in his whole life. It was to save his life because what happened by the time even before they'd made their cup of tea the Scout came back whispers something in in the captain’s ear and the captain got all the troops together and said the Scout has said the enemy has moved there is a way through, put your stuff away quickly we can crawl through this gap and all escape and of course they all did. Which is why he could tell the story and he said he'd owe his life not just once but many times the wisdom of that captain when there's nothing to do when you're surrounded and about to die what should you do? Sit down and have a cup of tea, if you prefer coffee, coffee will do. I don't care, sit down and enjoy some honey because you know that things change the surrounding army never stays still they move and when they move if you have a scout called mindfulness awareness it will see gaps in the surrounding forces it will see a way through which wasn't there before, a way to escape. And if you've waited you'll find that gap and you will escape. The trouble with most people when surrounded by the enemy about to die when things are really going wrong. we just lose it, we get upset, we get angry, we get depressed. We don't know how to have a cup of tea and enjoy ourselves just before we're about to die and then we find we don't die. We enjoy ourselves, we wait situation changes and then we can make our move and escape with our life he said later on he had cancer, terminal cancer. He thought he was about to die, he remembered that story about when he was a soldier surrounded by the enemy, no hope by these tumors or whatever else he had. He didn't tell me what cancer it was and what did he do. Just relax and had a cup of tea and didn’t worry about anything. That's what he learnt in the jungles of Burma. Maybe because he didn't worry because he had tea and I know that tea has lots of T cells and T cells are supposed to (inaudible) you know it’s tea and T- cells. Okay, I'm not a doctor or medicine man. (Laughter) Why, the doctors are going crazy but no, he had a cup of tea just relaxed because he didn't worry the cancer vanished he saved his life he found a way through.
- The emperor's ring: “This too will pass”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A young emperor feasts in good times and sulks in bad, so neither works; his ministers give him a ring engraved “this too will pass.” Looking at it in hard times gives him hope…
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it's a powerful story, about an emperor, a young man who took over the kingdom when he wasn't really mature enough to know how to lead. And so whenever things were going well in his kingdom he'd always have celebrations and parties. And because he was spending too much resources and too much time celebrating, and not actually doing the running of the kingdom, the good times never lasted all that long. And when the terrible times, the bad times, bad economy, unrest, social disorder, whenever there was trouble in his kingdom he'd get so upset and depressed he'd stay in his room and sulk and cry, which meant he wasn't working during the difficult times. And the ministers they realised that their leader, their king, their emperor, wasn't really working properly, and that's the reason why there were too many bad times and not enough prosperous times. You can't just tell these people what to do. Even these ministers in the Howard Government, they can't tell John Howard what to do. They've got to be sneaky, they've got to be wise, and so what these ministers did, instead of telling their emperor what to do, they just went to a goldsmith, asked for him to make a ring, the only difference between that ring and ordinary rings was what was engraved on the outside, which was the words "this too will pass". And they gave that ring with the engraved words "this too will pass" to the emperor, told him to wear it on all occasions, that's all, and the emperor did. Whenever there were bad times he would look upon the ring, "this too will pass", he knew by nature he didn't have to force those negative emotions and those bad times out of his kingdom, he knew they would pass naturally. And because he knew the bad times would pass, it gave him what's called hope, and when there's hope we can work, where it's hopeless we think the grief is going to last forever, the broken heart was always going to be there, you'll never find another partner ever in life. Or you'll never find that money again on the stock market, or whatever it is your chance to win the cup is gone forever. When you think it's forever that just makes life hopeless and you don't work. You don't make kamma anymore. But when actually you have hope, there's always something you can do. It gives you that motivation to work even in difficult times of your life. And actually the reason I'm saying this was because the photograph someone sent me was actually from the graduation ceremony of Virginia Tech university, recently, and I think you all know what happened at Virginia Tech in April, I was in London at that time. I think it was 39 young men and women were shot down by that murderer? You know, while they were on campus. And at the graduation ceremony one of the graduates, you know the funny hats they wear, they're called mortarboards, with the flat top, on the top of his mortarboard he'd actually painted the words "this too will pass", in memoriam of the pain that had happened in that university in the biggest serial killer murder in United States history. That's why he said "I don't know whether this guy's read your book or what", by he's obviously got the message. And it is a powerful message because it gives you hope, it allows you to let these things pass away. So "this too will pass". The other part of that story, which is very valuable to consider, is that that emperor wore that ring not just in difficult times but also in the happy times as well. Because it's in the prosperous, happy, good times that we should always remember, "this too will pass". Because he knew that the happy prosperous times were also fragile, he had a few celebrations but not many, because he knew he had to work hard to make sure those prosperous happy good times lasted as long as they possibly can. And they did. He became a very successful and well-loved emperor because the bad times were very short and the happy long times were longer than anybody could ever remember.
- The ICU patient everyone had given up onStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm is called to chant for a woman in ICU at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital with severe flu — septic, bloated, the nurses giving her little chance — hoping at least to…
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there was this one lady I went to see once at the ICU at Charlie gardeners she was in the ICU she moon I was one of these cases with a flu and no really really bad cases septic all over bloated no honor lasts and a few breaths can you please come in and do some science that isn't charging for this lady and couple weeks ago she looked toward intents and purposes a goner you know the nurses said no I'm not much chance for this lady but you know a bit of chanting a bit of presence of a good mug a bit of spiritual uplift you know would give her a good death couple weeks later got a phone call from her husband can you come round to the house and she was perfectly well total recovery
- The noisy breather on the Sydney retreatStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a nine-day retreat in Sydney one man breathes so loudly that a meditator complains. Ajahn Brahm explains he has a terminal tumour blocking both nostrils and has come as a last…
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At meditation retreats I always remember this one man when I was teaching a Meditation Retreat in Sydney many years ago and a 9-day retreat. You know that people are supposed to be quiet when they are meditating but this man (Ajahn breathing noisily) He was breathing so heavily through every meditation sitting so much so that someone came up to me to complain Can you please tell this person to keep quiet. I am trying to meditate. He had a tumor in his nasal passages blocking both nostrils. It was terminal; the doctor had given up surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy So the doctors have abandoned him and he came to the meditation retreat as a last resort So when I told all the meditators that, they felt very embarrassed and guilty that they were complaining about somebody who got only few weeks to live. He told me that; on the last day of the retreat (Ajahn making the sound) breathing loudly again but not thinking being silent; he had a 'pop' He said he could breath again. That's what he said 'a pop' as his nasal passage cleared but only for about 5 or 10 minutes then it closed again. That was an amazing thing which happened I thought that meditation was working but he left it a bit too late. I never thought he would survive. Few years later teaching meditation in Sydney, this guy came up to me 'do you remember me?' I said 'of course I don't remember, who are you? ' As a monk I am honest He was that man. He cared with his meditation and his nose had cleared and now he was going around teaching people how to be peaceful, how to be silent. because his cancer had got into regression even though he should have been dead years ago.
- The zookeeper who freed the orangutansStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At the annual John Curtin Medal presentation, Ajahn Brahm (a past recipient) hears about that year's winner: a man with learning difficulties at school who, with help and…
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And I don't mind sharing this about this gentleman uh who won the award this year and he was a person with yeah if I remember it correctly please excuse me if I get some details wrong. Uh he had learning difficulties at school but he pushed through. Now with help with encouragement he got to university to curtain university where he was studied I think animal sciences or whatever applied science and eventually he managed to with a lot of extra work tuition and help eventually to get his degree number one it says that this is agrees with my experience when I was a school teacher there's no one who can't do things. Now, if you want to get your degree in this or get an a a um qualification in something else, if you keep on going, you don't give up, there's many people out there will help you and look after you and care for you and just encourage you. The human capacity in my experience is huge. Basically anyone can do almost anything within reason just as they believe in themselves or sometimes that belief is given by other people. People inspire you. Your mentors if you get a really good mentor an inspirational teacher they take you so far in life. But anyway, eventually he got the job over in uh in Perth Zoo and he was apparently he looks he looked after the the the primates and the orangutan enclosure. And this gentleman, the first name was Leaf something. But anyway, just a person with intellect with learning difficulties looking after orangutans and then seeing what the problem really was. That apparently many of these small baby orangutans were taken to shopping centers cuz they were so cute and cuddly for promotions to sell products or something. And this is what human beings do. But apparently he knew he'd been looking after the orangutans for a long time that that really hurt the mother child bond. And he just know he just used everything he got to to stop that exploitation of baby orangutans. Next, to make sure the cages or the compounds were a little bit less like prisons and more like places where they could relax and enjoy and have some uh similarities to the wild jungles where they came from. But even that wasn't enough. So then he started to return them to the jungles of Bornea and to start a big fund of oh no what was it called something orangutan fund just now worldwide and just millions of dollars in the fund because he was he was producing providing he was actually doing something for some animals who are just really close to homo sapiens, the people sitting right in front of me now. He connected with them and basically freed thousands of them throughout the whole world.
- What if it doesn't come back?Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At the opening of a new campus of the Cancer Support/Wellness Association in Cottesloe, Ajahn Brahm is the second VIP guest after the Premier. Why him? They explain: on his very…
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I always go to the Cancer Wellness Association over in cottesloe I'm well known over there I go there once a year they come to Monastery once a year and just last year when they built a huge complex there a new campus they call it in Railway parade in codisloe having a big opening and the premier was the first VIP guess who the second VIP was and I said why are you inviting me well it's not the archbishops you know no rabbis no movie stars no Hugh jackmans or any models or anything just actually Empire why and it's because they told me that I've been going to that place for over 26 years and always being of service to them and they really value me there so much so I said I said well why and that's when they told me the very first time I went there I talked about fear and how to overcome it and that had a huge impact on the people who attend that place because what happened there was one woman there she had been through cancer in remission but there was a problem her problem was what happens if it comes back again and she was so terrified of that that was her fear and and you can understand you know if you've been through a Cancer all that treatment which is really harsh and you beat it but do I have can I do this again and so that was a fair what would happen if it happens again but I came along apparently that no one else could actually solve that problem answer that question until I came along and I answered the question for her and the question was you know what happens if he comes back and I told her what happens if it won't come back if it doesn't come back at all then what and this woman actually got it straight away yeah I never thought of that I was always so afraid of it coming back and even thought of what might happen if it never comes back and it never came back but she comes back every year to see me
- Who learned the most after Cyclone NargisStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Groups in Singapore took privileged, highly educated teenagers to southern Myanmar to help villages destroyed by Cyclone Nargis. The students told Ajahn Brahm they learned more…
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They took a whole bunch of kids, elite, I think you probably call elite, rich parents, very comfortable, highly educated uh to it was I think southern Myanmar after the the Naris um cyclone destroyed so many villages in southern Myanmar. And because I go to Singapore, I've got some groups over there. Some of the kids were telling me that they learned more in those two or three weeks than in their whole school life. Being able just to be with children who they couldn't really understand their language and the Singaporean English or Chinese which they were talking totally incomprehensible but they could still bond. They could feel one another. and connect with one another and work together and have something which who benefited the most from that interaction. Was it the kids who had no place to go to school, no place to go to sleep, their houses destroyed, infrastructure disappeared by cyclone Naris? Was Naris, wasn't it? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. by that devastation. Who learned the most? It was the kids from Singapore. They learned so much about the big world and how they could help.
- Working backwards from the solutionStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Some ten years earlier Ajahn Brahm attended a high-powered think tank in the Whitsunday Islands, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Wayne Swan, Anna Bligh, the…
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One of those conferences I went to several years ago was very high power conference and at the time I think I don't know exactly the year because I live in the present moment but I know it was when Kevin Rudd was the prime minister cuz he was at this conference together with Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan and uh the premier of Victoria at the the the time and also Anna Bllye from Queensland. All these very highprofile also had a representative from the Iranian uh revolutionary guards. How they got him into this country, I don't know, but very highprofile people on this think tank in the Wit Sunday Islands. And the presentation I always remember was on climate change but they looked upon it a totally different way. This is actually the thinking outside the box type of stuff with the hope not just the anxiety with a terrible situation. what they said. The uh moderator of this one panel started saying, "Well, this is the scenario. Just imagine this. A huge chunk of the uh Greenland uh Greenland glacia fell off, created a tsunami, and just wiped out half of New York port." And so they had to um solve this problem and they did reducing greenhouse gases to zero. So they did it. Okay. So this is where you start. You start from the end. Now I want all you experts to think backwards. How did we get there? How did we reduce everything to zero? And that was actually that thinking backwards thing and I thought what a wonderful this was just over 10 years ago. I knew know that you know why I I got that timeline correct because when it came to my little problem my little problem was how can we give full ordination to bikunis? That was just over 10 years ago. You know what I did? I said, well, I I talked with Ajin Bumali. Okay, suppose let's imagine that we've got full auto ordination for Pikunis. We solved the problem. How do we get there? Let's work backwards from the solution. And of course, that's what we did.