Stories about monastery
6 Buddhist wisdom stories about monastery from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- First walk up Kingsbury DriveStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Building Bodhinyana, Brahm sends the car ahead and walks Kingsbury Drive alone for the first time after years living at the top — so slowly, turning to valley and hillside, that…
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I'm going to walk up the hill today alone." So, I send the car with a driver up ahead. I'm going to walk. And that kind of really shocked me. What I didn't get much exercise, I must admit, because I did walk so slowly. And every now and again, I turn to the left to see the valley, turn to the right and see the hillside. And my goodness, often I had to ask myself, "Where am I?" I could not recognize my location. And I've been living up that uh the top of that hill for about 5 or 6 years by that time. The first time I actually walked up that hill. It looked totally different
- He laid the top bricks himselfStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Building a hall: bricklayer refuses the shaking scaffold at the top; Brahm crawls the unsupported edge and lays the corner bricks himself.
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scaffold we had to build up and of course the monks did all that scaffold work and when he got to the very top there the brick L refused to go up because you know it was shaking this way and that way and this way and that way but we managed to coax him to go up there and and you could have seen some of the last bricks especially on the big Corners the top I laid those bricks myself because no one else would go up there
- 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
- Sanctuary — the temple cat on the monk's lapStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Kitten brought into the meditation hall chooses an adopter; later another cat, seeing its owner arrive to collect it, jumps onto Brahm's lap as if claiming sanctuary.
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gave me this kitten and I brought it into this room here and when I was meditating I let it just go loose and it went on people's laps rubbed past them and the cat chose its new owner actually it was almost a fight because two or three people saw that little kid and said can I I have it please they got any more and they said no it's already chosen you and so they took it back and they adopted it especially Buddhists I must admit you're all such kind loving people so if a cat comes here they really enjoy themselves we do have a another cat who comes here I haven't seen it this weekend but it comes here and imagine a little cat it lives around the back here somewhere it's got an owner but the little cat comes and plays with you and never gets chased away and sometimes you get special food and that little kitten or cat it really likes we found I tried to give it some milk he didn't like the milk he really likes chicken and as soon as I say that people find find some chicken somewhere or other to feed the little kitten and so the kitten comes and if you're too busy to give it a nice stroke of a pat it goes to so many other people it gets patted so much much more than it will ever get patted in its own home that's why little kittens or cats they love this place even here I remember once there was another cat years ago used to come here every Saturday afternoon because Saturday after afternoon after the meditation it would actually play in a reception area here crawl all over people get stroked here stroked there get give him some special treats I remember that little cat because then one day know the secretary in there got a call and it was from the owner of the cat she said she was moving today is my cat there I said yeah it's here he playing with the monks I said well I'm moving today I've got to come and collect it and so I remember her coming in and walking into the reception area and the cat was actually just playing in front of me and as soon as the cat saw the owner to come and collect it you know what that cat did I'm not exaggerating it jumped right onto my lap you could read its little cat mind Sanctuary Sanctuary Sanctuary
- The ugly dead trees were condominiumsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: New to Serpentine forest he wants to chainsaw 'ugly' dead trees; learns they house possums, birds, lizards — a condominium, not a cemetery.
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dead trees. Now I came from Europe, you know, where the trees were mostly alive. So when I saw the dead trees, I wanted to get the chainsaw out and cut down those dead trees. They were ugly. You know, who wants to live like in a cemetery forest? And so if you could take down the dead trees and all these live trees would grow up and you have this beautiful like green forest with leaves everywhere and these dead trees were just a blight on the landscape. So I thought the dead trees were terrible until somebody told me and it was true that in those dead trees that was the habitat for many psums
- Wow, this is good, ain't it, Brahm?Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: The coarse Australian who single-handedly built Bodhinyana's concrete water tanks asks 'Brahm' if he can look inside the 'church'. Boots on, he only puts his head through the…
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Would you mind if I have a look inside your church?" He said. You know, it don't you know, it doesn't really know it's not a church, but you know, who cares? And so I said, "Yeah, come along." So talking talking talking. Said, "I don't have to take me boots off?" Have you seen like workers boots? It would take half an hour to take those boots off. So no, no, come on. And so we went into the um the entryway and I opened the door. He he wouldn't go on the carpet with his big boots. He just put his head through to have a look. And I always remember that moment. It was it was about a couple of minutes. He was totally silent. Stopped speaking. And I just I was not going to not going to interrupt this cuz you could feel that this was really important for him. And he just went put his head inside there for 2 minutes and he came out afterwards. Just his head. He looked at me with a big no no many tooth missing smile. And he said, "Wow, this is good, ain't it, Brahm?