Stories about present moment
10 Buddhist wisdom stories about present moment 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.
- Carrying coffins of dead momentsAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: He compares obsessing over the past to carrying coffins of dead moments: cultures bury or cremate the dead and walk on — do the same with past memories, good or bad, so the…
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Sometimes that I used to call the past by carrying so many coffins of dead moments from the past. One of the nice things about our culture, in all cultures, all traditions is that once a person dies they're buried or cremated, their bodies disposed of, we remember them, but we don't obsess with them, we walk on, we go forward. We never sort of linger too long in the past and that's the same with any past memories you have, good or bad, we try and let them go as fast as we possibly can
- He was wishing away months of his lifeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A fellow high-school teacher, stuck finishing a contract before a new job, realised on the way to work that he was wishing away four or five months of his life to reach the…
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he said he'd woke up that morning on on way to work he realized he was wishing away months of his life cuz he was in a job he didn't like and he couldn't change a job for another four or five months and so those four or five months he was trying to get rid of as soon as possible
- Meditating through Cambridge finalsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: During six days of Natural Sciences finals in 1972 — three hours each morning and afternoon — Ajahn Brahm skips lunch to meditate in his room. He lets go of the morning paper and…
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when I was doing the final examinations at Cambridge University that's where I did my studies, 1972, Natural Sciences Tripos final exams, final exams I really meant that FINAL, everything else in the whole time you did in the University counted for absolutely nothing. You got your Degree or you failed on one series of examinations. Those examinations on Natural Sciences, that year, 6 days -- Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, one after the other, morning examination 3 hours, afternoon 3 hours, 1 hour for lunch. I don't think Amnesty International was formed at that time, if they had found out that was torture, 3 hours, 1 hour lunch, 3 hours, 6 days in a row. The worst of that, everybody was telling me that my future depended upon those examinations. If you did well, you would have a wonderful life, if you failed you will be snuffed for the rest of your life. If only I had known I was going to become a monk, I wouldn't have worked so hard. I didn't know at that time so as other people I really worked hard But my trick was, this is how you deal with stress, this was a stressful situation for me, how I dealt with that was using basic tricks of meditation I've already had started meditation about 2-3 years when I first went up to that University. So, I never had any lunch for those 6 days. Had a big breakfast and a nice dinner in the evening. At lunch time I went back to my room only 5-10 minutes from the examination room, and I meditated for half an hour, Now this is what happens, as soon as I sat down, the first thing which came in to my mind was the morning exam, how did I do, did I do that question correct, we all know how stupid that is, the examination paper is in, right or wrong is too late to change it, it's obvious isn't it, you should let it go, let go of the past this is not the time you can do anything anymore, it's easy to say but I trained, I could do that, I could let go, of that very very important exam in the morning. This is what you can learn in a place like this. It doesn't matter what has happened in the past, you can't change it, examination paper of your past is in, it's a waste of time thinking about it. Good or bad you can't do anything about it. I could let that one go. So, the next thought I was not concerned about the morning paper, The next thought which came up in my mind was the afternoon exam. Should I get out of my meditation, get out a book and start studying, last minute just in case and of course if you remember your studies, every time I did that, whatever I looked at, half an hour before the examination never ever came up, never, total waste of time. It was a waste of time, because this was the time I am supposed to rest, not work, if you are worried about the future, you can't stay in this present moment, and do the preparation necessary for success in the future, that preparation was resting. If you don't know how to rest you will fail again and again and again, because you don't know how to prepare your mind for the challenges it faces in the future. I had to let go of the future because I trained in meditation, it was easy to do, even though important, what I thought was a life defining moment, those afternoon examinations, I could totally forget about them and stay in the moment. So, that was called present moment awareness, when I put in the context of an important part of my life you can understand how relevant it is. But what happens next shocked me because when I stopped thinking about the past which for me was the morning exam, the future-the afternoon exam, I found out I was physically shaking, Look ! I go up here every Friday and talk to people, watched on internet by 1000s of people, I go on live TV, I am not a nervous person, but at that time I found out I was physically shaking, the pressure of final examinations had got to me, I was nervous. What shocked me even more than being nervous, was that I hadn't noticed it before that point. I've been so fixated, with the future exam, what I'v done in the past I was totally unaware of the present reality of my body. That shocked me and from that moment on I learnt why many people get sick. They get sick because you are not aware of your body, so up in the future, so up in the past, so busy, you are not here, with your body, listening to the signs. When I got into that present moment and saw I was shaking, it was pretty easy to relax the body, exactly as I told you here at the beginning of the meditation. With mindfulness, kindness the body totally relax and all that shaking stopped. The next part of that meditation when I let go of the past, let go of the future, the shaking all stopped, the next thing I noticed was how tired my brain was. How totally worn out it was. I compared it to like a tea bag which had already been used, no juice left, an old used tea bag that's what my brain felt like. And again those experiences told me again why a lot of depressions and negativity, where they come from. Most of the people in this room, if you've only noticed the status of your brain, you'll probably know it's really tired. It just really needs a rest, because I noticed the need for my brain to rest, I could just keep it not working for 10 or 15 minutes, really relax it keep it still, so by the end of that meditation, all the energy had come back to my brain. I was awake, alive, clear, energised and I still remember, my friends after the examinations they commented, I was the only student who went in to that examination hall in the afternoon with a smile on my face. I could do that because I was relaxed and that's why I did really well.
- Old monks don't lieStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A wandering old monk spends the rains retreat in a hut a poor farmer builds for him. Leaving, he says a great treasure lies close by: at sunrise stand at your threshold facing…
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there was an old monk who would Wander from place to place not staying in any Monastery but a Wandering Monk and he came to a farmhouse one day and the farmer gave him some food and the farmer was a devoted Buddhist and it was getting close to the retreat time we call the rain's Retreat now the was the the puns are in tire and the man said have you got any place to stay for the three month Retreat and the old monk said no I haven't please come and stay with us not far away is a beautiful Meadow next to the river I can quickly put up a simple Hut for you and I'm more than happy to feed you every day all I would ask all I would ask is once a week you teach me some DH and answer any questions on meditation that's all and the old monk said yes I would accept your invitation so the farmer built a simple Hut next to the river and every day the monk would go for his arms food very simple food but very nourishing and the monk could meditate nice and peacefully and once a week he would teach the farmer and his wife and their kids and after 3 months they got to love that old monk he was like part of the family and so when the old monk said it's time now for me to go the retreat is over they all started crying and even the dog put his tail between his legs and started whining CU even the dog fell in love with this old Monk and They begged him please don't go stay here forever you know you're like one of us but the monk said I have to go but said the old old monk I've had some very deep meditation and in my meditation I have discovered very close by closer than you think is buried a great treasure I know how poor you are and I want this to be your karmic reward I want you to have this treasure and this is how you find it listen carefully tomorrow morning said the old monk I want you to stand at the threshold of your house that's just where the door is I want you to face eastwards towards a Rising Sun and take up that old bow and arrow which you have which you know used to hunt and face the Rising Sun with your bow and arrow in your hand when the Sun rises stand and face the Rising Sun and let the arrow fly and where the arrow drops there you will find the treasure follow my instructions and you'll be rich beyond your wildest dreams and at that the monk left the following morning the father was up an hour before Dawn he was so excited he knew he would find a treasure you know why because all monks don't lie and he had the bow and arrow and he waited for the sun to rise and as the sun rose he picked up the bow and arrow faced the Rising Sun and shot the arrow and the arrow went a long distance and they all ran after it the wife the kids and the dog and where they Arrow fell he made his wife dig a big hole sometimes men are like that but don't worry if you're like that to your wife you have some karmic reward and see what's going to come up they dug a big hole or she dug a big hole where the arrow fell and what did she find nothing only trouble cuz that Arrow fell in a land belonging to a rich man and that rich man saw them and said you are destroying my land that's against the law I'm going to sue you I'm going to find you I'm going to give you lots of trouble and the wife said it's not my fault it's his fault pointing to the husband and the husband said it's not my fault it's the old Monk's fault and that word monk the rich man fell silent he said oh Monk I'm a Buddhist I'm a Buddhist said the rich man and old monks don't lie how come there's no treasure here what did he tell you and the farmer told the instructions of the old Monk and the rich man said I know your mistake look at you you're a poor farmer you've got no muscles on you you have to be someone rich and fat like me to be able to to shoot a bow and arrow look said the rich man tomorrow I will shoot that arrow and we'll split the treasure 5050 is that okay or do you want to go to jail so so the farmer said okay I'd accept that deal so the following morning they were there and the rich man shot the arrow in the direction of the Rising Sun it went much further and so they all ran after it the farmer the wife the children and of course the dog and this time because of the law of karma the farmer had to dig the hole and he dug and he dug this huge hole where the arrow fell and what did he find nothing only more trouble because this time this time the arrow fell in a field belonging to a general in the Army and he came with his soldiers and said you're destroy my property and he ordered the soldiers to cut them off cut the heads off right there and then he's a very Fierce General you don't mess around with generals and straight away the farmer said not my fault not my fault the rich man told me to dig this hole rich said no no no no not my fault it's this old monk this old monk said we'll find a treasure and that word monk even the general fell silent and he told the soldiers put away your swords I'm a Buddhist too said to J and old monks don't lie what did he tell you and when they told the instructions the general said look you stupid people you don't know how to shoot a bow and arrow you have to be a soldier trained in archery to know how to shoot a bow and arrow so he said tomorrow I will shoot that bow and arrow and I'm sure we'll find a treasure cuz old monks don't lie we'll split it three ways evenly so following morning the general was there and don't worry because this doesn't go on much longer the general shot the bow and shot the arrow and it went a huge distance because the soldier had practiced he trained in archery and they all ran after it the rich man the farmer his wife the kids and who else the dog yeah dog as well and this time it was a rich man's job to dig the hole where the arrow fell he d a really huge hole and what did the rich man find nothing only more trouble because this time this time the arrow fell in the King's Garden that's big trouble and the King arrested a lot of them and put them on trial and he told everybody destroying the king King's Garden is a capital offense punishable by death before I execute you explain what you were doing and the general said sorry it's not my fault this rich man's fault and no no not my fault it's his Farmer's fault and the farmer said not my fault the old monk the old monk got us into trouble and at that the king said hang on I'm a Buddhist too and oh monks don't lie I've got to get to the bottom of this I'm going to put you in jail until I find out exactly what's happened so he put them in jail and he sent his soldiers out to find that monk they soon found him and they dragged him back to the palace and the King said oh monk you've got these people into really big trouble they're about to be executed why and the old monk said because your majesty they did did not follow my instructions what do you mean said the king listen your majesty tomorrow you go to that poor Farmer's house you take the bow and arrow and follow my instructions and I guarantee you will find the treasure cuz I'm an old Monk and old monks don't lie and your majesty out of fairness to all these other people please split the treasure evenly four ways even the shareff of a king would satisfy you how much more would it satisfy the poor man and the King agreed so the following morning the King was at the threshold of the house with the general the rich man the farmer the father's wife the children and the dog who else the old monk yeah I forgot the old monk he was there too this time the king stood at the doorway of the house he waited for the sun to rise he picked of first of all he asked the monk said oh monk am I standing in the right place yes said to the old Mark you're following instructions and he waited for the Rising Sun and the old monk said correct your majesty you're following that instruction he picked up the bow an arrow correct your majesty and he faced the Rising Sun correct your majesty and he was about to shoot the arrow wrong your majesty what do you mean said the king and the monk said I told you your majesty to let the arrow fly not to shoot it and the King understood straight away instead of shooting the arrow he opened his finger and thumb and let the arrow fly and it fell right between his feet right where he was standing and there he got the general to dig a hole only a small hole and what did they find a huge huge treasure even a quarter of which satisfied the king and made the farmer and his family and the dog the richest dog in the whole of the Kingdom with a beautiful Diamond collar and the best food in a gold doggy Bowl for the rest of his life
- The cold stone benchAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A simile he made up: on life's journey you come to a rough, cold, lumpy stone bench, the only place to stop. It's uncomfortable at first, but the longer you sit the warmer it…
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a Sim which I made up is like on life we're always moving always going on to the next thing and sometimes it's because we got no place to stop so sometimes on the Journey of your life you find this old rough Cold Stone bench it's not even even it's all lumpy and it's cold and it's really hard but it's the only place you have so you stop your journey and you sit down on it for a few seconds and it's not comfortable when you first stop but on that stone bench the longer you sit on it the warmer and more comfortable it becomes soon the cold has disappeared and it's quite warm next the bumps disappear so it's very even next it's not hard anymore it becomes soft like a big cushion like a sofa and soon it becomes the most comfortable place you could ever sit the hard bench transforms into something so comfortable and so wonderful
- The ladder taken awayStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Pre-Vietnam-War Laos monastery: abbot marches exhausted monks all day to huge old trees with cushion-sized platforms and no railings; they climb the bamboo ladder; he takes the…
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there was this one Monastery in the nor in Laos just before the Vietnam War and the Communists took over the Abbot of that Monastery is a very very famous he would take his disciples on a walk all day through the jungles to Tire them out sweaty tired exhausted and they would get to a part of the forest in Laos where they had these huge trees hundreds of years old and the monks had made little platforms high up on those trees just the size of these cushions which the monks sit on with no railings on the outside just a flat piece of board with a bamboo ladder going up and the app at the teacher would send amongst climbing up these ladders to this High platforms to meditate and he would take the ladder away and so he'll be back in the morning so they're exhausted facing a drop which will kill anybody the monks had to meditate all night and that was not safe at all but many monks said they got into an amazing peaceful wonderful meditations at least the ones who survived to tell the tale said that
- The monk who pulled his own toothStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Rather than travel to a dentist, a Bodhinyana monk pulls his own tooth with workshop pliers; he explains that only the twenty seconds of wiggling hurt — planning, walking and…
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I know that one of our monks many years ago, he, you know, he had a bad teeth, and you know, we live in Serpentine, it's a long way to go to the dentist. And you know what it's like these days, you have to make an appointment, and when you go to the appointment then you have to wait and then... It's just such a pain in the... actually probably the pain in the neck is worse than the pain in the mouth to go to the dentist sometimes. So this monk decided "ah yeah, it's a waste of time going to the dentist". So he decided to pull his own tooth out. I saw him! He just, he went to the workshop, got a pair of pliers and just yanked his tooth out. And I just happened to be going to the workshop at Bodhinyana Monastery and I saw this bloody tooth, you know, in a pair of pliers. "What have you been doing?" "Oh you know, took my tooth out, It's much cheaper and much quicker than going to the dentist." And I thought "How did you do that?" And he said "It's very easy, because..." It's a wonderful little teaching He said: "When I decided to pull my tooth out, that didn't hurt. You know, thinking about, planning doesn't hurt. And when I went to the workshop that didn't hurt, when I picked up the pliers that didn't hurt, when I put the pair of pliers on the tooth that never hurt, when I wiggled that hurt! But you know, just for, maybe, twenty seconds, thirty seconds and it was out and it didn't hurt much afterwards. It's only twenty seconds of pain, that's all." But if that was you, (Points at audience), even before you'd even picked up the pliers it would hurt like hell (Laugh). You see what pain is? Anticipation. He trained himself not to anticipate, being in the present moment, so it's only ten seconds of pain.
- The newspaper hiding the most beautiful viewStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Walking a remote coast road in north-west Scotland on a perfect summer day — moors and mountains, cliffs, glistening green islands, reeling sea birds — the student Ajahn Brahm…
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As a student, again I was a Buddhist and I gravitated during the vacation periods to quiet places of the world. mostly to the Scotland to the North of Scotland to the moors where you could just wonder around without seeing anybody for a few days. On this one occasion I was on the Northwest coast of Scotland It was one of these beautiful summer days very often it is cold, wet and rainy but every so often in the summer time you get this perfect days and in the Northwest coast of Scotland in the summer time is paradise. you couldn't really conjure up a more beautiful scenery just so quiet, remote and unspoiled. just walking along the coast road with moors and mountains to one side beautiful cliffs, little islands dotted in the ocean as far as you could see bright green and glistening in the sun shine and all the sea birds were just reeling what I call euphoria at the time and seeing all this beautiful scenery and having all the time in the world to enjoy it because I had no place to really go plenty of time to walk just to my destination no mobile phones, no duties just walking, enjoying every moment of a beautiful part of our world. And of course I was totally silent. Until I saw a car parked up ahead of me on the road side. There was a car park there and I assumed, because I was stupid I assumed that someone who have been driving along that road and had also noticed the incredible beauty of this day in the summer time in this place and also just stopped to enjoy the scenery but when I got close I found the person wasn't looking at the scenery was reading a newspaper. This big newspaper was right in front covering up the beautiful seascape, mountains, grass, sunshine and all he could see was the news I thought what a wonderful metaphor that is of life Because what we read with our minds is all the words and the descriptions what do they have in newspapers? I know they have the cartoons that's what I always read first when I get a newspaper I really recommend the cartoons first of all. They also have; they have the wars, they have the fraud of this government or that government. they have terrorist attacks; they have all those other nasty news about life And that's what you see in the newspaper and I thought 'what a shame this is ' just on the other side of that newscript it only may be one or two millimeters you had the beauty of the world on such a gorgeous day! And at the time being quite a cheeky person; I haven't stopped being cheeky I thought of getting a pair of scissors out of my backpack I only need to cut a small hole in this newspaper so you can see what's on the other side I was very thin in those days I was an underfed poor student and this guy was a big heavy Scotsman I didn't fancy my chances if he got aggressive with me. so I just passed him by to read his newspaper, while I enjoyed the day
- They watched the sunset on TV — the real one was at the windowAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A favourite Leunig cartoon: left half, a family watches a sunset on a nature channel; right half, an open window shows the actual sunset outside. They prefer the screen a few…
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There is a family watching the TV, that's in the left half of the cartoon they're watching a sunset, a beautiful sunset, portrayed on some nature channel on the TV, and in the right part of the cartoon is an open window, where the actual sunset is occurring. They prefer to watch it on the TV and just move a few feet and look through the window and see the real sunset happening