Stories about perception
27 Buddhist wisdom stories about perception from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Coffee for the new bossStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A listener's former colleague is promoted and becomes a harsh, scolding boss. Advised by Ajahn Brahm to look at the boss's beautiful side, the woman goes up to her and simply…
Read full story
recently somebody said I'm sure they're probably here but I can't remember it was last week or two weeks ago they say they tried this with their boss in the office they just got a new boss actually the new boss was was one of their colleagues before now got promoted it's amazing when someone gets promoted they actually change from being a friend to being like a Margaret Thatcher uh you know I always remember Margaret Thatcher she said cabinet ministers there are some you can beat down there are some you can wear down and the others you grind down that's a really amazing woman grinding cabinet ministers down wo but there are some people like that in your office but instead of looking at that aspect of her boss I told her to look at her beautiful side and so this amazing woman she went to her and the boss usually being scouting at her and complaining just asked her do you want a cup of coffee I'm just going down to the coffee machine and the boss was so taken back apparently changing the attitude to a person looking at the kindness
- Dismembered heads that could not be doubtedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An article Brahm read describes someone who lived through schizophrenia and came out wise and free: at the extreme they saw dismembered heads rolling on the floor, visions that…
Read full story
I remember reading an article of a person describing their battle with schizophrenia and and just how they came out the other side just wise free living a beautiful life and they said that it was so extreme that sometimes they would see like heads dismembered heads rolling around the floor in front of them Visions which were totally irrationally logical which couldn't actually exist but to them it was obviously true that they had no way that they could doubt the logic the reason of a dismembered head rolling in front of them on the ground and I can understand that how that works once you have a certain world view once you really think that that's that that is actually the truth
- 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,…
Read full story
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
- First TV after seven yearsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After about seven years as a monk in Thailand, visiting Scotland, he sees a TV through two doorways for the first time. The fast-changing images and intense colours make his…
Read full story
for years I hadn't seen a TV when I was a monk in Thailand. I remember just going to after about seven years visiting uh UK, visiting Scotland. I remember seeing through two doorways a TV for the first time in seven years and oh that was just so hard for my brain. The images was just so changing so fast and also just the colors were so intense. And I actually recalled recoiled from it
- He punched the art teacher for smiling — then called him a friendStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An Armadale-group artist who taught at Claremont smiled at a difficult colleague; the man punched him and flattened him. Years later the same man greeted him as an old friend and…
Read full story
one of these artists who used to come to our Armadale group so many years ago, he was an art teacher at Claremont, I think it was. And he said one of his colleagues was just a bad person, and this art teacher was quite a spiritual guy, he smiled at this colleague one day and the colleague just punched him in the nose and flattened him for smiling. And he met the guy years later— he had to leave the school after that— and met him years later and this friend came up and said, "We were such good friends in those days," and the teacher said, "What? You flattened me!" He said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." His perception of the relationship was totally different than the other person's relationship; the guy who hit the art teacher was going through some very, very difficult time, but recognized the art teacher was actually trying to be kind to him. And even though he couldn't express that he'd recognize this, and even just it looked like he was angry at this art teacher, it is still the kindness had got in there somewhere, and it stayed with him for all those years
- Her mother-in-law had the face of GuanyinStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Vietnamese woman married to an Australian could not win over a hostile (possibly racist) mother-in-law despite food, chanting and metta. Falling asleep in a temple she saw…
Read full story
there was this Vietnamese girl who married an Australian Caucasian and they loved each other. Really two good people. But the problem was her mother-in-law. I don't know why mothersin-law have these reputations, but someone did tell me that if you rearrange the letters which smell which spell mother-in-law, you rearrange those letters, it actually spells Hitler woman. [laughter] You can you can try that when you go home. But not all women are like that. Obviously, not more mothers-in-law. Some mothers are not really sweet and nice. But anyway, this was one of those mothersin-law, which you know, she must have been quite racist, I would suppose, because why did you marry sort of an Asian girl? Aren't they nice Aussie girls to marry or whatever? But you know, just she they fell in love. They're both really good people. But the Vietnamese girl, you know, she really, of course, and this is my husband's f mother. Of course, I've got to love her and got to try and reconcile. So, she realized I've got really good qualities. And so, she tried everything apparently everything to try and find out how to get her mother-in-law to love her. She tried, you know, getting special food for her, but you know, her mother-in-law didn't like noodles. and and tried even then she went to the temple and asked the monk to do some chanting. Please make my mother-in-law love me. Didn't work. She tried doing loving kindness meditation. You know that's another type of meditation. You sit there. Oh, may my love mother-in-law be happy and well. Maybe she free of suffering. May she be just so blissful. That didn't work. [snorts] And she had tried everything apparently to get her mother-in-law to love her. Nothing worked except the very last strategy which she used. Now you may know in the Vietnamese traditions mostly Mahayana they have this image of likewan yin the goddess of mercy. Now you know sometimes as a terravada Buddhist we don't have that in Terravada Buddhism but you know I've talked to many many people over the years and many many people especially like Vietnamese boat people in those days when they sort of fled Vietnam and they just trusted their life you know to these rickety old boats sailing a huge distance to get to Australia such a long long long journey and most of them didn't make it. Some did. And I remember a lot of them they they told me that they were just know they were robbed by pirates. They had no money. They didn't know what they were going to do. They're going to make anywhere. And many of them I remember them. These are people I've talked to personally eventually ended up in Perth. They said that they had uh just almost losing it and they saw this image of the this they call it goddess of mercy Quanin coming over the the waves to them and they swore to me they actually saw it and then right behind this goddess of mercy Quanin they saw a a British frigot you know when Hong Kong was under the Brits sailing towards them to save them. Quan came first mobly leading the Brits to rescue rescue these poor refugees and of course then they got taken to Hong Kong and eventually settled over here in Australia. There's so many stories like that and it's something which you know in religion in spirituality now what actually did they see but anyway that's another question but you know you can't deny that they said they definitely saw that but anyway this woman said well what can I do she went to the temple and of course in these stories her meditation wasn't that good Instead, she fell asleep. And when she was know asleep in the temple and what she actually saw was like a vision of this goddess of mercy come to help her. And she was really surprised. But there was a difference. It wasn't the normal goddess of mercy you see in Buddhist temples, Mahayana temples. The one which she saw no looked like the ordinary goddess of mercy but had a different face. The face was exactly the same as her mother-in-law [laughter] and that was all was necessary. Once she she saw her mother-in-law look like the goddess of mercy. Next time she saw her mother-in-law, her attitude totally changed somehow or other. Just seeing something beautiful, good, lovable, and really inspiring in a person who you didn't like or didn't like you was all that was necessary to change her attitude. And apparently since that time that uh the the the goddess of mercy otherwise known as mother-in-law changed her attitude and now they have this beautiful relationship. And that was actually told by one of the Vietnamese nuns who live in Perth many years ago
- Holy water from Lourdes — “Another miracle!”Joke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Returning from pilgrimage to Lourdes, a Catholic traveller's bags contain two Johnnie Walker bottles; he insists it's holy water carried in old whisky bottles. The sceptical…
Read full story
and the customs officer insisted on checking his bags and he said he had nothing to declare but when they opened his bags they found out these two bottles inside what is what are those bottles he just said oh they're just he'd been on on pilgrimage to lords that uh holy site in france he was a catholic okay i have could i finish a joke yeah better be the catholic holy side of lords and they say well what's in the bottles they said just holy water and he took them out but look at the label johnny walker he said well i've got to put him in something i just happen to have these old bottles of whiskey and i just pour the water in there there's any way you can transport it and the customs officers they're not very believe they don't have much trust in human beings so he said well i'll take him out let's let's open it up and see what's inside when he opened it up is it this isn't water this is whiskey smell it for yourself and the traveler smelt it and he said why my goodness that is whiskey another miracle
- “How many of you have ever eaten rice pudding?”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Unexpectedly facing 60 Year 1 and 2 children, Ajahn Brahm asks who doesn't like rice pudding; a few hands go up, then, looking around, all of them. Then he asks how many have…
Read full story
some years ago i went to rolly stone primary school and they invited me to give a talk to some of these students there and i didn't realize who i was talking to and they were year grade ones and grade twos how can you teach buddhism to grade ones and grade twos you know can you actually tell that story about the most beautiful sound in the world to them or talk about the four noble truths the great great ones and great twos and i had no preparation but what i did there when i went into the room i had to think on my feet very quickly actually i wasn't standing so i thought on my aoi arse i was sitting down and i just asked them so how many of you like i don't know how many of you yet don't like rice pudding you know what rice pudding is you don't have to know but anyway how many of you don't like rice pudding and you know what grade ones and grade twos are like these little people we know two or three people put their hand up they did not like rice pudding all the other kids the boys and girls they were looking around they saw these three or four people had their hands up so they put their hands up as well and after two or three minutes the whole about 60 kids had their hands up they agreed in grade one grade two rollerstone primary school they didn't like rice pudding okay put your hands down now how many of you have ever eaten white sporty and two kids pull their hand up and everyone else laughed you taught dhamma to grade ones and grade twos they got it straight away and so did their parents and the teachers as well
- Hypnosis made the ice bath feel warmStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a TV hypnosis show a man sat in freezing water convinced it was a warm bath and enjoyed it — illustrating how much of cold and pain is mental.
Read full story
put a person in a freezing cold tub of water but they convinced this guy under hypnosis that it was nice and warm, just like a warm hot bath. You like going in warm hot baths this time of year? Really nice, warm and hot is very very nice. I don't usually indulge but I remember one of the people here we went to Bhutan together. When I walked up this mountain when you came down again, all your legs were very sore because really exerting yourself. I remember just going into the bath, a good excuse at last, a monk can have a hot bath. Lovely just to relax there. But in this particular case it was ice cold water. But they convinced him it was a warm hot bath and he was having a wonderful time in the cold icy water
- “It's a bit OTT, isn't it?”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Dragged along to the Taj Mahal on an India pilgrimage, Ajahn Brahm sits at a distance wondering why it's beautiful — only because we're told so? A fellow pilgrim, the late member…
Read full story
we went on pilgrimage to india and part of the pilgrimage was actually going to the taj mahal i don't know why we went there but said people wanted to see it so i was dragged along i remember sitting at a distance from the taj mahal in agua in india and just asking myself why is this beautiful it's only beautiful because you're told it's beautiful when i actually look at it from a distance so what's beautiful about this it's a bit of an exaggeration and it almost ruined many many people suffered because of building that but people said it was a work of art what's a work of art is it really beautiful so i was questioning myself there i remember pauline coming up to me and said it's a bit ott isn't it and i said yeah well done c2 was challenging her perceptions were taught to say this is beautiful and when you actually look at it challenge your perceptions it wasn't that beautiful
- Joke: everything hurtsJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A man tells the doctor his whole body hurts: he touches his head, it hurts; his nose, his mouth, his belly, his elbow, his knees, his feet — all hurt. 'I know your problem,' says…
Read full story
There was a person who who went to the doctor. And he said, "What's wrong?" And he said, "My whole body hurts. My whole body's in pain." "What do you mean?" said the doctor. "Well, I touch my head, that hurts. Touch my nose, my nose hurts That hurts. I touch my mouth, that hurts. I touch my belly. My belly's down here, sorry. I touch my belly Belly that Touch my elbow, that hurts. Touch my knees, that hurts. Touch my feet, that hurts." "Well, I know your problem. You've got a broken finger."
- Labour energy, not labour painStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A monastery full of monks in north-east Thailand kept a book on how to give birth. It came from a commune of hippies who left Haight-Ashbury after the summer of love: they never…
Read full story
this is one of the books which I remember we had in our monastery so many years ago. It was about how to give birth. How when you're pregnant, how to give birth. We had this in a monastery full of monks in northeast Thailand. And people go, "What you got that in here for?" And the reason we had it in there for because it was actually a wonderful example just of how you can change the world by changing attitudes. So in this birthing book which apparently people said became like a almost like a standard text. It was you know basically practiced by a bunch of hippies who you know left you know the summer of love in San Francisco hate Ashbury and just got a little commune together did things differently and of course young people uh when people got pregnant. Number one they never called it labor pain. That was a no no. Call it labor pain and it becomes pain. They call it labor energy. Now this, you know, you think this is not much, but when for, you know, when you found out you're pregnant for seven months or 6 months or whatever, being conditioned, you know, the first couple of months, you don't know. Maybe I don't really know what I'm talking about, but you know, roughly you get the idea that um that when you call it labor energy, call it labor pain, it changes the psychology of it. And of course, they didn't just have the the um the the husband there. They had just the whole family just about. Everybody was like at a football match. And when you had a big contraction, yeah, go for it. Wow, that's a big one. Wow, that was amazing. And everyone was cheering them along. And because it was just so much like a party when they were giving birth and they never looked at pain, they their labors were incredibly short. They had a had a a a doctor, you know, a a doctor from the local town or something who was just amazed at this, you know, how it well it worked. Short, not painful, and amazing babies were born because they took away the idea of fear from the whole process.
- Late-night Thai TV in BangkokStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After flying Perth–Bangkok from a 3.30 a.m. start, Ajahn Brahm is scheduled for a 10.30 p.m. live Thai TV interview. Nested: the Perth Thai talk hearers thought was Pali. On air…
Read full story
It was very, very dodgy when I went to Bangkok all the way from Perth, getting up really early in the morning, to get to the airport, to get on the plane, I got up about 3.30 in the morning, and by the time I got to Bangkok late in the afternoon, I found out they had scheduled me for a TV interview at 10.30 p.m. I just had time for a quick shower and [went] back to the studios, which is not so bad, but it was in Thai. Sometimes you think I'm fluent in Thai, but once - here in Perth - there were some visiting Thai people and they asked for some teaching, so I taught them maybe 15 minutes of Buddhism in Thai. And afterwards they said they were so impressed. "We didn't realize that you could give a speech in Pali." [audience laughing] That wasn't Pali, that was Thai! "Oh", the Thai people said, "really?" In other words, they didn't understand a word of it - not one word. [audience laughing] And here I was on live TV, making an idiot of myself, I thought, speaking in Thai, but I did really well. There were actually two other Thai people there, two Thai monks being interviewed, one was the rector of Mahajula Lukon university Venerable Dammakosaja and he was very good, but the other fellow being interviewed was a Thai monk who was a resident in a Buddhist monastery in Oxford. And apparently, afterwards, my Thai, even though I'm a Westerner, that came across much more fluent than this Thai guy who was staying at Oxford for the last few years. [audience laughing] And I thought "How can that be?" Well, I was from Cambridge and he was from Oxford. Cambridge is always supreme.
- Londoners laughed at the robesStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Walking London streets in robes; strangers laugh at his appearance before he understands why — until he turns a corner and sees himself as they do.
Read full story
walking down the streets of London and know a lot of times because they didn't know what the heck I was, you know, wearing brown robes and bald head, no socks. That was weird enough. But then you would uh people would never ever say hello to you. But on Christmas day, everybody would say hello to you without exception. You know, there's also that one time I recall that, you know, that just the it's amazing the different cultures, but you wear these robes wherever you go because that's all you have. So anyway, when I was uh visiting like Stoke on Trent, that's where where my mother was born and so a lot of family up there. So I was visiting one of my friends or cousin and over there and going for a walk in the morning, a nice little bit of exercise. And as I was walking down the the streets, everybody was pointing at me and laughing. And I I don't mind actually creating some happiness in the world and joy in this world. It's a wonderful thing to make people laugh, but I really couldn't understand why. I wasn't telling any jokes. It was just, you know, just my appearance was sometimes making them laugh
- Married 25 years and strangers on holidayStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After about 25 years of marriage, when the last child leaves home, a couple take their first holiday alone together. One says afterwards it was a shock: “I didn't realise whom I…
Read full story
somebody, actually it's a person who is a old fellow member here, they told me that I think they had been married for about 25 years and the last of their children got married, so left home And there they were together, so went on a holiday together. First time they could go just the two of them and they came back afterwards and one of the partners said it was such a shock such a shock, I didn't realize whom I was married to all these years. Because for all those years they have been relating to each other as father and mother of their kids. Now their kids were out of the equation, the whole relationship, the whole identity changed. They had to rediscover each other again. It is amazing they had been married for so many years and they said they didn't know each other.
- 'Number one!'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On the monks' Saturday-morning alms round in Perth, a young Australian gave Ajahn Brahm the one-finger sign. He chose not to be offended: maybe the man was really saying the…
Read full story
the last time I went on arms round, this uh young Aussie guy saw us and gave me the one finger sign. Now, they gave you know, you know, you know the one finger sign. I'm not going to demonstrate it here, otherwise you may think that I'm doing this on purpose rather than just a demonstration for um educational purposes. So, they gave me the one finger sign. So there you had a choice again to be offended or to laugh or to even see if you can perceive it in a positive way. So I looked upon that and saying what he was really saying but he just got the finger the wrong wrong way round that we were number one Buddhism is the best. So that's where you have the choice and I exercise that choice not to get offended and interpret it. I mean, it's very unlikely that that was actually the truth, but it could have been.
- The best boarding-house cook in EnglandStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 19, dreading the 'stodge, stodge and stodge' of a Cambridge boarding house, Ajahn Brahm goes on his first nine-day retreat — and every evening the food is delicious. He…
Read full story
One of the first times I realized this in my practice of meditation was the very first meditation retreat which I gave which I uh participated in. I was still a student only 19 years of age and a few of us hired a boarding house about two or three boarding houses in Cambridge. It's amazing when you've got good meditation. It was in Baitman Street in Cambridge. That's maybe 39 years ago. Haven't thought of that name for such a long time. It's amazing when you meditate your memory gets incredibly strong. You remember details a long time ago clearly in those boarding houses of Bman Street. We meditated for 9 days. But before I went on that boarding house retreat, I did it with some trepidation cuz I like my food. And I knew as a fact already the cooks in England were somewhere in the bottom of the league of European cuisine. Apparently cooking in UK has improved since those years. But the English were not known for their cooking. Now, at the bottom of the pile of cooks were those who worked in boarding houses for poor students who couldn't afford to complain. And I knew from experience that these cooks would usually every evening cook a three course meal. Stod, stodge, and stodge. Doesn't matter what vegetable it was, it was boiled so long it tasted the same. And if you know England in those years, you would know what I'm talking about. So I thought I'm going to have a terrible time in this retreat with food. It's just going to be really awful. But I was surprised during that period of retreat. Every evening the food was delicious. It was very tasty. At the time I thought I just must be lucky. My good karmas meant we've got the best boarding house cook in the whole of England. Now I know much better. The food was just ordinary food. But because I was practicing meditation, because I was becoming still, my mind was increasing in energy. So much so that the small amount of taste which was left in there, I could pick up. And now I know for a fact that whenever you go on a retreat, the food always tastes better than normal. Doesn't matter who the cook is, cuz it's not the food or the cook, it's your mind.
- The bikie and the girl on the bridgeJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A bikie gang, wanting good publicity, sees a crowd: a girl is about to jump off a bridge. One bikie goes up and kisses her, and everyone thinks it's a great way to stop her.…
Read full story
the bikey gang going down the highway. They saw a big crowd. The bike wanted to sort of know be a hero. Tried to sort of get some good publicity for bikes. They're not all bad. And actually, just on a side there that you know, once once there was a mother of a bikey, the poor young man, you know, he u drove a bit too fast and he slammed into a a a um electricity pole and killed himself. And he was very very young. And I knew the mother, she would come to our monastery. And so she wanted my support at the funeral for her son. and she was a a very spiritual person and she thought that she could handle doing the funeral service for for her own son and it was in Fremantle many years ago at the old little funeral um chapel now they built new chapels since that time it was small and because this was a bikey who had died they had all these bikes crammed into this little hall and I don't know why this is but you They were all in their leathers, their tats, everything, their patches, and they had their girlfriends. And their girlfriends, this was a funeral, but they were quite frankly dressed like they were going to go out to a nightclub, you know, young, you know, really well-dressed and stuff like that because this is just biky culture. They was their way of paying respect to one of their own. And the mother went up there to try and um conduct a funeral ceremony for her son. But you know it became impossible for her. She started losing it and I remember her sort of calling out there's a professional in here somewhere. Brah help. So I came and just impromptu did the funeral service for her son who I also you know met a couple of times and I remember just after the funeral service all these bikes these tough guys you know really big incredibly big arms and tough they all came up to me said thank you sir very nice funeral great service sir thank you so much they're so nice and so kind and you can see they really felt something for their you know their brother you know their friend who had passed away. And I was, you know, when you actually get to know people, they have all this bad reputation. Sometimes we judge them far too too rationally. And some of them can be really really kind. So anyway, despite what sort of people say about them, obviously there are some bad ones, but there's also some good ones. You can't judge is what I'm trying to say. But anyway, in this story, you know, the bikey tried to do something good and then this girl trying to jump off the bridge and the bikey sort of came up to the girl, kissed her and it's very quickly and everyone thought, "Great, great idea to stop her from jumping off." And then afterwards he asked why why were you wanting to jump off? And uh she or you might say he said because my parents don't like me dressing up in girls clothes and you know it was the bike was was tricked. You know he got it wrong. He mispersceived and that was a joke.
- The door prizeAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Imagine tonight's door prize is a first-class trip to Dharamsala for a private lunch with the Dalai Lama, then three days in a six-star Singapore hotel with a thousand dollars a…
Read full story
I remember telling this to imagine that at the end of this talk a special occasion that we were going to give a door prize and the door prize today was a free trip to say let's say um okay because many of you are Buddhists a free trip to India to Dam Salah on a first class uh trip, all expenses paid to see his holiness of Dalai Lama, have a private even uh lunch with his holiness of Dal Lama. And on your way back, you know, through um Singapore, is that a good idea? Singapore. Okay. Through Singapore, you can have uh three days and the six car six-star hotel with a thousand uh sing dollars a day spending money, whatever you want, on your way home. first class all the way and that was the door prize today. Now imagine hypothetically if you won that how would you feel? Would you be excited? you know, would you really be looking forward to actually having a private audience with this Holiness of Dal Lama? Would you? And this wonderful trip and if you said, well, it's going to be in about, you know, 4 months time. Would you be counting down the days, you know, 3 months, only two months to go, one month? Come on, can we get it quicker? And the day before you'd be so excited now, what's what's the difference? What's better? going to see his holdings the Dalai Lama and all expenses paid or going to heaven a great heavenly realm where you don't need money to spend anything you want you just get and you not just see the dollar you can see even all the great monks and the bodhic sattas and I'm going to say the Buddha but people get upset at me so say they can't see 11 but anyway see all these wonderful people up there not just the 14th alam the 13th the 12th 11th the whole series of dalas Wouldn't that be better, go to heaven? So why is it when people got a terminal disease, they think and the doctor says only about 3 months to live. Can I say can you make it quicker please? I want to go to heaven.
- The flower pot physicists didn't seeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At Imperial College, London, a flower pot is made to levitate with a hidden electromagnet under the bench. The physicists who watch it insist it didn't happen — it stayed on the…
Read full story
I've said before about the flower pot experiment that was done in uh in Imperial College in London. They got a flower pot to levitate. People who actually saw it, these were physicists. They said it didn't happen. It did happen. They refuse to admit it because it's impossible. But it did happen. It was it was a trick. There was like a a um electromag electromagnet under the bench, but they didn't realize that they it did actually levitate. But they said, "I didn't see it. It was on the table all the time." And that's a very good example of we see only what we want to see.
- The most beautiful bamboo looked sick after the rideStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After a UK meditation retreat he bikes through stressful traffic to revisit his favourite bamboo clump — days earlier the most beautiful in the world; now dry, desiccated, out of…
Read full story
That was just a simple sight of a clump of bamboo. But then, you know, once the retreat was over, cuz this was the the place I was studying at, I decided just to go and see my favorite clump of bamboo, the most beautiful clump of bamboo in the world, and got on a bicycle and rode through the traffic. That's an important part of this story. Riding through traffic, stressing out. By the time I got to that same old clump of bamboo, it looked just so ordinary and out of place. It was bamboo in a cold part of UK. It shouldn't be there. It was dry, desiccated, looked really sickly. And I thought, what had happened to the most beautiful clump clump of bamboo in the world, which I could see only a couple of weeks earlier. Now it was gone. It was the same plant, physically the same
- The most beautiful thing in the toilet bowlStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On one retreat Ajahn Brahm's mind is so still and full of energy that everything looks beautiful. After going to the toilet he glances into the bowl and is overwhelmed: not one…
Read full story
And that was the story of when This is really over the top, but it's beautiful. That when during one retreat, I was getting some very very deep meditation. My mind was just so still and peaceful and just so much energy that whatever you saw was just so beautiful and joyful. That's just the nature of things. You're so still, you see so much more. And I am a human being, just everybody has to do the same. I had to go to the toilet. And after going to the toilet, I just happened to glance into the bowl to see its contents. Wow. That is so beautiful. I'd never in my whole life seen such a beautiful piece of The browns, they're not just one brown. Next time you go, have a look. It's not just one brown. It's all different shades of brown. And just the way they are just arranged together like some Picasso. And the way it's just covered with this beautiful film of, you know, a little bit of mucus and water. And it shines like a diamond, you know, in the sunshine. It was sparkling. And the fragrance, my goodness. It always makes people laugh. But that's actually a true story. If you'd have been there in the cubicle next to me, you'd probably call for the guys in the white coats to take this crazy bug cuz I was really getting off on this beautiful piece of turd. And the reason why cuz my mind had opened up, and it was beautiful. You know, it was one of the hardest things I did, but I'm used to letting go. Press the button and see it fall away. I wanted to take it out, take it home with me.
- The nail that didn't hurt until someone said soStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On alms round in Thailand Ajahn Brahm steps on a nail that goes a couple of inches into his foot. It doesn't hurt — until the monk with him says, “Oh, that's terrible.” Then it…
Read full story
stepping on a nail - it went about two inches into my foot! It's a long way, a big 4 inch nail, it went right inside my foot! It didn't hurt at all! until somebody said "Wow that's terrible!!" and as soon as they said that it started to hurt
- The orphan chicken that says quackStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After years of the chicken-or-duck story, people sent him evidence: an orphaned chicken raised by ducks that goes quack quack — so a quack does not prove a duck.
Read full story
there was a real um chicken. It was a poor little chicken when he was born. was orphaned. So, it was adopted by a mother duck. This is true. I've got the paper somewhere in sometimes. Adopted by a family of ducks. And this little chicken goes quack- quack. It's a chicken. That's its species. That's what it is. But it goes quack quack. So, there is I've got evidence there is one chicken in this world at least who goes quack quack
- The tiger that was a mouseStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Meditating alone at night deep in the Thai jungle, Ajahn Brahm hears rustling. As a Cambridge-trained scientist he assesses it: a small animal. As it comes closer: a medium-sized…
Read full story
so I was meditating in the jungle really dark no lights had a sort of flashlight but it was you know had to conserve the power and there was no mobile phones no one took court if there was any danger there deep in the jungle alone meditating now the jungle can be really peaceful at first especially you know when they see Carters you know start to die down after Sunset you'll be very peaceful and very cool you know Tyler is a very hot country but in the forest the shade of the trees maybe it's just the oxygen which they give up gives a beautiful atmosphere it's really cool and very peaceful and so secluded hardly any disturbances at all so I was getting into some really nice deep meditation until I heard a sound there's always something in the jungle crawling around and so I was mindful as you know I've been practicing this for years I was very mindful I didn't need to open my eyes if I did I couldn't say anything it was pitched dark I just listened and and assessed I was brought up as a scientist in Cambridge University so I did some like assessment gather some data and use some reason and by the sound of this animal it was only just you know not really crushing leaves it was just a little bit of rustling in the leaves so I assessed it and said oh it's only maybe a small little animal just you know walking through the jungle nothing to be afraid of so then I started meditating again but then after another couple of minutes I realized it was coming much closer and as it was closer I could hear it more clearly and I realized no no it's not a small animal it's a medium-sized one you could tell by the way it was actually crashing the leaves and breaking the Twigs but still nothing to be really afraid of and then when it got really close wow that's not a medium-sized one that's a big one because the way it was making a noise it must be something really heavy to actually to break not tweaks but like almost like small branches and crushing the leaves on the forest floor because you can't walk in the forest without any noise there's too much undergrowth and too much leaves litter on the ground this was a big animal that was dangerous and I got really scared and I picked up my flashlight and you know the waste of time for that really was a tiger that just tell you the tiger where you were but that's how stupid you are you pick up your flashlight and you look for it where's the big tiger and then I saw it I saw it just not that far in front of me this tiny Mouse about this big that's what it was and that tiny Mouse had been making us more noise but it was my fear with an exaggerated that sound into thinking it really was a tiger
- The wall that disappearedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a young theoretical physicist, Ajahn Brahm sits at a Zen monastery in the north of England, in a converted cowshed, told to meditate with eyes open. Calm and without inner…
Read full story
I usually bring up this experience I had when I was a lay person. when I was meditating wherever I could find a place to meditate and this was in a Zen monastery in the north of England and in this Zen monastery I didn't know what I was supposed to do they just you know in the little hall which is a converted cow shed that we sat down and we had to meditate with our eyes open it one of the first times I'd meditated with my eyes wide open I didn't know what I was supposed to do but I just meditated. But because I'd done some meditation before and I knew how to be in the present moment and stop this inner speech, as I was just with my eyes open, just being very peaceful, very calm, a strange thing happened. One of those weird experiences which show you there's more to this world than you'd thought. And at this time I was a theoretical physicist when I just looked at this wall just a whitewashed wall. Then suddenly without warning the wall disappeared. It vanished. It just wasn't there anymore. Which was so weird. One minute there was a wall solid and now there was nothing there. And of course instead of getting scared or think I was going crazy I used know what we do in Buddhism called insight. What's happening? And it soon became very clear to me that this is just the nature of the physical senses especially the sense of seeing sight. If you watch something, put your full attention on watching and what you observe doesn't move or change. It disappears. The sense of sight turns off.
- 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…
Read full story
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