Stories about rebirth
31 Buddhist wisdom stories about rebirth from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Charlie's mark on the heelStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A healthy Thai woman's first baby, Charlie, is stillborn after turning in the womb days before birth. Ajahn Brahm conducts the funeral; little Charlie is dressed and photographed…
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the story of a Thai couple who come here - just making sure they're not here, they may be embarrassed if I tell you this; but no, they're not here. When this lady - years ago now - when she got pregnant (this was a normal pregnancy), and just five days before birth she had an ultrasound. And when the birth happened - stillborn. A tragedy. Because they had everything expected for a baby, and they were just so excited, the first kid they were gonna have. And apparently, the doctors found out it actually turned in the womb and it cut off the blood supply in the umbilical cord. And she didn't know that, five days before - ultrasound - everything was going perfectly, and stillborn. So I did the funeral for them, just up the road here. And I always remember that funeral, because the baby was fully formed. They gave it a name, Charlie. I better not say too much. Charlie was his name, and they dressed it up, and they had the family photograph. And I was in the family photograph, and Charlie was as well. I was almost like honoured to be included in that family photograph, at the birth of Charlie who died at birth. But then, what I didn't see them doing - I know it's common in Thailand to do this, but what I didn't see - they took a pen, a biro pen, when no one was watching, and on the heel of Charlie, they drew a line. With a ballpoint pen. Just a line. And then of course, the baby was cremated. She was a healthy woman. So, few months later, she became pregnant again. When she became pregnant again, this time the doctors really gave her a VIP treatment, because they didn't want a tragedy to happen again. She's a healthy woman, she gave birth - this time - to a girl. And that girl has a birthmark on its heel, a line - exactly where they'd written the line on there. And they all knew Charlie came back. Didn't quite make it the first time, but had another go. Next time, got through. And they told me that story. And of course, you probably would be interested, how did the new kid turn out. First of all, it was a girl, and it was called Annie. And I was watching it - used to be like many kids, they play here, running around there, the kids are offering food to the monks or the nuns, and the kid is running around all over the place. But this Annie would always run with the boys and would beat up the girls. It was really a tomboy, little Annie. And of course, you understand why. She was a boy before. But anyway. That was a wonderful story, that when people have these emotional problems - just give a bigger picture. The kid didn't get there the first time, well have another go. And - a lot of times I’ve seen this - they don't make it the first time, they get an upgrade. [laughter] Become a girl. Is that an upgrade? [chuckles] But anyway. That was the story of Charlie and Annie.
- Daddy, what does tax mean?Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A businesswoman aunt in Sydney who hated paying tax dies; soon after, the nephew's baby is born. At three, seeing a tax billboard on a NSW motorway, the child asks what tax…
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this little three-year-old said Daddy what does tax mean and of course it's hard to explain to a three-year-old what taxi said look if you get any pocket money or you earn any sort of dollars you have to give part of that to the government that's called tax and these three year old turned around and said Daddy if I get any money I'm never giving any of it to the government characteristics you know from a previous life why would a thre
- Darlington: the church or the gasworks?Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On his first visit to England as a monk (seven or eight years ordained), touring northern groups with the abbot, he visits the run-down town of Darlington. On a morning walk they…
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I remember an experience when I went to visit England for the very first time after I became a monk about seven or eight years as a monk and we had a monastery over there which was just building up up and so the the Abbot over there Su took me off with him to a tour of the north of England in Scotland was visiting some more remote some more remote Buddhist groups and we went to this C mining town of of Darlington we went there on a weekend for a retreat and the first thing which the locals told us it's very rare for someone to visit that that rundown City on a weekend most people get out on the weekend and go somewhere else so we went to that town and then we went for a walk in the morning after breakfast we went to the gardens and we found a beautiful little church to go and have a look inside and when we went back our host said where did you go to a walk for a walk we told him said you went to the most beautiful parts of town that's very indicative of your characters because there was a monkey of a few months before and when he went for a walk he went down to the Gas Works and the rundown old canal in the industrial area and we laugh and said yeah that's his character he a very negative monk
- 'Goodnight, Paul'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A non-Buddhist couple in Perth came to the monks, bewildered. Home from hospital with their newborn second son, they asked the older boy to say goodnight to his brother.…
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that uh couple in Perth, they weren't Buddhist, but they came to see us because, you know, their young child, second boy, just came out out of hospital with the mom, just been born, and they asked the older boy, "Please say goodnight to your brother." And the older boy lent over the the pram and said something like, "Goodnight, Peter." And Peter replied back, "Goodnight, Paul." He was only a couple of weeks old. And then, of course, they were stunned. They're not supposed to be able to speak at that time. But then, uh Paul said once more, "Goodnight, Peter." And Peter said the second time, "Goodnight, Paul." And they were so confused. That's why they came and saw the monks. And thought we could understand. Yeah. Just the baby's being reborn. He's using his mind, not his brain. Brain is not capable of that yet.
- He said he had been Emperor AshokaStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A famous Thai monk (unnamed here; Brahm withholds the name) told close monks he had been Emperor Ashoka in a previous life, named his south-Bangkok temple Ashoka Rama after…
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he told his close monks that in his previous incarnation he was the emperor Ahsoka of India now he was a very famous monk who doesn't lie he named his Temple in south of Bangkok Ahsoka Rama exactly the same name as ahsoka's temporary built in pataliputa in Patna and even more amazing in full public gays he was giving a big Dharma talk in the town of ubon at Jan Charles Place and out of nowhere from the ceiling this Medallion dropped down is now in his Museum people saw it hundreds of people a medallion of Emperor Ahsoka and don't have any medallions like that in Thailand which which is amazing so have amazing stuff
- I want to be a dog next lifeJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Man wants rebirth as a dog: no boss, lie around, good food, free health care — only job is walking the owner once or twice a day.
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wanted to be a dog in his next life. Why would anybody want to be reborn as a dog? In many Asian countries, calling a person a dog is almost a term of abuse. I don't mean it. This is Asia. And I kind of like dogs and he liked dogs as well. And he said, "Look, think about it. Use reason and logic. I don't know where you've been today. Many of you've been working. You had to get up very early in the morning. You work really hard. You're never enough. You may be having a boss always tells you what to do and tells you off. If you're reborn as a dog you don't have to go to work. Instead, you just lie in the beautiful house all day with nothing to do. You go around playing. You get incredibly good food these days. And you get free health care. And you got no All you have to do The only work you have to do is to take your owner out for a walk once a day or twice a day
- I'm going to marry you — she knew his nameStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a Jhana Grove retreat a couple cannot keep apart despite the eight precepts. They explain: about a year earlier in Germany a woman he had never met walked up, named him, and…
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these two were there and this is supposed to be a meditation retreat. Many of you have done the meditation retreats. not really supposed to hang out, you know, with people of the opposite gender, you know, keep apart, keeping eight precepts, it's called. And this couple were just they couldn't keep their hands off one another. It was going on. And then they came and told me the reason why. And they said just it was about a year earlier. They were I think it was in Germany somewhere that this girl who he now married came up to him he'd never seen her before in this life and said to him just out of the blue your name is I think David I forget his surname and I'm going to marry you and there was how do you know my name and if someone came up to you and said that you know your name is Chiia and I'm going to marry you
- “Oh no, not again”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A baby boy born in a US maternity ward, still attached to the umbilical cord, is said to have spoken words everyone heard: “Oh no, not again.”
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there was this one story supposed to be true confirmed as best you possibly can a a baby being born in a maternity ward knows a boy so born in a maternity ward in the u.s when the baby came out of the womb still attached to umbilical cord spoke uttered words and the words which it said were just classic it said and everyone there heard it oh no not again
- Pasta livesJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a retreat where rebirth is discussed, a written question reports two vivid dreams — in one life they were a piece of ravioli, in another a strand of spaghetti. Is this an…
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somebody actually wrote on the question a couple of days ago i don't i wonder two days ago that they had a dream one of these because we're talking about reincarnation and their vivid dream was that in one of their lives they're a piece of ravioli weird but you know you've got to respect people's you know views and things it's really disgusting when people say you're crazy no no find out what do they mean this could be something really interesting and they said the night before they dreamt of another weird experience they were a strand of spaghetti and they asked me in the question is this an example of pasta lives
- Porky the Pig in the pramStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After deep meditation he asks for his earliest memory and gets the smell of his baby pram at about three or four weeks old, then re-experiences the pram, black-and-white view,…
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i've told this before i don't mind saying this it's not quite psychic powers but it's pushing the envelope a little bit i'm not allowed to say about my experiences my own previous lives but what i do do to give you the the idea i was doing this once years ago and what came into my my consciousness was a smell and you know i asked what's my earliest memory and i got this smell in my nose it wasn't in the hall where i was sitting and i recognized it immediately it was the smell of my baby's pram when i was maybe three or four weeks old and with that smell just came all the memory you could actually eyes were closed i was back in my baby's plan with all my little toys and the one i liked the best was porky the pig that's what my mother used to call it you know even though i'm not supposed to have a brain to remember that i remember that and it was a little pig it had some like beans inside plastic and she used to walk it you know and make it rattle and i love that little pig porky the pig my favorite toy is a little and he could you can actually look around you know feel just the um uh the blankets or the sheets and the black and whites of the the pram you could see everything and you could actually like you can move just no will what's over there what's over here and this is all just in a re-imagination not really re-experiencing of an old memory you're back in your when you're three or four weeks old i know exactly how long but maybe around that time and that was how it works and no doubt at all that that's you very clear being able to move around if you want to ask a question know what was my name who was that you can get the answer straight away just think and the answer comes and that's what it's like re-experiencing and of course you know i told that story to a few people just to check it out and one interesting thing which i got from that because i was never you know did any medicine i was physics and maths and i was told afterwards that in the first weeks of life the dominant sense in a baby is smell now their hearing is not developed even side is not developed at all and you recognize your surroundings and you recognize your mother in particular by her smell not by her sight so just because i'm a cheeky monk i tell young mothers when you've got a young kid please do not change your perfume you'll confuse the hell out of your kid
- Rabbi Bernstein believed in rebirthStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Moshe Bernstein, a rebellious Perth rabbi Brahm met via a cancer-support group, said he believed in rebirth; the head rabbi confirmed Jewish teaching doesn't — 'but Rabbi…
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Rabbi Bernstein. Still remember him, Moshi Bernstein. And one of the reasons I always remember him was because he was a rebel. You know, he told me when we just discussing things, he said, "No, I believe in rebirth, too." I thought, "But you're a rabbi, a Jewish person. You're not supposed to believe in rebirth." He said, "But I do." And then I checked him up with one of the head rabbis in Perth. He said, "No, Jewish people don't believe in rebirth, but Rabbi Bernstein does." Oh, yeah. Him. He was a rebel
- Roy Hudd remembered Dan Leno's houseStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: English comedian Roy Hudd, lost in a new one-way system after a London show, turns down a street he has never seen in this life and recalls living there before — as music-hall…
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i was talking in to one of the members in perth and we're talking about this english comedian this was a long time ago you know when i watched the tv his name was roy hud he was quite well known on tv in uk but he wasn't that well known in other parts of the world but it was actually an interesting story he just finished doing a show in london and there was a new one-way system so he got lost in his car and he turned down a street he'd never been down before in this life and all the memories came back to him of his previous life because those streets in london you know they you know interior they change but outside they look exactly the same the last 150 years he remembered that street that's where he used to live before and the other interesting thing in london if it is someone who's reasonably well known famous in their last life they have these blue plaques if you've been to london and all these blue plaques you know sir winston churchill lived here while sir alexander fleming discovered penicillin here all these famous people have this blue plaques and there's a blue plaque on the house where he used to live in his previous life he was one of the very famous music called entertainers called dan lena he said that was me in the previous life he said he knocked on the door of the house and because he was a well-known tv personality in england the owners of the house recognize him why hard what are you doing here and he said i used to live here so now we've been here for years in my previous life and he took them all around the house and he pointed out he said there should be a door here said no there's never been a door here later on they checked in the plans there was a door here in the previous owner's time and his recall was absolutely perfect it's just going down that street just jogged the memory and it all came back to him and he actually wrote about that in an article such a powerful experience and because he was well known you know it was published but somebody told me the ex the other part of the story in those days there were two tv companies in britain you know his bbc and what they call itv and he did most of his work for itv and the head of itv was a devout catholic and when he read that story he just stopped employing why had it ruined his career because you didn't want sort of people to believe in reincarnation and i never i never knew that before that was just told me by one of these people who also knew the story but what was fascinating there that there was a guy in his previous life was an entertainer and in his new life he still had that character and that ability to entertain now the character keeps on from from life to life even though it's a new life it's a fascinating story
- Suicide is stuffing up one exam questionStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Parents who used to come to Friday talks lost a child to suicide just before the TEE exams. Ajahn Brahm frames a life like an exam of many papers and questions: stuffing up one…
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there was one I don't know if the parents are here this evening. They used to come most evenings. Uh they uh their kid uh committed suicide just before the TEE exams. Uh he's doing very well. There was no reason why he We don't still don't know why people commit suicide, but there it was. Committed suicide. And of course, they were very distraught. And I said, "Look, in the "How many papers in each subject? Two." I didn't really know where I was going with this. But so, that's 10 papers. Maybe say five questions in each paper. So, that's 50 questions decide whether you're going to get to university or not. So, you've got 50 questions. If you stuff up one question, does that mean you're not going to go to university? Of course not. So, committing suicide is stuffing up one question. But keep that in perspective of everything else you've done in your life. So, you can't measure a person's life just by the ending. Yeah, they committed suicide. It's a stupid thing to do. But what about all the other things they did in their life? Does that count for nothing? Of course it doesn't. So, when you look at their whole life, not just the ending, their whole life, they're probably really good person. They did a lot of kindness, a lot of love, a lot of a nice person to be around. But you know, they the last question in the exam, they they messed up that answer. But the rest of the questions were perfect. So, such a person would get a good rebirth. But if they've lived a terrible life and been selfish and hurtful and cheated on everybody and everything else, then it doesn't matter how they end their life, they're still going to have a bad rebirth. So, don't just judge a life by the way it ended. The life is bigger than the end. Much bigger. And anyway, sometimes you don't know why a person did these things. So, I It's very hard to judge. What I really don't like is people who say, "Suicide, therefore you're going to go to hell. It's the worst thing to do. It's a bad thing. I don't know where people get those ideas from. It's already bad enough if a loved one has committed suicide and you hear those other stupid people go along and say, "Oh, they're going to go to hell, it's a bad thing to do." That makes it so much worse and it's untrue. So, look at the whole life, not just the ending. And trust a good person will get a good rebirth.
- Suicide note to test reincarnationJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Asked for evidence of reincarnation beyond meditation, Ajahn Brahm jokes that the best evidence is to die — then adds he has heard of a suicide note saying the reason was to find…
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the best evidence for reincarnation is to die so try that tonight then you'll find out for sure i don't know that they said it was actually true that in somebody's suicide note they said the reason for their suicide i wanted to find out whether reincarnation was true or not apparently it was true though it sounds like a joke but sometimes people are really weird
- The blind cats of the closed coal mineStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm recalls a journal article from decades earlier. After Thatcher's government closed a coal mine in South Wales (near Cardiff or Swansea, he can't remember), locals…
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Now, the evidence which uh got me interested in this. Many, many years ago, I saw this article sort of in a journal. And this was the evidence of the the mutant cats. This is a timely one here because we've got a little kitten in the back there. But some years ago, it must have been about um 24, 5 years. No, it must be about 30 years ago. Uh when uh Margaret Thatcher, she was the Prime Minister of England. One of the first thing she did when she came into power was to fight the unions in that country. And one of the things was to close the coal mines because they were uneconomical, so she thought. So, they closed many coal mines and many of those coal mines were in South Wales. Some were up in the north, but this particular one which was closed was I think next to Cardiff or Swansea, I can't remember which. And once it was closed and a fence was put around it, the people in the local area, if they had extra kittens, instead of actually dropping it at a Buddhist monastery and getting the monk to bring it and see if he can find a nice home here, they were far more cruel. They would go under the fence in this coal mine. They'd go to the edge of the pit which went hundreds of meters down and they'd throw these unwanted kittens down the shaft. Just throw them down. They were so cruel. But the only reason I found out this was happening was about I don't know, it was maybe 10 years later. They sent engineers down into that mine to check on its stability to make sure that it wasn't going to collapse. So, they had to do an inspection. And when they went down the bottom of the shaft, that's when they found this whole mound of like, you know, dead cat flesh and fur of all the cats who'd been actually thrown down there. But you also know that cats, especially kittens, that sometimes they do fall, they land on their feet. They're incredibly agile, almost supernaturally agile. Because many of the cats survived. They survived the fall. They knew that because there was a heap of cats underground. But in those 10 or 15 years, I forget how long, but it wasn't that long. They knew when the coal mine was closed down and they knew when they actually like this happened, they found a whole new species of cat underground. Cats with huge ears that they came from rats who were blind, born blind, but huge ears. There was a new species of cat had evolved in the space of 10 or 15 years. How did that happen? It's obvious. Those cats living down hundreds of meters underground where no light came, they didn't need eyes. So, basically, the eyes weren't developed. They needed ears because it was sound which would lead them to their their dinner, sound which would protect them from their enemies, sound which would lead them to their mate so they could reproduce. So, the ears, because the ears were really necessary, they grew grew grew grew grew. The huge ears. Eyes not necessary. They were just blind. And a whole new species. I remember seeing a photograph of them. I'd never seen a cat like that. It had evolved.
- The boy who regretted rememberingStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After a talk on reincarnation at the London Buddhist Vihara, an 18- or 19-year-old comes up and tells Ajahn Brahm he is one of the cases in Ian Stevenson's book on children who…
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And I remember once giving a talk at the uh the London Buddhist Vihara, a Sri Lankan temple in London. It's very close to where my mother lived. And giving a talk on reincarnation, and a boy came out to me afterwards. And he was one of those cases in that book. He said, you know, "I'm one of those 20." And had a lovely conversation with him. When he was about this time about 18 or 19 when I saw him. And he told me personally, he said, "That was the worst thing I ever did in my life, tell someone about my past memories." Because he said once it was publicized, and he was only a young boy at time, he got hell at school. As you know what happens, you know, in school if there's anything about you which is weird or strange, you know, the other boys in the school tend to tease you about it. And he got a terrible teasing from his friends at school once they found out, once it became well known that he was one of these people who could remember his past lives. And when I actually heard his pain in having admitted that and told that coming out remembering his past life, it became very clear to me that this boy never got anything out of telling people that he was reborn except a lot of suffering. And that meant a lot to me in the sense that people don't invent these memories to to gain anything. In fact, when you tell people those memories, you lose a lot. There's nothing to gain out of that, but everything to lose. And so the very fact that he had to suffer with coming out about his memories meant something to me. It meant that it gave his memories that little bit more legitimacy legitimacy cuz it was hard and difficult for him to uh let people know what had happened to him. But there he was, it's wonderful to meet a person who uh was courageous enough or you may say stupid enough to tell people about their previous lives.
- 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…
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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 emperor in five garmentsAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Simile he says he usually keeps for retreats: a powerful emperor is completely covered by boots, trousers, a jacket, gloves and a helmet, so you can't tell whether it is male or…
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imagine there's an emperor and this Emperor is a very very very powerful being and you know it affects you what this Emperor does this Emperor is clothed he's got boots or it's got boots you don't know if it's a he or she it's got boots which cover its feet and go right up to its thighs it's got trousers which cover the top of his boots and go halfway up his waist he got a jacket which covers the top of his trousers go to the elbows and go up to the neck and it's got these gloves which cover all the hands that go halfway up the arm and last it's got a helmet and this helmet just covers the hold of the face and halfway down the you know overlaps the tunic so the five pieces of clothing completely cover this Emperor so much so you don't know who this Emperor is whether it's male or female whether it's old or young whether it's African Caucasian Chinese or what and this is like the mind this mind this Emperor within you is covered with the five senses of seeing hearing smelling tasting and touching and that's why sometime we don't know what this mind actually is in a Buddhist way we want to try and unclothe the emperor take off these five senses of seeing hearing smelling tasting and touching to get to this six six sense the Mind
- The emperor jailed the pope over reincarnationStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Early-church framing: a pope who held reincarnation is ordered by the emperor to ban it; refusal leads to a year in jail — after which the pope no longer believes in reincarnation.
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Pope V Julius I think his name was and the Pope was really into reincarnation but they Emperor was not and the Emperor told the Pope look ban reincarnation make it anathema and the Pope refused so actually the religious authority at that time was very much into reincarnation and so you know what did the Pope do in those days he put the Pope and then what did the Emperor do the emperor put the Pope in jail for one year and after one year in jail the Pope said I don't believe in re
- The girl who had been a pythonStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A photo given to him (he thinks) by a Burmese monk, with the story written on the back: a young girl in Yangon claimed she had been a python in a previous life, one of three…
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It was a snake photo, because the story was, it was given me, I think, by a Burmese monk, and it was an amazing story, that it was written in Burmese on the back but there was a girl in Yangon. When she was young, she claimed in a previous life to have been a python, a snake, in a previous life, which is a weird thing to start with, but then she also said that she was obviously a very special python, because she lived on the shoulder of an old Buddha statue in a cave in upcountry Burma, and with two other pythons, and they were treated with great dignity by the villagers because, you know, they lived actually on a Buddha statue, and in Burma you may know it's a very strong Buddhist country and sometimes people say that's just myth, but their parents were intrigued enough to ask, you know, where that village was, really up country, and to make a visit there, a long trek for several days, and when actually got to this village, it matched. There were still two pythons left, and every moon day, they were taken ceremoniously, handled by the village elders, and taken out to be bathed, and then afterwards brought back to the statue where they lived, and someone had a photo of the three when they were still alive, now there was only two.
- The meteor's last blazeAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Simile for enlightenment: you're a meteor circling the solar system round and round, millions of times — samsara, many births. Then you hit the earth's atmosphere, grow hotter…
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It's like you are one of these uh meteors around the solar system going round and round and round. Not just three times but hundreds of thousands of times millions of times going round and round the solar system round and round and round and round. That's like sabsar and the many births. But then once you manage to hit the atmosphere of the earth and as you this meteor as it goes through the atmosphere of the earth it gets hotter and hotter and explodes in this beautiful uh meteor this like star in the sky. It can light up whole cities and then it just disappears forever. You go out in a blaze of happiness.
- The monastery monkey reborn as a boyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Thai Buddhist buys an abused monkey at a market and gives it to a forest monastery in Thailand. It becomes almost one of the monks — it even sits holding a cup of tea at the…
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If you want a nice story about that, this is one of the little anecdotes you pick up in your life as a monk. In one of our monasteries in Thailand many years ago, a uh Thai Buddhist went to the market and saw there was a monkey up for sale. And this poor monkey was in a small cage, had been abused. And this man took pity and compassion on this monkey and bought it and wanted to release it in a place where it would be well looked after to give this monkey some freedom. So instead of actually taking it to a nature reserve where it wouldn't be able to look after itself, it took it to one of the monasteries. You know, the monks are nice and kind. So gave it to the head monk, let it out of the cage. And the head monk, you know, fed it, looked after it. And it had a bit more freedom, it could run around in the the forest monastery and swing through the trees. But because it was so associated with human beings, it was like half monkey, half human. Now whenever the monks would have their tea time in the afternoon, the monkey would also always also come and look very cute. It would also hold a cup of tea just like all the other monks and sit there while all the other monks were drinking their tea. It was actually basically one of the monks. And after all, there's only a couple of letters uh difference between a monk and a monkey. So there it was enjoying life in the monastery. But you know, it was very protective and you know, the sometimes the monks loved that little monkey and you know, it would just feed it and had good fun with it. But the monkey was very protective and one of the things it would do would be to chase any cars which came outside if they were making too much noise cuz it it liked being in a peaceful place. It realized this was a forest monastery and the monks wanted to be quiet. So unfortunately, one day it chased the a truck and fell under the wheels and got killed. And that was the end of that monkey in that life. But the head monk, who's I won't say who it is, but he's actually been here, he sat in this seat here and given talks some years ago. He had a very good meditator and he told everybody what happened. Cuz he had been meditating, he could see what happened, you know, in his meditation. Soon as that monkey died, the stream of consciousness, what some people call the soul, but in Buddhism we call it a stream of consciousness. There is a slight difference. So you don't need to worry too much about that as far as this explanation is concerned. This uh stream of consciousness of the monkey went out of the monkey's body, went into the village where one of the ladies was pregnant. And he saw it actually entering this woman's womb. And he told the monks what had happened, which is how I can tell you. And so because he told the monks that this woman who was pregnant, they saw this this monkey as he entered the womb was going to take rebirth as a human being. Why that would happen is because that monkey was associating so much with human beings. Basically, it thought it was a human being. It thought that's where it belonged. That's why it's attracted into a human life. Many times, if you have animals, pets, dogs, cats, kittens, whatever, because, you know, you're with them all the time. How many of you have got cats and dogs which actually eat human food? They would refuse to eat Whiskas. They want sort of chicken or whatever you eat. And you give it to them, don't you? And they're so associated with you that they very often they get reborn as a human being. That's what they really think they are. So, he got reborn as a as a human being, a little boy. And when I first heard of that, the baby hadn't been born yet. And all the monks were waiting to see cuz this was a local village. So, you know, you go and ask around over there. These were your local people. So, they would actually they knew exactly what was happening and they would actually see this woman. And they told me that as soon as that baby was born, they noticed an interesting thing. That baby was exceptionally hairy for a baby boy. It was a monkey before and it still had a tiny bit of that monkey character. And of course, you know, probably was a little monkey when it grew up. And it was actually true cuz I knew that came from a monkey before.
- The newborn sat in full lotusStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Perth parent told him that after breastfeeding in hospital their newborn took its mouth away, sat on the mother's tummy, crossed its legs in full lotus and put one hand over…
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when their child was born I think they were in still in the hospital and they just breastfed their kid so they're laying on their back in hospital bed and the child had just finished breastfeeding and so so took his mouth or her mouth forget which away from the the breast and then just sat on her mother's tummy crossed her legs his legs in full lotus, put one hand over the other and assumed a meditation posture and that spooked the woman out. My goodness, here was a baby who knew how to sit meditation and it just came out of the tummy, out of the womb
- The razor wheel in hell (Borobudur)Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Shown a Borobudur carving, Ajahn Brahm tells of a man who pushed over his mother and, out of guilt, is reborn in hell, where a razor wheel cutting another man's head passes to…
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it was an old Buddhist story of a guy who had actually pretty good guy but he did one bad act he pushed over his mother and she injured herself and of course he felt so guilty about that that when he died he got born in this hell realm and he he went down to meet this guy you in this terrible realm and he saw this fellow you know having his head cut with a razor wheel you know just cutting into his head continuously you know obviously without him dying and he's in great pain but this guy said at last you've come because when I got this wheel it was 600 years ago cuz I hurt my mother and I was told that in 600 years time another guy will come cuz he also hurt his mom and when he comes the wheel will leave my head and I'll be free of this torture and it will go into this other guy's head and here you are here's a wheel so the wheel left this other guy and the guy sort of know vanished from this torture and he went into this new guy's head and he was cutting his head in an incredible Agony but this fellow this new guy he had thoughts of kindness of compassion and he said I'm going to take this wheel not for 600 years but for 3,000 years so the next four or five guys don't have to bear this I'll take their punishment for them and that kind thought the wheel shattered and he was taken away from this hell realm and reborn in the heaven realm Just one thought of kindness and compassion did that
- 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 smell of his baby pramStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Asking in deep meditation 'what's my earliest memory?', Ajahn Brahm (soon after leaving Thailand for Perth, he thinks) suddenly smells — really smells — his baby pram. He is back…
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the only thing one which I can tell you because I'm not allowed to S say too much about psychic powers and stuff the only ones which I can tell you is when I first did this and got the smell in my nose and this is not imagination anymore you're smelling it as if it's right here in front of you it's a real real smell my eyes closed and I recognized it straight away it was the smell of my baby's PR and immediately I was back in my pram a re experience even though I was sitting meditation I think this first happened over in when I left highand coming to Perth you're back in your baby's pram and with that experience you could no your eyes were closed you could see everything clearly as if you were had your eyes open and there I could see my baby's PR and all the old toys which I used to have in it and I could play around in there was a vision from the past as I say in the book when you have this experiences one of their Hallmarks is this absolute certainty that was you in the same way this absolute certainty it's you right here looking at me or hearing this talk the same degree of certainty weird but true
- The teacher who woke in a drowned boy's bodyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A now-famous meditation teacher (unnamed, still alive) was, it seems, reborn into the body of a village boy who had drowned in a lake and lain under the water for hours. When…
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that happened to a great teacher it seems i won't say the name because they're still alive was born in the body of a drowned boy the boy had died in a village lake and he's been under the water for hours when they find him he came alive again and the person who he eventually became is quite a famous meditation teacher and he said that was his first memory this brilliant light and he gaining consciousness in the body of this young boy
- The tomboy who was a boy beforeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A girl of five or six is a stereotypical tomboy — hangs out with boys, beats them up — and says it is because she was a boy before. Brahm offers it as one of the rebirth cases…
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she was a typical really stereotypical tomboy never like to play with the girls always lose like hang out with the boys and beat them up you know it's only five six years of age really tomboy and it's obvious because you know it was a it was a girl I was a boy before so anyway there are cases like that
- The two mangoesAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Simile for rebirth: you eat a mango, plant its seed, tend the sapling, and years later the tree gives a new mango. The two are connected by cause and effect, yet share no…
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the best simile which I have manag to concoct is the SYM of the the two mangoes so imagine a mango when you eat it today don't about you but I like mangoes we use many mangoes in simes in Buddhism I don't know why maybe it says something about my cravings and desires but nevertheless imagine a mango and you eat it and enjoy it and you take the seed and you put it in your garden and you water that mango and after a while the mango germinates and a sh comes out and you look after that little sapling and it grow go into a nice tree and eventually the tree flowers and you have another mango now we know that those two mangoes the one you ate years ago and its descendant on the tree from which it grew they are connected there they're connected but it's also totally different from the first mango to the second mango if you compare those two mangoes the one you ate and the the new one from the seed there's probably not even the the same DNA in there there's always mutations you know from from time to time certainly there's no of even molecules which are in the new mango that were there in the old mango so it's a totally different mango but nevertheless you can see a connection a cause and effect process so in other words at any moment in time you can find the link between where say that sapling came from and you know where that sapling is going to and you have this whole chain this connected chain of links from the first mango and the seed inside of it to the new mango and the new tree and this actually this chain of events this cause and effect process is how even the Buddha described this life and also that that incredible time where we go over the horizon from this life into what's beyond into a new life but first of all just working on that simile of the mango you can see if the mango which you ate before was very sweet and juicy it's very likely the new mango will be juicy if the mango you ate was Sour it's very likely the new mango will be sour there has been some tender Tendencies which have gone across from one manga to its descendants and it's that tendency what we call the inclinations this is actually what we always say goes across from life to life the thing in itself there's no connection there's no there's no sameness there but there is this connection this cause and effect process which carries with it the Tendencies the character traits our inclinations which we bu up in this life
- The whole household had the same dreamStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: The daughter of the monastery treasurer, in her twenties, dies of cancer. Some time later he arrives at dawn: at breakfast one daughter mentioned dreaming that her dead sister…
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because this lady died in Thailand. She and her father was a treasurer of our monastery. So, uh we knew she was dying, you know, cancer. She's a very young lady in her 20ies. Tried everything to look after her, but she eventually died. So, I knew the day she died, you know, we did the funeral ceremony for her. And it was, you know, sometime later, her father came really early in the morning and he actually came to speak with me and said, "Why are you coming to the monastery so early?" And he said, "Look, I had to come. I came on the first possible vehicle because something weird happened this morning." And he said that we were having our breakfast like in Asia, sitting on the floor with all the the dishes in front of you. And there was about 12 or 13 people or 14 people in the house. And he said, "My one of my other daughters, you know, just chatting around mentioned, I said, I had a really strange dream last night. I dream my sister came to me in my dream and said that she'd spent enough time here now she was taking leave and going and at that everybody stopped eating and one by one every person in that house said they had the very same dream same dream no difference and so you know the father the head of the house came to see me and said what happened obviously she's taken leave it's time for her to go and because I knew the whole family so well and the whole circumstance dances. Straight away I looked at the calendar and it was exactly 49 days.
- Yeah, that's right — both monks and neitherStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Two monks argue whether rebirth matters; each separately gets 'yeah, that's right' from the abbot; together they protest they cannot both be right — abbot: yeah, that's right.
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two monks who were arguing arguing over you know, the truth of rebirth reincarnation. One said it's really important. The other one said it wasn't important. You got to live in the present moment. You're not dead yet. And so they had this argument, so they went to see the the Ajahn, the boss. And the first one went in there and said rebirth is really important. It's part of Buddhism." And he quoted the suttas and they the Ajahn said, "Yeah, that's right." He went and he told his friend. He said, "The boss said I was right." And then the other monk went, "He can't say you're right. This is about present moment awareness. How do you know you haven't died yet?" So, went in there and told the other monk and the head monk said, "Oh, yeah, that's right. You need to live in the present moment." So, the two monks, they got contradictory advice from the head monk. And so, they said, "We better go in there together and find out. You said that I was right." And then you said that he was right. We can't both be right. And the head monk said, "Yeah, that's right."