Stories about illness
34 Buddhist wisdom stories about illness from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Ajahn Chah sits in the centre of the feverStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Malaria was an occupational hazard for jungle monks, and Ajahn Chah suffered it for years. During one intense attack, instead of lying in bed worrying, he sat up and meditated…
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And I know Ajahn Chah's story, my teacher, being a forest monk living in the jungles he had malaria for many years it was for those monks an occupational hazard just like these days, for current monks having tummy aches is an occupational hazard simply because as I told you I don't own my stomach you put whatever you want into it, and sometimes my stomach says 'no' (Ajahn laughs) But nevertheless you get to peace with that. His occupational hazard was malaria for many years I remember him telling me how he overcame his malaria once and for all having a very intense attack of the fever and instead of just laying in bed, sitting up meditating with it instead of running away from the thing or complaining about it, worrying about it what most people do when you got a problem, a disease or a tumor or whatever you think about it too much it creates more problems by the way react to them Instead he sat with it, he said he sat right in the centre of his fever quietly silently had peace with it. And it's a very hard thing to do but it's a wonderful thing to train yourself to be able to do. To be able to make peace with pain or with the fever, or with difficulty to make absolute peace with it so you don't even think you are just there at one with what you are experiencing not making any inner speech with it. he said as he was just with that he sort of felt like he was in the centre of a raging forest fire. but in the centre it was cool. but he could perceive all around him was a fire getting hotter and hotter and hotter which was his fever increasing in intensity and he said at one point the fever got so hot it burst and everything was cool. He never got malaria ever again.
- Ajahn Chah stopped breathing — medic takes blood samplesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After Ajahn Chah's stroke, a royal medic freaks when Chah stops breathing for hours. Monks say he's meditating. Compromise: frequent blood samples stay well oxygenated while he…
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stopped breathing and the medic on duty you know because the king of Thailand he the uh the former King he sort of paid for a medic to be on duty eight hour shifts and the medical Duty that night got freaked out when agent Charles stopped breathing and now I leave him alone he's only meditating he said no he's not breathing that's death if you don't do something quick there's no Oxygen going to the brain you get permanent break and he's already got Strokes I don't know what more you can do but he will die and so freaking out and it's very hard for monks to explain to doctors you know what's really happening and this was like a very highly trained medic and he was paranoid you know you get in trouble with the king of Thailand if you're the agent child die so they came to this wonderful compromise it was very interesting he wasn't breathing for a couple of hours so the medic would take blood sample
- “At least I haven't got cancer”Joke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A doctor tells a man he has terminal cancer — and Alzheimer's. “Alzheimer's? Oh, that's not so bad. At least I haven't got cancer.”
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Guy goes to goes to the doctor and the doctor said, "Sorry, sir. You got terminal cancer." Oh, gee, that's bad news. But the doctor says, "But I found another disease you have as well. You've also got Alzheimer's disease." Alzheimer's? Oh, that's not so bad. At least I haven't got cancer.
- 'Better to die than disrobe'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Pasanno, an old friend, suffers constant stomach pain in Thailand; a Bangkok doctor finds an ulcer and says the only cure is to eat in the afternoon — forbidden for monks.…
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This monk, you won't mind me mentioning Ajahn Passano, is a very good good monk, a good old friend. And he was over in in Thailand. Eventually went over to United States and started a monastery over there. But this one day, the you know, he always had terrible tummy ache. And when he checked it out with the doctor in Bangkok or somewhere, they found out it was a stomach ulcer. And how can you cure it? And the doctor said, "Well, you know, just the only way you can cure it is probably you have to eat in the afternoon." And that's a no-no for monks. We can't eat in the afternoon. Not allowed to. So he said went to see Ajahn Chah. Said, "Look, I have to eat in the afternoon, otherwise it's not going to heal. It's just really painful." You know what Ajahn Chah said, my teacher? I don't think you get away with it these days. He said "It's better to die than disrobe." He's really tough. It's not what Ajahn Passano wanted to hear. But anyways, I wasn't allowed to. But then uh we got to later, short time later, Ajahn Passano developed the scrub typhus, you know, which all of our monks got in that monastery. Had a very high fever. And when the typhus, you know, healed itself so did the stomach ulcer. He was okay.
- Chanting for a dying mother in SingaporeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In Singapore a woman asks Ajahn Brahm to chant for her mother, just home from hospital and expected to die soon. After the chanting the old lady gets out of bed and starts…
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I did some chanting for them the lady asked me to come even I was supposed to go to a funeral for somebody else say can you please child from my mom she's just come home from hospital and you know I think now may be the last time maybe looks like she's gonna die soon so can I come chant for her so I went to chant for this lady you know I've known a long time and apparently after chanting she got out of bed and started walking around another miracle that's not a miracle is uncertainty
- Depression privileges — a third bowl of ice creamJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: He tells a depressed man not to advertise recovery too soon — wife and boss will put him back to work. The man later reports: when depressed he got two bowls of ice cream; if he…
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You got very many privileges being depressed." And I remember this because he told me afterwards, "Yes, so true. You know, this morning I had two bowls of ice cream. My wife would never let me have two bowls of ice cream when I was okay. But now she thinks I'm depressed. Oh, you have a third bowl
- Doctor, there's something right with me — I'm sickJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Instead of 'there's something wrong with me, doctor', say there's something right with me — I'm sick again. Sickness is the body responding; cultural shame makes it worse. He…
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Doctor, there's something right with me. I'm sick again. There's nothing wrong with being sick. Why do people add this this cultural shame on being sick? Why do you think you've made some big mistake? You're sick again. And you should try so hard next time not to be sick. If you try to be healthy, that makes you sick. One of the reasons I'm healthy because I don't even try to be healthy
- Doctor, there's something right with me — I'm sickStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: He teaches that sickness is normal; students then walk into Perth surgeries saying 'Doctor, there's something right with me — I'm sick' — doctors recognise Namara/Buddhist…
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there's something right with me. I'm sick again. Some people I told that story before and actually doctors have actually come up to me and said, "We had one of your students come into my surgery today." You know why? Because they came in and said, "Doctor, there's something right with me. I'm sick. They know they must have come to Namara Temple
- “Fear killed twenty thousand”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Plague demons meet in a forest clearing to compare tolls: one killed 1,000 in Paris, another 2,000 in London; the third says he killed only about 50 in Frankfurt — “but fear…
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I remember reading that in a great story by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Mask of the Red Death," only a short story. I remember it was a story about the plagues which hit Europe during the Middle Ages, which devastated 20%, 30%, 40% of the population of cities. And then this little scene from the play... there were the demons, the devils who were supposed to be spreading this plague, and they met together in a clearing in the forest, and one asked the other, "You've been to Paris, how many people did you kill there?" "1,000." "You've been to London, how many you kill there?" "2,000." "You've been to some other city, Frankfurt, how many killed there?" "I only killed about 50, but fear killed 20,000.
- Feeding the mosquitoesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Bitten all night in an Indonesian hotel room, Ajahn Brahm reframes the mosquitoes as recipients of his dana: laypeople feed him every day, so tonight he feeds the mosquitoes,…
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there was a room and there was so many mosquitoes were in the room so I was being bitten all night another night without much sleep so what did I do so this is Indonesia's Asia what do you expect there are mosquitoes around it's Asia so I accepted the mosquitoes and I was kind to them because I thought to myself well you know I don't work for my food I don't cook my food and buy it in a supermarket people come and feed me every day so this is my chance of feeding the mosquitoes it was what we called in Buddhism dhana generosity so now I know you know you have to work very hard working hard gaining the food from the supermarket cooking it for me presenting to me sometimes you come all the way to Monastery to feed me so I thought now this is payback time so mosquitoes come on because I thought look they're going to eat me anyway so I might as well give come on take service so you had the choice that you often have in life you can't change the world but you can't change the situation but you can change the way you look at it and as soon as you change the way you look at it there's something much more positive like an act of kindness an act of generosity these poor mosquitoes because have you ever had thought about what a mosquito must feel like you know they're really hungry and they sort of come and land on a human being it's really dangerous imagine you go to a restaurant and you don't know if you're going to come out alive that's what a mosquito does every time so it's also I imagine those mosquitoes you know when they had with that all the time in the world they could relax and drink as much as they wanted most of these mosquitoes because they're so afraid of being swatted they must probably have really bad digestion they're so anxious to get it out of the way quickly and run away as far as they can but so now I gave this beautiful kindness and time please have as much as you like and I got plenty left in there and my bread is pretty good it's like holy blood so it's like giving them a blessing as well
- “I never expected to see you in here”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Feeling awful and waiting at the local doctor's surgery, Ajahn Brahm is greeted by a friend from the temple: “I never expected to see you in here.” As if he were in a brothel or…
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Years and years and years ago, I had, I think, some sort of sickness and never found out exactly what it was about, over 20 years ago now, the last time I was really sick.. And I went to the doctors and I was sitting there in the doctor's surgery in Byford waiting for the doctor to call me in, and somebody who knew me came into the doctor's surgery and they saw me, this monk, who meditates, who lives a nice peaceful lifestyle, who doesn't get involved in the stresses of normal life, and they looked at me and they said “I never expected to see you in here!” [laughter]. And I felt really guilty - maybe I wasn't eating enough brown rice, maybe I wasn't exercising.. I'm supposed to be a monk! I'm supposed to be healthy, living a good lifestyle, and he made me feel guilty about being in a doctor's surgery. Okay, if I was in a pub or a brothel or something then and I should feel guilty [laughter], but what's wrong with being in a doctor's surgery!?
- I'd rather die in the monastery — 25 more yearsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Famous monk in Thai royal hospital, told nothing more can be done for cancer, asks to die at his Mae Hong Son / north monastery. Taken home; dies 25 years later — peace…
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there was a famous monk who was in the main hospital being supported by the king of Thailand. All expenses paid. and was dying of cancer. You know what happens sometimes? A doctor says, "There's nothing more we can do." "So what do you do?" He said, "Well, there's nothing more I can do," said this monk. "I'd rather die in the monastery where I spent so many years." It was on the Marong River in the north of Thailand, a beautiful monastery. So he said, "If I'm going to die, I'd rather die there than in hospital." So they took him back to his monastery. 25 years later was when he died. 25 years of extra life
- “In the building trade we call it a feature”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After Ajahn Brahm tells the two-bad-bricks story at the Cancer Support Association, a builder reassures him professionals make the same mistakes — and shares the trade secret:…
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Once when I was teaching in Cancer Support Association over in Cottesloe, they're still over there. Teaching...teaching that story because sometimes going through chemotherapy and radiation therapy can really cause a lot of depression. So I told that and yeah you got cancer but there's many other things happening in your life. Look at all the parts of the body which haven't got cancer. There's two bad bricks there, two bad tumours, what about the other parts which are beautiful, which are healthy? Look at that, it actually takes away a lot of fear. And anyway I told that, one of these builders came up afterwards and he said Ajahn Brahm please don't be upset you made two mistakes when you're laying bricks, professional builders do the same, he said. But then he said I'll tell you a secret, and I've told his secret to millions of people...internationally. He said...don't tell me your secrets, they'll be on YouTube next day...[LAUGHTER]. He said, in the building industry where we make a mistake like that we call it a feature. We call it a feature and we charge our clients an extra few thousand dollars for it.
- It was only a coughStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm coughs; within days the rumour spreads that he is dying of some terrible disease and people ask whether it is terminal. It was only a cough.
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I just coughed I think a couple of weeks ago and the word got around that I was dying I had some terrible disease and they started asking me is that brah going to live or is it terminal it was only a cough for goodness sake so I've got to be very careful but my mom is okay
- It's not the cough that carries you offJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Mother's line: it's not the cough that carries you off — it's the coffin they carry you off in.
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cough that carries you off. It's the coffin they carry you off in. Haven't you heard that before? I thought that's a really neat one a long time ago. There's only a cough that's all. Sorry. Only a sneeze
- Jimmy Hendrix cured the student coldStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a student with a terrible cold he puts on music he loves (Jimmy Hendrix); excitement and joy make the cold feel totally gone — happiness as medicine (COVID gag nested).
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my cold are totally gone. It's a great way to cure COVID. Listen, [laughter] Jimmy Hendris [laughter] or whatever else you like. For me, I was so excited, so enjoyed just listening to something which I hadn't listened to for a couple of weeks
- Keep your hands off — I'm on workers' compensationJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An Englishman, a Singaporean and an Australian buy Jesus beers in a pub. Jesus heals the Singaporean's migraine and the Englishman's indigestion. The Australian backs away: 'Keep…
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the Englishman, the uh Singaporean, and the Australian in a pub. Please excuse me in a pub. I don't go drinking, of course, but that's, you know, just part of the joke. And they say, I saw this this Englishman, Singaporean, and Australian in a pub, and they saw this person in the corner there with long hair and a beard. and a white gown. And the Singaporean said, "See that person over there? I think that's Jesus. I'm getting into trouble for this. I'm I'm sure, but I've started, so who who cares?" Actually, I'm going to I'm going over to another state tomorrow, so I think it should be okay. It's Melbourne. Then that's Jesus over there. I said, "Oh, it can't be. Let's go and find out." So they went over there, and sure enough, the guy's got holes in his hand. He said, "Oh, you're Jesus. You know, my my father goes to your church every Sunday, so have a beer." So the Singaporean buys him a beer. Oh, thank you, mate. And then he says to the other person at the table to the English man, "So that is Jesus over there." No, it can't be. Yeah, it is. Go and have a look. So he goes over there and he said, "You Jesus?" "Yeah, it's my second coming." So he said, "Oh, have a beer." So he buys Jesus a beer. And then he said, "It really is Jesus." And then Australian says, "Well, actually, I'm not a Christian myself, but every Saturday my wife goes to church and that make me have a free day. Then I can go watch the football on TV or anything I want." So you know, you do a lot of good for me, Jesus. So he goes up and buys Jesus a beer. Thank you. And then when the Jesus finish his three beers, he goes up to those three people and says to the Singaporean, "Thank you so much. Your generosity is very wonderful. And I can see that you've you got migraine, haven't you? You got headache." So, I've had a migraine for years and years and years. Jesus touches him on the head and the migraine goes away straight away. It's a miracle. Goes to the English woman and said, "You've got a bad tummy, haven't you? You know, you could suffer from indigestion. Yes. And he touches them on the tummy. And they indigestion goes away. It's amazing. And then he goes up to the Australian and the Australian says, "Keep your hand off me, mate. I'm on workers's compensation
- Maha Bua sat in the cool centre of the feverStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Visiting Ajahn Maha Bua (late king's teacher), Brahm hears his talk about malaria under Ajahn Man: instead of fleeing the fever he went into it in meditation until he found a…
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when I was with this monk mahaboah he was a very famous monk he was the the late king of Thailand's teacher and but he never realizes how well I understood Thai at the time because he decided to give a talk and he'd said this is for that Western Market just come which was me gave me a special talk all the monks were there and afterwards he asked for it to be translated I didn't need that I understood it perfectly and obviously other people like that talk because I've seen it you know published you know in little booklets which they have and the core of that teaching was an experience mahabua had at when he was a student of adjun Charles teacher this guy called ajanman this monk great man and it was when the malaria fever now remember these are Forest monks living in the jungles of Thailand Northeast Thailand North Thailand even Central Thailand at a time when malaria was Rife it was just another Forest monks disease everybody got it and uh you learn how to deal with it yeah there was some herbal medicines but a lot of times you just dealt with it just as an aside I'm just going off and I love tangents but this is how he overcame his malaria fever he said he was still in just the first years of his Monastery upon where he settled down where monks like me went and listened to his teachings right in the middle of a malaria fever but he was meditating at the time meditating with a fever got no choice you know we can't sort of lay down well yeah he's still got the fever it's still really sort of uh aches and all lots of joint pains and no no energy so they decided to meditate and what he did was important it's part of the story instead of running away from it you know what it's like when it's something which is hurting which is life-threatening we always want to escape run away get rid of it find a place where you know we can live without this torturing us but he decided to go in the opposite direction go right into it now face it and go right towards it this is what we do in meditation we don't go away from stuff we always go into it we don't go on to another thing always into where we are now it's always in in never on on in meditation so you may hear me say about stages of meditation yeah that's almost like I call that land landmarks so you can some find some idea of where you are it's always going in this stage into the next stage into the next stage always going in so he went so far in to the malaria fever then he came to like a spot like the eye in the middle of a cyclone where it was really cool that's how we described it and around it was just like fire really intense he could feel the fire but he was cool in the middle he knew it was there but you know he was in a quiet calm peaceful cool spot right in the center and he said it got hotter and hotter and hotter but he always remained in that cool spot in the center and it got so hot it exploded and that was the end of the malaria fever never had it again
- Meditating through the feverStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Three or four weeks into an undiagnosed fever (later found to be scrub typhus) in a basic Ubon hospital ward, with no energy and nothing working, the young monk feels low and…
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But I do remember one of the times. And I wish I had been a bit more mindful, but I can understand why I wasn't cuz I had such such incredibly low energy. Never had so much low energy as that time fever of about 3 or 4 weeks. And anyway that uh one day I got sort of depressed but not a depression which was um negative. I don't know that I thought oh this is really awful. Nothing's working. This is terrible. So why don't I do some meditation actually practice know what my teacher would teach me what the Buddha would say do something useful. And this was like three weeks or four weeks into a a very heavy fever and nothing was working, feeling just so exhausted. So I decided to meditate and obviously not cross-legged but just laying on the bed, laying on my back or half on my back, half on this, half on that and being able just to let go of my body. And it was such a wonderful experience just sitting there or not so not sitting. They're laying there with legs all over the place. We've seen people in hospital with a fever. They're not really caring about just how their body is positioned. You're all over the place. But then just going deep inside away from my body, closing my eyes. It was in a a ward of a hospital. So there's lots of noise there, but I couldn't hear anything. No smell. No taste, just going inside to some nice beautiful mind state. Oh, it's just a wonderful time. And I'm really sure that that would be when the fever stopped simply because that's the nature of the mind. It's incredibly powerful and it's so powerful inside. It just stops all this stuff in your body and very happy afterwards.
- Mother Teresa held the man from the gutterStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Journalist with Mother Teresa watches her pick up a stinking, oozing cancer patient from a Calcutta gutter and carry him to her sanctuary — asked how she stands the smell.
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Mother Teresa where that when there was another journalist with her and she was picking up this poor fellow from the the gutters of Calcutta who had very bad cancer and was stinking and oozing and the sort of person which a lot of people would just be repelled. Almost naturally in spite of their their kindness, be pushed away. But this Mother Teresa just went straight for her and just uh him and just held him up and picked him up and took him to her little um hospital sanctuary to look after him. And they asked him, "Didn't you see his smell
- Old treasurer — migraine into the dark roomStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An old BSWA treasurer, not yet Buddhist, learned in the army to beat migraine attacks by sitting 15 minutes in a quiet dark place and going so deep he could not feel his body —…
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old treasurers of all things he passed away some time ago old fellow but he used to go into these deep meditations when he was even in the army he was just uh he didn't really wasn't a buddhist at the time but he just had these terrible um migraine attacks and the only way he'd get through those migraine attacks is finding a quiet dark place and sitting in that quiet dark place for 15 minutes and going deep inside and he said he can go deeper inside enough that he could not feel his body anymore
- Ted's last dinnerStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ted, a Lancashire man dying of lung cancer, was one of the first patients in the new hospice next to Murdoch Hospital. Asked what he wanted for dinner, he listed what he couldn't…
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Finish off with the story of Ted. I I'll finish off now. I promise. Maybe [laughter] Ted. This guy, they just opened up St. John of God. No, no, no. One in Murdoch. Murdoch Hospice down in uh right next to Murdoch Hospital. really nice little hospital. They just opened up. So Ted was one of the first patients in there. Had lung cancer, was dying. So they put him in there to die. Just a one-way ticket. [clears throat] But with Ted, he was like from York. I got to be careful. From Lanasher. He's from on the borders between Lanasher and York. He was from Lancasher. And so the he told me afterwards I went to visit him a few times. The first night in the hospital, the nurse came up to him and said, "What do you want for dinner tonight, Ted?" And Ted said, "Well, you know, I got diabetes, so I can't have anything sweet. [gasps] I got sort of high cholesterol, so forget about anything oil or oily or or fried. I can't have anything like that. I can't have anything salty because I've got hardened arteries. I can't have. And the nurse looked at him and said, "What on earth are you talking about, Ted? You're not going to die of cholesterol or heart attack or or hardened arteries or diabetes. You're going to die of cancer in a couple of days." So Ted, the nurse said, "You can eat whatever you want. anything really. His eyes went wide apparently according to the nurse. Really? And so he had all this food, sweet, syrupy, salty, sugary, which is he told me his wife had never allowed him to eat for the last three or four years. And he ate it. Had lots of it. Why not? You're going to die soon. So, and we know what happened. Honest story. He went into remission and he walked out of that hospice. [laughter] True. I know. He's a good friend. God is his [laughter] daughter and and uh son-in-law was an ex monk and six months he had and then he went back into the hospice to die properly. [snorts] [laughter] He went back. He had six extra months because he cared for himself instead of trying to cure himself so much.
- The ex-Marine monk who caught his fits earlyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A monk friend, shot in the head as a US Marine in Vietnam, has epileptic fits from the brain injury. Over a couple of years of mindfulness he learns to sense the build-up earlier…
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one of my friends who was a monk many years ago. He was in the US Marines in the Vietnam War He had because he was shot in the back of the head And had some brain damage Otherwise is a wonderful monk very kind, but he had epileptic fits because of the injury being shortened though in a head how he dealt with his epileptics have hits similar way to overcome the panic attacks Because he was aware Mindful he could actually catch those fits Earlier and earlier and earlier he could see the signs. He could be aware to see how it works because The fits never just came out of the blue they had the introduction of the little bits getting more tense more tense he could actually feel it coming It took for a couple of years before he could catch it early enough He could take another path Relax used to go to his room darken the room just lay down and just relaxed as much as he could and then after a while no more epileptic fits
- 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 man in the latex mask whose psoriasis clearedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a North Perth / Redemptorist retreat centre near Northbridge a man arrived in a latex face mask — severe whole-body psoriasis; the mask stopped him scratching his face.…
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this guy came wearing a a latex rubber mask on his face. And I thought, "Oh my goodness, this is some weirdo from the red light district. He got the wrong place, sir." He said, "No, no, no." He said, "I've come on your retreat because he actually lifted up the face mask, had this terrible rash all over his face." And it was a warm day. He actually unbuttoned his shirt and showed me his chest. Had a rash all over his chest. He had psoriasis, quite severe, and he even lifted up the bottom of his trousers, he said. And the rash looked disgusting. He said, "This rash, this psoriasis is over my whole body, every square inch, and it just drives me crazy. The rubber mask is so I don't scratch the skin off my face." He said, "I tried everything. Nothing works. doctors have given up on me, but I can't stand it. So he said, "I've come on your retreat." He wasn't a Buddhist, at least not at the beginning anyway. I think it was at the end. He said, "I've come on your retreat to try something different to deal with this psoriasis all over. I can't even sleep at night." And he said, "If I don't stay for your talk, your introductory talk, please, it's nothing to do with you. It's just He was just so agitated 24/7. But he stayed not just for my opening talk. That gentleman stayed for the whole nine days. And at the end of his retreat, he came to see me. He wasn't wearing the rubber face mask anymore. This is no exaggeration. He was had this beautiful smile on his face and his skin on his face was clear. Not many people have celebrated by showing me their chest. That's what he did. Unbutton his shirt with a beautiful proud smile on his face. His chest was free of the rash and he lifted up you know his bottom of his trousers and there was rash around his ankles but everywhere else was gone. He said, "Look at that ajam brah. That's all that's left. Just maybe an inch around each ankle
- 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 only lie in 40 years of marriageStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Don, a retired Royal Navy man and Buddhist Society member, was in Royal Perth Hospital awaiting heart bypass surgery. The night before, his wife phoned Ajahn Brahm, distressed:…
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one of the members here his name was Don he was English he used to be in the the Royal Navy and he came to Perth in the boat and liked it so much that once he retired he came to uh to live here and he had a heart attack he was put in roal Perth Hospital put in the the F stream for having bypass surgery and I went to see him in the hospital give him a bit of a boo and just the night before his surgery his wife called me she was very very disturbed and she said I've been married to him for about 40 years now and this afternoon I lied to him for the first time and I feel terrible and so asked what happened why did you lie she said in that W there were three other beds and in his next bed all people about to have heart bypasses was Jack and you know being in the war together him two or 3 days nothing else to do you know he became quite friendly to Jack and Jack was had that heart bypass that morning and I went to see my husband in the evening and he was to have his bypass the next day and so my husband asked how's Jack how did his H how did his bypass go and I lied to him I said fine he's over in the ICU recovering it was a success when what really happened I saw Jack's wife crying her eyes out he died the bypassing didn't work and I didn't want to tell my husband that that his friend had died from the same operation my husband's going to have tomorrow I think that might have killed him and actually that because he was quite elderly he was on the edge of life and death for about two or three days he only just pulled through and to this day I I say to his wife you probably did the right thing if you'd have told the truth it might have just pushed him over the edge it might have killed him so I said in that particular case it was the right thing to do to lie so I say once every 40 years you can lie
- The Rhodes scholar given permission to dieStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A fit Tennessee wrestler and Rhodes scholar, a fellow monk in Thailand, fell desperately ill and was sent to a monastery in England, where he stayed in his room for two or three…
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like this young roads scholar who I grew up with in Thailand. He was so fit and so smart and he was like a wrestler but also uh road scholar means you go to Oxford University. Really smart fellow but when he was in Thailand he got really really sick very close to death. We sent him over to a monastery in England thinking that might be of service to him help him but he just was in his room for about two or three years without being able to get out of his room. And one day one of the monks went up there and said to him, "On behalf of all the people who've been looking after you all these years, all the people who care about you and love for you, I've come up here on the behalf of everybody to give you permission to die. Stop trying to get healthy. Stop trying to please others by trying this and trying that to get rid of the sickness." Not that this roads scholar, he's a champion wrestler over in he was he was from the I think from Tennessee. He used to speak this wonderful South American draw as a monk. South uh yeah southern states of America draw and a very nice fellow and he just wept. He'd been trying so hard to get better that literally was causing him to be sick. From that day on, he started to improve in his health. That was so many years ago, maybe 35 years ago, he's still alive. Once he got permission to die, he kept on living.
- The tangled brain cleared before the second operationStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Malaysian man in Penang had a rare disease he described as things in the brain physically tangled; after one painful operation it seemed cured, then recurred on CT. Terrified…
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this guy in Pinang is a Malaysian gentleman. And he told me, "Oh, he had this terrible disease, a very rare disease where the best way he could describe it is things in the brain were all tangled up, physically tangled." And he said he had one operation for that and it's really painful and very sort of unpleasant. But he went through it and they thought it was cured. It was very very rare. And then when later on he had some aches and pains in his brain, in his skull, then they said again that it's reoccurred. It's very very rare that reoccurs, but it's back again. They showed him the the CT scans and he was really scared because you've been through these terrible operations once. You don't want to go through them again. Ah, what am I going to do? And so I told him about meditating, meditating properly and just relax. Don't be afraid. Don't try and cure it, but care for it. That's s the trick there. When you try and cure things, you get tense with it. When you care for it, you just allow it to be really relaxed and at ease. And so he did that. And I think straight after the what was supposed to be the operation, he came back up to Pinang, I think, just to see me and just to thank me. He said, "What happened?" He said, "They took the CT scan again." You know, just before the second operation and they said the words to him, "Uh, sir, I'm sorry to say this, but there's something wrong with the CT machine. The cat's going. We have to do it again." And they put him through the CT scan again and realized nothing wrong with the machine. It's something they didn't expect. They whatever the disease was scrambling up some of the stuff in his brain had actually unscrambled and he was perfectly healthy again. So what the heck is going on? They never seen that before. That's he did that sort of procedure in Singapore
- The worst procedure in the wardStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In a Rockingham Hospital ward with three other men, they compare medical procedures to decide which is worst. Someone names a barium enema; a man in the corner goes white —…
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But one of the things we did in that ward, there was three other gentlemen in that ward and a monk. [laughter] And then having nothing to do all day, we just have these stupid conversations. And one of the conversations that four of us had is what's because some of them been in the hospital many times. That's my first time in hospital for years. And they we asked, "What's the worst medical procedure?" And someone said, "Oh, this procedure." And said, "No, no, no, no, no. That's easy. This procedure, no, no, that's easy." And I think if I get it right, I don't know if I remember this correctly, so many years ago, they said, "Oh, a barerium enema is the worst." And this poor man in the corner, his face went white. He said, "That's what I'm having this evening.
- Under a gynaecologist, and no pyjamasStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On his last hospital stay, at Rockingham, Ajahn Brahm is admitted under a family-friend doctor who is a gynaecologist — his bed sign confuses the nurses. Told at reception he…
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That was about 26 years ago now. Yeah 26 years ago was the last time I went to hospital. It was in Rockingham Hospital. It's very interesting because the fellow who looked after me it's actually the secretary Gita's father. And he's a gynecologist. But because he knew me sort of he said oh let's… I'll take you in and I'll look after you. So, on the bed there was: Ajahn Brahm's doctor: dr Mendez, gynecologist. I do look weird enough wearing these robes. But being under a gynecologist, that was really cool. And all the nurses, “what, what are you?” good fun. But especially when you check in you know, you've got to check in first of all. The first question they asked me at the reception: “where's your pyjamas?” “monks don't have pajamas.” “but you've got to have pyjamas.” “but I don't have any!” “but you have to.” I said “listen. It's these robes or nothing. Take your choice.” and actually they let me wear my robes.
- Vomiting through the book signingStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On an Indonesia tour Ajahn Brahm's stomach turns during a talk and the book-signing queue. He finishes signing, runs to his room and vomits, then calms his sore tummy with the…
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one night when I was in Indonesia I was up most of the night vomiting what happens when you travel people are very kind they give you all sorts of food you don't know what food is the proper food for you and it's and it happened when I was giving a talk you start to feel the stomach start to move and move and all these people were waiting for you to give an exciting talk like this evening and afterwards to sign the books and just you know have photographs afterwards and the I could vomit while I was having a photograph taken with somebody but it's wonderful that how as over the years of meditation practice how you've learned to deal with this sort of stuff and it's actually so easy with a bit of practice exactly what I was teaching you during the meditation period you're aware these feelings now the rumbling in your stomach and the feeling that something very very wrong in there what most people do they get excited they get sort of worried but for me I don't get excited or worried anymore just leave it alone and give it lights of kindness and kindness so it just relaxed enough to finish off the sighting of the books and then run to the room and vomit but even afterwards you know it's sometimes you know people get so much negativity to being sick for me I always look to the positive side of sickness because I was vomiting it was at least that day I lost a bit of weight [Laughter] it's interesting stuff to see what you know I got in my tummy all the time and after a while it all just disappeared and vanished but afterwards with a very sore tummy and tried to get a few hours of sleep again I did exactly what I was teaching you there to relax the body relaxing relax and relax it until any of that pain ache or even the aftermath of a sore tummy just vanishes completely away and because practicing this for such a long time whenever you do have any pain or sickness irritation it's so easy now for me to deal with it you feel it that's the mindfulness really aware of the irritation the pain the sickness whatever it is that's a mindfulness and I keep saying mindfulness is not enough you do need to have the kindness that little extra thing which helps so much you've got your focus right now do something to care for this little body of yours and so I give my little tummy some kind that's all you poor little tummy I'm sorry for putting that in there with you I didn't realize what I was putting in there I do apologize please forgive me you know I'm not your enemy I love your little tummy whatever it is you treat it with kindness and it's amazing just how it relaxes you can actually feel it and you feel it you relax it some more you feel it relax more you give it more kindness and it relaxes and relaxes until it totally softens or just like this morning walking out for breakfast past the dogs in Bali if you've been to Bali there's always dogs around the place so you give them kindness nice dog you're fine woof woof no stuff wolf nice dog and it comes totally down that's like my tummy my tummy was like this dog woofing at me all night and I just calmed it down and calmed it down until it stopped barking it stopped vomiting
- 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
- “You're either going to get better or you're going to die”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Seriously ill with typhus in a Ubon hospital with no night nurse, young Ajahn Brahm is overjoyed when the famous Ajahn Chah visits — for five seconds. Ajahn Chah says,…
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That's when I was really, really down and sick as I said a few weeks ago. Really down and sick in this third-world hospital in Ubon in Thailand, 35, 37 years ago now really really bad. That was the hospital where first evening there you know you had typhus fever felt terrible, next to death and at 6:00 p.m. the nurse disappeared one hour later the night nurse still hadn't appeared and I asked the monk next to me in the next bed should we let someone know the night nurse hasn't arrived but there is something happens in the middle of the night you know you got no one to help you and that's when the monk said there is no night nurse in this hospital we only have a nurse during the daytime sometimes. If something happens in the middle of the night that's just bad kamma. That was not reassuring. Now it is true you only had nurses there for half the day at nighttime you're at your own resources and people really sick and there's no bell to ring no one would come, you scream and you know no one would come to help you. So good for a hospital but anyway after feeling so bad for day about two or three weeks that's when Ajahn Chah came to visit me and now this was this big scene even by that time he was famous and he came just to visit me. Oh I felt so so good and so happy and so relieved, the great master comes to visit me, yeah. But the euphoria only lasted for about five seconds that's all because this great teacher he came right up to me and he said to me Brahmavamso that's the full name not Ajahn Brahm, "Brahmavamso," he said “you're either going to get better or you're going to die” and then he left. His wisdom was wonderful but his bedside manner was terrible. And that's so true, it doesn't last you're either going to get better or you're going to die, that's it. Very good teaching. So if any of you are going to visit your mother this weekend in hospital Mom, I heard from this monk, you are going to get better or you're going to die, bye bye, see you tomorrow. Don't do that. That really hurt me