Stories about music
5 Buddhist wisdom stories about music from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- A private concert with Rod StewartStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a teenager Ajahn Brahm and his brother go to a gig where only six people turn up — the lead singer was a then-unknown Rod Stewart; 'like a private concert'.
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i went to this show with my brother only six people so turned up to watch this band you know who the lead singer was who was it no i wasn't mick jagger beatles it was his name again sorry no not jonah not paul mccartney it was rod stewart thank you yeah watched you uh there's only six of us listening to him it was like a private concert in those days
- Celebrate the ending of the stuck songStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After years without music in a NE Thai forest, a Bangkok visa trip lets a pop song stick in his head for days. Fighting it made it worse; emphasising the finale until the…
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somebody walked past my room uh with one of these radios and they were playing some pop music and I made a mistake of really listening to it and it was very delightful to listen to sort of some some song which was probably in the hip parade somewhere but the point is as soon as I started listening to it and enjoying it got stuck in my head and I couldn't sort of get it out and I kept it instead of meditating repeating the music to myself over and over and over and over and over again. It's the songs pop up and get stuck. So a long time in a couple of days being concerned with this the solution I found which worked for me anyway was actually instead of trying to stop the sound which didn't work. It made it come up more and more and more. I was trying I always discover when you fight something it usually makes it worse. When you try to get rid of it it stays much longer. So instead of trying to get rid of it, I decided to really get into it. And especially with the ending, the finale, the last few seconds, instead of D whatever it was and then carrying on again, I really gave it everything emphasis. When I emphasize the endings, then the beginnings never occurred
- He judged the violin — then heard the old womanStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A poor mountain father sacrifices for his children's education; they prosper in the city, send him a fine violin he cannot play — it sounds awful. Years later in town he hears…
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an old man who lived up in the mountains. And he worked very hard in a very poor village so that his children could have a really great education. And the children they did work hard at school then at university and then they went to town then to the city where they established themselves in good careers. And after they had established themselves, they decided together to invite their father into the city for the first time. And this father had worked hard all his life. He never seen a major city before. And so when he went into that city, he saw things he never ever seen before. And one of the things he didn't actually see, he heard it. It's really terrible, terrible, terrible sound. But even though the sound was very hard to listen to, he couldn't resist finding out what was causing what he decided was the worst sound in the whole world. And he followed it to a house. In the back room of a house, he saw a little child trying to play the violin. He never seen a violin before in his life. And he saw this little child. It was a terrible noise. And so he thought, "Violins are bad." He never wanted to hear a violin again. Same day in the afternoon, passed another house. This time he heard a beautiful sound, one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard. followed that to the front room of a house. There he saw an old woman playing the violin. The same instrument. There was an old woman. She had learned how to play that violin. And she was a maestro of that instrument. And he thought straight away that he'd made a mistake judging the instrument rather than judging the person
- 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
- The Jimi Hendrix museum was shutStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Jimi Hendrix was Ajahn Brahm's teenage idol; he even had the haircut. Giving talks in Seattle with a free afternoon, he's urged to visit the Jimi Hendrix museum. He thinks a monk…
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You know, I used to really like Jimmyi Hendris and I I was he was my big idol when I was young and my hair was all like this. I had Jimmyi Hendrick's haircut and I went to Seattle once to give some talks and I had a free afternoon. People in Seattle said, "Why didn't you go to Jimi Hendris Museum, you know, cuz it's Jimi Hendrick's Museum is in Seattle." And I thought, "I'm a monk. I shouldn't really go to such things. The monks are supposed to give up all those things." So I went and this is my karma. I went there and that afternoon, one afternoon a week it was shut. It just really taught me a lesson.