Stories about impermanence
19 Buddhist wisdom stories about impermanence from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Between the tiger and the snake: taste the honeyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Chased by a man-eating tiger, a man jumps into a dry well, catches a root and hangs between the tiger pawing from above and a cobra striking from below, while a black and a white…
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that was a story of the man who was being chased by the tiger this is the story which says what to do when everything goes terribly wrong he is being chased by a tiger in the jungle, a man-eating tiger and these two things you should know about tigers. First of all, they can run much faster than you can so if you're being chased you’re in big trouble. And number two, they like human beings for dinner. It's a delicacy, especially fat human beings like monks So anyway this tiger was running after this man in the jungle what did the man do he was really in big trouble the tiger was almost at his at his heels he saw a hole in there in the jungle, an abandoned well. Yes, it's exciting isn't it? (Audience laughed) Thank you for those special effects (Audience laughed) and he had no choice, he took a risk he jumped into that well and as soon as he committed to jumping into the well that's when he realized he made a big mistake. You ever done that? You know you take a risk and you find Oh! Oh! big mistake. Because that well was dry there was no water in the bottom instead of water there was a big black snake coiled up at the bottom of the well. Instinctively he reached to the side of the well and grabbed a root which was poking through the wall of the well that stopped his fall and when he sort of settle down and came to, he looked up. The tiger hadn't given up yet, the tiger was leaning over the well trying to paw him from above but his hand, his hand holding the root was just too low the tiger couldn't reach him and then he looked down the snake had woken up, the snake had lifted its head, had open its hood and hisss… Did I get any of you that way? Look, it's Friday evening you've been at work I need to wake you up somehow, to make this alive. trying to strike his feet but the feet were just too high the snake was stretching couldn't quite hit the guy's feet. So there he was, stuck between a man-eating tiger and a venomous snake and as he was wondering what to do next he saw from a hole in the side of the well two mice crawl out. A black mouse and a white mouse and those mice started chewing at the roots. Just to make it a little bit more scary. So what should he do next? What would you do? You get so anxious and afraid, the the roots getting thinner and thinner, I’ve got Tiger above me, a snake below. Aah! but not this guy. This guy had been to the Buddhist temple many times. He'd read the story “opening the door of your heart” he knew exactly what to do. That's why you come to places like this. If you’re ever in a jungle and this happens to you you know exactly what to do or something similar because what was happening next. The tiger, the tiger was trying to paw him from below and his backside was rubbing against the tree making the tree shakes. On a branch of the tree directly above the well there was a beehive. Don’t worry about the bees they’re okay but as the hive was shaking honey started to drip down and this man put out his tongue to taste the honey and said Mmm, that's so delicious. And that is the end of the story.
- 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.
- Good, bad — who knows? The king's fingerStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A king scratches his finger hunting; the court doctor only says 'good, bad, who knows?' When the finger worsens and must be amputated, the king jails the doctor. Later, captured…
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it was a story of the king you went hunting you know this is a good dad who knows story a golden oldie but is so powerful King when hunting and when he was hunting he scratched his finger and when he scratched his finger there was a doctor in his entourage and so he called a doctor over doctor my fingers been scratched can you please have a look at it and the doctor looked at it and just put a bandaid on it and the King said is it gonna be okay it's my finger and she would ask her doctor is it gonna be okay and the doctor said good bad who knows that's pretty wise isn't it you know it didn't impress the King that much so when he got back to the palace after enjoying himself on the hunt by that time the finger was red it was infected so the king called the doctor over again and said doctor look at my finger it's got worse and so the doctor took the band-aid off put some ointment on I put a proper bandage and I cleaned it out put a bandage on and of course the the King asked again is it gonna be okay is it okay and the doctor you said good bad who knows so the key was a bit perturbed but he's very busy so he just let the stupid doctor go away but a couple of days later I mean his finger was so bad you know that the doctor had to amputate it that's how infected it was and of course you know if that happened to you you'd sue the doctor you know you get a lawyer and take them to court or whatever and get some compensation in those days it wasn't suing you just put that doctor in prison in the bottom of the palace and he put the doctor in prison himself say you stupid doctor law what's happened to my finger all this good bad who knows business and so what do you think about that there may be in jail I know where the doctor who applied to their King being in jail good bad who knows that crazy doctor you can run there so that they've left the doctor in jail and of course in a couple of weeks later when his finger was healed he went back to his favorite pastime hunting in the forest and this time he was a bit heedless he was following some sort of animal and got separated from the rest of his entourage and got lost in the forest lost in the forest wandering around he actually got captured by this forest people these indigenous people and they were so totally startled beyond his control they didn't know he was a king they just captured him they happened to be one of their holy days so they took him to the priests to be sacrificed so their God a human sacrifice so they tied him up and the priest was doing all the mumbo-jumbo and the dancing up and down and stuff and then he got out the sacrificial knife it was about to snow slit the Kings well there's only the last moment the very last moment that the priests realized the king was missing a finger and he said stop everybody if we make a sacrifice to our God we have to sacrifice somebody perfect he's not perfect enough he's missing one finger set him free so because he lost one finger and he wasn't perfect enough to be sacrificed to a god they set him free and he realized that doctor what a wise man he was I lost a finger I thought it was bad but as he was good because if I had all my ten fingers I'd be dead by now so soon as he as soon as he found his way back to the prison he went in the bathroom as he went straight to the prison straight to the doctor's cell and opened the lock himself and said you're free I'm so sorry what I did know you were right and he told him the story and I said it was good I lost my finger otherwise I wouldn't be here today I'd be dead sacrificed but the doctor was remorseful he felt so guilty about what he did
- He thought the Lazy Boy was heavenStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A person dies and is reborn in a soft Lazy Boy armchair and thinks this must be heaven. After hours, then days, sitting there becomes sore and he asks if he can sit somewhere…
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This person died and he was born. All right. reappeared sitting in this wonderful armchair like one of these lazy boys with his foot out and very nice and soft and comfortable and he was sitting in the armchair just having nice and said this is really good this is a very nice place to be reborn it's so comfortable here but you know after a few hours and it started getting a bit sort of sore and after a couple of days you know it was getting sort of a bit much just sitting in the same armchair for a couple of days and this person came along and this man said well you know this is all very Well, here in heaven, just sitting in this armchair, but can I sit somewhere else sometimes? And the man said, "What do you mean this is heaven?" He thought he was in heaven. He thought this was supposed to be nice, but this is not the case. All things are troublesome. Even the most comfortable armchair, if you stay in there long enough, it becomes troublesome
- 'I've been underneath him all my life'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After interring a man's ashes in the wall around Bodhinyana Monastery, Ajahn Brahm jokingly asked his elderly Malaysian Chinese widow whether he should reserve the place…
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I remember this other He was I don't know what Malaysian Chinese lady. And her partner, many, many years they were married, died. So, I did the funeral ceremony for them. And as you may know, over in Bodhinyana Monastery, people can sometimes put their ashes in the wall around the monastery. They get a little box of ashes, we dig a hole in the the wall, and put the ashes in there, put a plaque over it. And I'd just done this ceremony for this uh man who died, and his wife was there. She was very old. And I did ask her, silly thing to ask. I shouldn't have done this, but it was funny. I said, "Should I reserve the place underneath for you?" And she looked at me and said, "No. I've been underneath him all my life. I want to go to the other side of the monastery. However far away you can go. And she died about 3 months later. And so I made sure that she went a long way away from It was in the water. Both in the water, but a long way away from each other.
- Jimi Hendrix drowning out Dad's Frank SinatraStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm's father, whom he loved deeply, died when Ajahn Brahm was 16. As a 14- or 15-year-old, whenever his father put on a Frank Sinatra record, he would put on Jimi Hendrix…
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I wasn't the perfect son. I did stupid things, and one of the the things I felt guilty about when my father died, which I really should have said sorry for, was a competition in our taste in music because my father would love Frank Sinatra. As for me, I loved Jimi Hendrix. (LAUGHTER) And sometimes, when he would put on his Frank Sinatra record, I would put on my Jimi Hendrix record. As you all know, Jimi Hendrix is far louder than Frank Sinatra and so I drowned his music out. It was a stupid thing but it was like, 14 or 15 year old, you're in competition with the other males in the house, even your father or your brother— that's psychology of a male growing up. And so many, many times I did that— stupid young man—and then when he died it was too late to say sorry. You know, little things like that you feel guilty about. Okay, he can listen to his— I want my father to enjoy his Frank Sinatra music and whatever, but I felt guilty about that. And I always remember from that experience: while there's still time always say sorry because the time comes when you can't say it anymore.
- Letting the rip carry him outStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A New Zealand monk, tramping with a friend on a hot day, reaches a secluded, pristine beach in (he thinks) the South Island; they strip off and swim — and he is caught in a…
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This monk, he was from New Zealand and he was trekking over in New Zealand with one of his friends— they call it 'tramping' over there. It was a hot day, just like the weather today—it's been really hot today— and he was walking all day, and he managed to get to this pristine beach somewhere in the South Island I think it was. It was one of the most magnificent beaches: secluded, no one was there; they had it to themselves. It was the sort of beach that you built a resort on if it was in close proximity to civilisation, but this was totally wild. It was only him and his mate there and they were very hot, and so they thought let's go for a swim! A very natural decision. So they stripped off—they didn't have any bathers; there's no one around— and off he went into the water and did some swimming. And that's when he realised that he'd made a big mistake because there was a big rip there—this very, very strong current. Later on—he survived, obviously to tell the story—he told me later that many people had perished on that particular beach; he didn't realise that it was so dangerous. How he survived was a very brilliant strategy, and I think this was because he'd been a Buddhist before— he was a Buddhist monk, obviously— but the teachings of Buddhism actually saved his life there because as he was being taken out by the strong currents, straightaway, he realised that it was such a strong rip current that fighting it was useless, so he totally relaxed, he let go, he didn't try to do anything. He let that current take him a long way from the beach, knowing that eventually that current will stop, it will change, it is impermenant; eventually, the force will wither away, and eventually it did, and that's where he started swimming, that's where he put forth all his effort. When he could make a difference, that's when he applied himself. And he managed to swim back to the shore exhausted, but he survived. And he told me if he'd fought that current, he'd still have been taken the same distance away from the shore, but when he got to that distance, he would've been exhausted, he would not have been able to swim back—he would've died. Knowing when to let go and when to put forth effort saved his life, but more importantly, having the courage to let go, the courage to let go when you know you can't do anything, but you're really scared of what might happen. He did let go and that saved his life.
- Minus 36 — airports closedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Visiting somewhere so cold (about −36°) that airports and roads shut; wandering in a frozen world becomes the talk's 'infinite wonder' image.
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minus 36°. Really incredibly cold. So they closed down the airports. There was nothing on the roads. So when I went out they say only mad monks and English men go out in the so to say midday sun but this is in the the wintry cold. I had boots on and scarves and woolly hats and everything. So I was quite insulated from the freezing cold. But it was one of the most magnificent experiences of my life
- The dentist lost the tooth relicStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: His dentist Jake kept an extracted cracked tooth as a possible relic to auction for the nuns' monastery if Brahm became famous after death — then moved surgeries and lost it. Now…
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once he really blew it because one of my teeth I think it was cracked or something had to remove it and he kept it in his surgery as a relic a possible Relic and he could have made a fortune from that if I get famous especially after I die and unfortunately he moved surgeries he moved the office and he lost it a big mistake Mr dentist
- 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 glass is already crackedAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Chah's simile, holding up a glass: it has a microscopic crack — the crack of impermanence. Because it will break if dropped or kicked, we care for it; if it were…
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This was a simile I just, I don't know, I give this every other week. The glass is cracked. Can you see the crack in the glass? I gave this at a funeral recently. Can you see the crack in the glass in the front? Because the crack is microscopic, that's why you can't see it. But it's there, this actually came from Ajahn Chah, this story. The crack is there because if I drop this or someone else kicks it, it will break. It's the crack of impermanence, anicca. I know this won't last. Because this won't last, because it's impermanent, that's why I care for it. I can't kick it or mistreat it, it will break. But if this was plastic, if it was unbreakable, permanent, I wouldn't need to care for it. I could kick it, drop it, squash it and it would just rebound again, being unbreakable. It's because it's breakable, that's why we care. Because relationships won't last. They're cracked from the very beginning, that's why we care for them. Always looking after them, just like we look after this cup or this glass, because we know it's fragile. Your body is fragile, it's cracked. One day it will break, you will die, that's why we care for it. So the idea of marriage, divorce, being karmic, it's because we never realise that match is cracked, we should have taken better care of it.
- The head on the morgue windowsillStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Because a Buddhist monk is not stopped in Thailand, Ajahn Brahm was able to walk into the autopsy room at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. Arriving early, alone, he saw on a high…
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Actually one of these places I went to in Thailand. Because Thailand is a Buddhist country you can walk into the morgue because they won't stop a Buddhist monk you just go in and see what's going on in there (laughter). So, I remember the first It's true. One of the first places, I couldn't really believe this. This is a true story I am not making it up. I went into this autopsy room in Siriraj Hospital Bangkok, just opposite the river. Their main hospital, or one of the main hospitals in Bangkok; I went there very early, They hadn't started the autopsy yet, I was in the room by myself, they had these high windows and I looked at one of the windows, there was really something strange, in a place where you will usually expect a pot plant, there was a head! (laughter) And I thought this was a fake head some sort of model. I went there and poked it; it was actually a real head cut off. Just like in some monster movie. But there is was, I don't know whose it was but they just put it on a plate and it was on the window, in the sunshine. It's really weird (laughter)
- The millionaire who retired to GuadalcanalStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A man who made his fortune in the Roaring Twenties and cashed out before the Depression researches the safest, most perfect place in the world to retire, and chooses the tropical…
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There was a man who was in the boom years of United States in the roaring 20s made enough money and managed to cash it in before the depression years and being a multimillionaire he decided 'why should I just live in the United States' are there any other places in the world where I can live which got a better climate, safer, more happy existence so he went to the local public library got out books and he used his intelligence to try and find the perfect place in the world where he could retire and enjoy his remaining years using his great wealth. He could go anywhere he wanted with so much money. So he decided on a tropical island with perfect climate it was called Guadalcanal For those of you who are old enough you know that Guadalcanal became famous because it was the site of two major battles in the Second World War. First when it was taken over by the Japanese Imperial Troops and then it was actually taken over by the Americans afterwards two huge battles. So there was a guy who made his pile, and thought I am now gonna retire to Guadalcanal thinking of being peaceful for ever after. What happened? He gets involved in two major wars, Actually he survived both battles apparently. Two major battles, he survived both and lived to tell the tale but it wasn't a peaceful place.
- The river and its banksAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Q&A simile for what carries karma between lives: crossing the Swan River each Friday it looks the same, but it's always different water; the banks guide the flow — that's like…
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It's like a river. You look at the river Swan, you know, just going over that bridge today again. Coming here from Serpentine. As you go over that bridge, it always looks the same. every week, every Friday. But of course, it's always different water flowing in that river. But the banks are always pretty much the same. It's like the banks what guides that flow of water. That's almost like a karma. It channels it can go this way, not another way. But the water is, you know, your five aggregates and you know what you take as your body and mind that is always flowing, never the same today as it was last week. probably hardly even a molecule of water in there today which was there last week when I came over it last time but nevertheless it looks the same because it's channeled in that direction but of every now and again there's a flood or a drought or the government decides to make another channel somewhere with big bulldozers so that karma is not permanent also sometimes that is also changed adjusted
- The storm and the green leavesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A forest monk in northern Thailand survives a night of falling trees in his flimsy hut; next morning he sees that the storm tore down mostly old brown leaves but also some fresh…
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The answer which, I got for that, I got from a monk, an old monk who's living in the jungle, who was one of these people who was still enough to listen to the teachings from the nature, from around us Brilliant teachings. And I tell this every time I have to do a funeral service for someone who is young. I tell this, and many people get it, they understand "Ahh, I understand now". And it was, this monk was in a very simple hut, in the north of Thailand, and when I talk about simple, I really mean simple, just made out of bamboo and thatch for the roof, and thatch for the walls as well: really simple to put up, very natural, very easy. And you know, he'd go on alms round every morning to the local village, live a very very frugal, peaceful life, but very very happy. But living in the jungle, there are such things as storms, and if a storm comes when you're in the middle of the forest, and you haven't got much protection, it is very dangerous. Trees come down, or even big branches! And imagine, just visualize a bamboo and thatch hut, if a decent size branch hits that roof, it just goes straight through. Not like metal roofs, or these, uhh, roofs which are engineered so that almost like an Elephant could fall on this roof and it wouldn't go through. Otherwise we wouldn’t get planing permission and building permission, not that an elephant would actually fall on this roof, but you never know (Laughs) So, so over engineered, for safety. But anyway, so, it was such a flimsy dwelling, that one branch could go through and it would... if you didn't actually get crushed you'd get injured, break a leg, break an arm, and remember this is simple living, you don't have mobile phones, you don't... you know even if you did have one, there would be no telecommunications tower there, there's no one you can call, no one can help you if you break a leg, that's probably worse than dying instantly you just die slowly. So it was very dangerous! So he was up all night, hearing the... THUUUDD! BANG! (Hits Table) WHA... oops, WHACK actually that hurt (Laughs) That didn't work as I expected it to. I always say that when you give a public talk, do some special effects (Laughs) Cause you know what happens when people talk, talk, talk, you know, they fall asleep they get bored. It is something like, special like raise your voice, or go BANG! or WOFF! then actually, you know, people actually enjoy it in weird ways. Anyway, so BANG!, WHACK! All these trees where THUDDING next to him. And so, you know, it was very difficult to meditate And he was up all night, but, you know, he survived If he didn't survive he wouldn’t be able to tell me the tale. He survived the night. And in the morning He walked outside, to see the damage; And yeah, several big trees Just missed his hut, he was lucky to be alive! But it wasn't the trees which grabbed his attention, what he saw was the leaves on the forest floor. Most of the leaves which had been torn off the trees and laid dead on the forest floor, where the old, brown leaves. But amongst those old brown leaves there where several yellow leaves, even a few green leaves. And some of those green leaves where so freshly green, they could have only been alive for a few hours, and now they laid dead on the forest floor. Before he completed his insight, his understanding, he checked to see what leaves remained alive on the twigs and branches of those trees; And of course! Most of the leaves remaining alive on the forest trees, where the green leaves! But, even though a few green leaves had been torn off and laid dead on the ground, there where still a few curly old brown leaves, still clinging on, Even though the young green leaves where torn off and laid dead. You understand what we mean, even though young children die, there are still some of these old people who keep coming to our center every Friday for years and years and years still clinging on (Laughs). You know the old Grandma and Grandpa, why aren't they dead yet? (Laughs) They're all still clinging on when these young people die. And he realised that there was nothing wrong. That's what they where saying there: "there's something wrong, It can't be right, why are old people still alive and young people die? It can't be right". Then he saw it was right: It was the nature of life and death it's the nature of a storm which goes through a forest, to mostly take the old leaves, but it always leaves a few old leaves. And it always takes a few young green leaves as well. Nothing is wrong, welcome to life.
- The suicidal spider — eight webs smashedAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Mindful spider builds a perfect first web; broom smashes it. Second, third… eight houses destroyed. Exhausted, nearly dead, she asks what's the point — banks foreclose, owners…
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story of the suicidal spider. When was the last time I told about the suicidal spider? Did you really know that even spiders sometimes get depressed? But they don't have like a telephone line to call. So many spiders become suicidal. This particular spider ah, she was just born and I told the story recently. Okay. This spider was born and it made a nice little web in somebody's house. And this the spider was very Buddhist, very mindful, very careful, took her time, didn't rush, in the moment, and constructed this amazing web. Now it was just absolutely perfect. And it was her home, her first house. If that spider had built like a real like one of the brick and tile or whatever else you use to make your homes, that would have been on the front cover of the spider equivalent to Home and Gardens. It was architectural masterpiece. And she put so much time into building it that once it was finished she put her herself in the middle to take a rest and wait for for the the food to come. Not Uber Eats, you know, because this was just natural way before people thought of home deliveries. You wait there and soon as a fly comes in, that's your lunch. So exhausted, resting, waiting for lunch to arrive, then the owner of the house saw in the corner of his room there was a spider web. So she got the broom and she smashed the spider web to bits. And that poor spider had to run for her life. She only just escaped the broom. And she ran ran as fast as she could to the house next door and another web. Of course your second home is nowhere near as good as your first because you put more energy and love into it. And she built another home and she just when she finished she rested in the middle of it. And of course what happened? Somebody else in that home a maid saw the the spider web in the middle of the the corner, smashed it with a stick. So that spider had to run away to to another home. The same thing happened to the third house. Now, how many houses have you built? Imagine that happened to you. You just finished a house, you haven't even paid off the mortgage yet, smash. And even worse, haven't had any lunch or anything to eat. So that four, five, six, seven, eight houses the spider had some Chinese connection because I thought the eight was a lucky number. So tried number eight but didn't work. Eight houses. Eight webs it built. And after the eighth web was destroyed, smashed to bits, and just that close to dying that spider just started to recollect. What's the point? What's the point of
- 'What prison were you in?'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: When Ajahn Brahm's predecessor Ajahn Jagaro disrobed and applied for jobs in the United States, employers asked about the 20-year gap. 'I've been a monk.' 'Yes, we've heard that…
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Even my predecessor, Ajahn Jagaro, you know, when he disrobed here, he had this big chunk of life, 20 years, from his life had disappeared in monasteries. So when he went to the United States, and he applied for a job, they thought, "What were you doing in those 20 years?" "I've been a monk." "Yes, we've heard that before. "What prison were you in?" So he actually asked me to write him a letter, to actually to confirm that No, he didn't go to jail, he was a monk.
- Why he felt no grief: his father's death and the great concertAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm's father, whom he loved very much, died when he was 16, and he couldn't understand why he felt no grief. Years later as a monk he reflected on it and saw the feeling…
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When my father died, you've heard of this before, this is a beautiful story. When my father died at 16, I never cried, never cried since and I've loved my father very much. I've told many stories about him. The reason I never cried, really, I couldn't understand. I was only 16 years of age. Later on, I contemplated my emotions. Because alone, you've got more time to spend, you know, to contemplate how you feel, what the emotion is, why it is, where it comes from. That's what meditation does, it really gets you very aware of your emotional world and so when I found out what I felt, I realized the emotion I felt of my father's death, funeral and afterwards, was exactly the same as another emot
- “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