Stories about relaxation
7 Buddhist wisdom stories about relaxation from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- A loose guitar stringAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Simile: the tighter a guitar string is stretched, the higher it pings when something hits it; less stretched, a lower sound; not stretched at all, no sound. That's resilience — a…
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I gave it another simile of being like a guitar string and when a guitar string is stretched the tighter it is stretched stretched when something hits it it really makes a high-pitched sound and when it's not stretched so much it makes a lower pitch sound when it's hardly stretched at all it makes a very low sound when it's not stretched at all it makes no sound at all that's like people's resilience the way they react to some of the unpleasant things which happens in life
- 'Ajahn Brahm said what's done is finished'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: One of the first times he told the 'what's done is finished' story, parents complained the next Sunday that they wouldn't bring their son any more. Their 16-year-old had agreed…
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not like one of the first times I told that story and just after telling that story on a Sunday a couple of parents came to complain to me so we're not going to bring our son to listen to you anymore so what did I do wrong so that story what's wrong with it I'll tell you what's wrong with it on Saturday night our 16 year old son said he was going off to a party and we told him do you remember your agreement son you say you finish your homework and only then go to the party have you finished your homework that's what they said Dad Mom just says that John Brown said what's done is finished here tomorrow got big trouble for that
- Don't revise the day beforeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: He tells students not to study in the 24 hours before an exam — go for a walk, eat your favourite food, watch a movie. The last time, at Carmel School (the Jewish school in…
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look I teach this for schools it works at schools it works for sport why can't it work in every other part of your life that's good you tell people before you do an examination for goodness sake don't do any studies the day before 24 hours before the examination just go for a walk eat your favorite food watch a movie for goodness sake do not get out your textbooks and revise and the last time I taught that was at Carmel School here in dianello you know the Jewish school and after telling that just before the year 12s I got a letter back a couple of months later from the principal he never actually came to my talks we said thank you very much we got the highest results in year 12 in the whole of Western Australia we think it's because of you thank you so much I should have kept that that's from the principal it works
- In Laos, war stops for lunchStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A monk friend, in Luang Prabang during the war between the communists and royalists, is eating lunch at a bamboo-and-thatch restaurant beside government soldiers whose M16s lean…
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I remember one of the stories this I never saw this myself but this was told to me by one of my friends who was a monk he was in luang probang the second the city of Laos doing the the war with the Communists and the royalists and this is actually how you relax he was at one of these little restaurants you know they would fare every occupational health and safety regulation in Australia but the food was delicious you know dirty but great food bamboo and thatch that's all there was and he'd go there for his lunch he was sitting at a table eating some delicious meal and he did notice there was a government soldiers they were sitting at another table having their lunch with the M16 the old machine gun rifles leaning against the wall this was lunchtime and he was enjoying his lunch when his heart almost stopped when he saw the Communist soldiers came in they called potato at the time these were the enemy this was a watch in the Vietnam War times and the the Communists came into the restaurant and he went to dive under the table but no one else was trying to escape or dive under the table because they saw the enemy troops the Communist troops they just looked around and chose another table they put their guns against the wall and they ordered their lunch because in Laos at that time War always stops for lunch oh would it be a wonderful thing if even these days people get their priorities right and lost they'd always have a lunch break when you're free fighting a war and that's what they did those days and of course afterwards said what happened next after lunch was over all of them they had some understanding the you know the Communist troops would go one way the rewarders will go the other way so they would have to meet each other
- 'She's in denial'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Thai woman, a great early supporter of the monastery, calls him to hospital: what she thought was hay fever is inoperable lung cancer, perhaps two weeks to live. He finds her…
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You remember, those of you, again, who have been long time, Ratana, this Thai girl, who really helped out our monastery in the early days, one of the close supporters, and she got lung cancer. And in hospital, I think it was the King Edward Memorial Hospital. She called me, she'd just got the diagnosis, the biopsy back. She had lung cancer, it was not curable, not much point of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, she's gonna die, she had four young children, the youngest was about, Joseph was about 8 or 9 at the time, roughly about that... So she called me. So... I was building at the time when I got the message, so I dropped whatever I was doing, got in th car, and went to the hospital. As soon as I went in to her room, there was a lady, who'd taken out the mental arrow. She was in the room laughing. And, just, you know, said, "Well, you know, this is what I want for the funeral, this is what I want to do." And, you know, she was so open about this, which was a wonderful refreshing thing to see that there was someone who'd been following these teachings for such a long time, and internalised them and there was a case you, just an hour before, been told you were gonna die, and there was no possibility of any... any recovery. She was so at peace, and so happy, laughing and cracking jokes. Jokes she said said, "When you go back to the temple here, "please tell all my friends, the Thai ladies, don't come to visit me yet. "Come and visit me later, when I'm in my box," she said, "That's when they can come and visit me." Laughing laughing all the time. So, you know we talked about the arrangements and everything, and then when I walked out of the room, not the nurse, not the sister, but the actually the matron, the actually the head nurse, was actually waiting for me, a very old nurse. And she said, "I'm so glad you've come. Can you come into my room, please?" "Yeah, what?", I said. "She's in denial. She's not admitting she's gonna die." "What do you mean? She's just been telling me all the funeral arrangements." "No, she's in denial. She's not crying, she's not screaming, she's not upset." And, that was a wonderful experience for me, because that was early on my life here, the first time I saw someone just not understanding. This was not denial, this was total acceptance, taken out the mental arrow. There was someone in a very painful situation, lung cancer. You know you gonna die, you gonna leave kids, you know, the youngest... And she didn't have a partner, she was a single mum, and she took it so beautifully. I had to explain to the sister, "Look, this is what the Buddhists are like. "Really the ones who have understood these teachings." She's taken out the mental arrow. It's a waste of time crying and screaming about it. Yeah, it is not usual, but it’s not denial. There was a person in a difficult situation, Who said "Let it be. Can't change it. Let's make the most out of this." And she died so beautifully. At the funeral I remember the doctor saying to us, "She died with grace."
- Swings at the bus stopStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Someone sent him a photo of Montreal bus stops fitted with playground swings. Waiting commuters swing back and forth — highly relaxing, so executives arrive as better bosses. It…
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In Montreal they have swings like in the children's playground. So the people waiting for the bus would swing backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. It's very innovative and much more fun you have to do that. But can't we make it more fun? And apparently many people miss their buses because they're having too much fun on the swings
- White knuckles on the first bicycleStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Young Ajahn Brahm's father saves up for his first bicycle; he keeps falling off until he notices his white knuckles and plank-stiff body — fear made him unable to balance. Once…
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This story I remember when I was young. I was young and my father, I begged him, and he saved up, I think, for a birthday or a Christmas. I can't remember what. He bought me a bicycle. The first bicycle I ever had. And, of course, being a kid with his first bicycle, you get on that bicycle and try to ride it and keep falling off. And I kept falling off and I never realised why until I looked at myself. I was holding on to those handle bars with so much fear that my knuckles went white. I was so afraid of falling off and my body was as stiff as a plank. And because I was so stiff, I was holding on too tight. Whenever the bike would move to the left, I would never be able to compensate. My body was too stiff to bend and to accommodate, which is why I kept falling off. It was fear that kept pushing me over. And it was only later on when I just relaxed, I found that I could stay on that bicycle with more ease. In fact, when you're really relaxed, you didn't fall off at all.