Stories about student life
4 Buddhist wisdom stories about student life from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- 'Nothing wrong with being crazy'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At Cambridge in the 1970s a friend who had taken LSD came up to Ajahn Brahm saying, 'I think I'm going crazy.' Ajahn Brahm told him, 'Well, nothing wrong with being crazy — just…
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what my friends this was in the ' 70s even though I never took these drugs myself know he took some LSD one day when I was at Cambridge and I remember just uh seeing him know bumping up to him and he came up to me and said I think I'm going crazy I'm going mad and sometimes people do go crazy actually he is now he a very wealthy act one of the most conservative um suit ridden persons you could ever imagine if I actually told his boss what he did when he was at College he'd get kicked out of the company but nevertheless I would never say such things but at the time that he took some LSD and he thought he was going crazy and I remember just going up and say well nothing wrong with being crazy just be crazy it's all right and then of course he calmed down it was a fear of going crazy which was driving him crazy
- One-pound bet — sober for a yearStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a student he bets a cousin one pound he can stay sober a year; decades later the cousin still has not paid.
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gave up alcohol as a student even one of my cousins who knew me very well said new won't last you know and I I did a bet with him away to one pound that's all worth a lot of money in those days that I could last over one year of Being Sober not taking any alcohol that's that's over about 60 years ago now he still hasn't paid up
- The jewelled goblet: his last drinkStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At an Emmanuel College scholars' dinner in Cambridge, after much port and claret, the students must drain a jewel-encrusted silver heirloom goblet brim-full of claret and give a…
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on one occasion the scholars dinner having drunk so much alcohol already we had to do a toast with this goblet silver goblet encrusted with jewels a cottage heirloom that was Emmanuel College in Cambridge and we had to fill with claret if I can remember properly to the brim we had to drain it drink the whole lot and then say a toast in Latin this was supposed to be an intelligent university I decide this this didn't make any sense to me and the following morning I don't know how I got back to my room but I woke up in the morning with a part of vomit on my pillow right next to me I didn't realize that that could have killed me people choked on that and died and I felt terrible for the next 24 hours everyone was saying what wonderful evening that was that was the last time I took any alcohol in my life
- You don't have to join — Cambridge Buddhist SocietyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Cambridge societies fair: finds Buddhist Society stall like gold; wants to join; the person behind the counter says this is Buddhism — you don't have to join.
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society's fair day where all the societies they had a stall at the University and you can join whatever Club you wanted to even fox hunting if you want to go fox hunting remember this is Cambridge University snobby place but as soon as I walked in I just I will never forget this experience they had Buddhist Society of Cambridge University I saw they had a store and to me that was like finding gold I never expected to have a Buddhist Society University so I went straight up to the counter said I want to join and the guy in front of the counter said look this is Buddhism you don't have to join