Stories about teachers
16 Buddhist wisdom stories about teachers from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- 'Ajahn Chah is giving this talk'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: The first time Ajahn Brahm gave a really big talk on his own — at the Suntec City convention centre in Singapore, to 3,000–4,000 people — he was afraid, not only of giving a bad…
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the one of the tricks which I I did when I first gave a huge talk over in Singapore all by myself there's no B act or no supporting act it was just a bra at Sant city there was the uh convention center there about 3 or 4 thousand people the first time I gave a really big talk and I was afraid afraid not so much of, you know, not giving a good talk, but afraid of also the problems of giving a good talk, becoming too proud and arrogant, thinking you're the the best mug in the whole of the world or whatever. And that's also dangerous. So, how can you get not really worry what other people think of you? It was pretty simple because I knew that whatever talk I gave was only because of the teachers which I'd had especially someone like an agent. So as I was walking to the the chair the chair there lots of flowers everywhere and with all these people about to listen to me I thought I'm not giving this talk. It is Ajancha my teacher was giving the talk. I'd just been trained by him, conditioned by him. So I have nothing to worry about. I didn't there was no fear at all. Because I had no fear, I gave a really good talk and I had to go back again, give another one.
- Ajahn Chah soaked to the skinStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Walking alone on tudong in the Thai jungle, with all his possessions on his back, Ajahn Chah put up his umbrella-tent with its mosquito net one night in a harsh storm. It gave no…
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One of the things he did, remember he was uh just uh walking in the jungles of Thailand by himself. They called it just going on this um uh like dutanga. All your possessions on your back, sleeping in uh under a little umbrella with a um what's it called? A mosquito net on the outside, having such few possessions. And one day when he put up his uh little sleeping umbrella, the rain was just really harsh. And just like you know, we've had some big storms here. When you have a big storms like that, the umbrella just doesn't save you anything. And it's everything he had, every robe which he had, everything which he had was just soaked to the skin. There's no one there to talk to. and he felt just so alone and almost like rejected at the time and just so wet. He said, "This is not what I really expected meditation to be like.
- Ajahn Chah's broken heartStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Chah told Ajahn Brahm that as a young man he had a girlfriend in the village; they loved each other and wanted to marry, but a mother decided it was not a good match and…
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he did have a girlfriend in the village and no, they loved each other. They wanted to marry and, you know, live together. But then what happened was they decided or the mother of one of them said, "No, no, this is not a good match." And they chose a better partner for this girl. So Ajan was brokenhearted. I don't know if I told you that story before. I remember him telling me that. And so that was one of the reasons why he decided to become a monk because life sometimes just doesn't go the way you expect it to.
- Ajahn Maha Bua said carry on eatingStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Visiting one of Thailand's strictest monks (captioned Ajahn Mahaboor — Maha Bua), where no one may eat after the teacher stops, skinny young Brahm at the end of the line put down…
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that was this month called ajahn mahaboor he was really strict and he had this ruled in the monastery that only have one meal a day and uh you couldn't start eating before he started eating and when he finished everybody else had to finish that's why all those monks only one meal a day they always ate very fast because sometimes when my boy stopped eating then everybody had to remember on this occasion i just gone there for the first time and i was at the end of the line there i was eating my lunch they told me to be fast and when i he finished everyone had to finish me too i put down my spoon and he looked at me and he said carry on eating honestly i was really thin in those days no skin on bones because the food which i had in ajahn charles monastery was very very lack of nutrition very simple food and so i was skin and bones he saw that and he said carry on eating and that touched my heart wasn't i needed to eat more it was this is kindness so i carried on eating and that was the sort of thing which how you don't break a monk you're kind to them
- Ajahn MosquitoStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a young monk, Ajahn Brahm finds the mosquitoes intolerable and asks for repellent, coils and screens — surely the monastery can afford them. Ajahn Chah says no: from now on…
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the mosquitoes will irritate you so much And it was worse for the Western monks We used to get bitten maybe 10 or 20 times as much as the Thai monks did I didn't understand First I thought what it was Now Look; if you were in Thailand you are lucky because you got hair on your head Actually what we are supposed to in Thailand, it's so hot we have the bare shoulder So literally we had more seats at the dinner table for the mosquitoes They can get on you because you had more exposed skin And number two: it was the very first time in Thailand that there were westerners in that area. I went to many villages and I was the first westerner, the first white man they have seen in the village. Let alone a monk. So that was the same with the mosquitoes That was the first time they had western food in that area of Thailand You know what it is alike a new Chinese Restaurant a new Lebanese Restaurant people love to taste it First of all it's like a specialty, a rarity, a novelty So all those mosquitoes were going around and telling their mates Hey there's western food in this monastery 'come on taste it, it's a novelty' So we got bitten to death. And we complained to Ajahn Chah Look can't we get some repellent, can't we get some mosquito coils Can't we get some mosquito nets? Help us! Look, we are getting bitten to death And Ajahn Chah told us 'from now on you call those mosquitoes--Ajahn Mosquitoes They are now going to be your teachers not me
- All his questions vanished before Ajahn TateStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Tate, a famous monk once sent home from hospital to die of cancer (he lived another 25 years), is so revered that young Ajahn Brahm waits two days for an appointment, full…
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I went to visit this famous monk called Ajahn Tate in Sri Chiangmai on the Mekong River over in Nong Khai Province, the north of Thailand. He was supposed to be an amazing monk. In fact, when I first became a monk, he was dying of cancer. He was in the main hospital being looked after by the King of Thailand because he was a famous monk. And the doctor said okay, waste of time looking after you anymore, there’s nothing more we can do, you’re going to die. So he said, well I might as well die in my temple in Bangkok. So he went back to his temple and he died about 25 years later. [laughter] And he was an amazing monk and of course he had such a good reputation that, I could speak Thai, and I just wanted to go to these great masters and ask all my questions. It was just like, you know, we all have these questions inside of us, you get these incredibly wise beings and you just wanted to ask questions from someone who knows what they’re talking about. And so, you know, he was very famous, had to make an appointment, went up there, spent about two days waiting. When I went into his room, and you know what happened, all the questions totally vanished. My mind was so blank but what I felt instead, was this incredible, and I mean just this incredible unconditional love. I was a young monk. I still had my fantasies, my defilements and all that sort of stuff. And this guy he loved me for who I was, I didn’t have to become enlightened. I didn’t have to sort of be a good monk. I didn’t have to clean up my act. You felt totally accepted for who you were with all your faults. And that’s the feeling I had. As soon as I got a feeling like that, the next feeling I had, I don’t want to move, I want to stay in here. for the rest of my life. I’m not going anywhere because it was such a beautiful feeling of having this total, absolutely hundred percent acceptance. This guy would not criticize me at all and he never would.
- 'Do you know a famous monk called Ajahn Brahm?'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Trying to avoid pride, Ajahn Brahm sits incognito at the back of a Buddhist conference in Vietnam. A Vietnamese monk sits beside him to practise his English: who are you, where…
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So I remember just this is what happens when you get go incognito. I remember being in Vietnam at a conference and I just sitting in the back and when I was sitting in the back in Vietnam at a Buddhist conference this Vietnamese monk came and sat next to me. I knew from experience what he wanted was just to practice his English cuz if those Vietnamese monk Asian monks if they know good English they have many opportunities open to them. So this monk came and sat next to me and he said now who are you? Where are you from? I said I am from Australia. Oh, welcome to Vietnam. And he said what part of Australia? I say I'm from Perth. Oh, I'm not making this up. Okay. And the next thing he said, do you know a famous monk called Ajan Brah? He said that honestly. Oh my goodness. And then I said, "Yes, I know him." And then I I shouldn't have done this. I said, "I am Ajam Brown." Ah, he was kind of shocked. Oh my goodness. What have I got myself into? But instead of getting proud or arrogant or getting afraid and this I said this to the monks whenever you give talks when prasada and any of the nuns you're not giving the talk I went up on that stage and I said the only reason why I'm opening my my mouth and saying these things because of all of the teachings which I had from my teacher, my master Ajancha and all the other great monks which I knew and all the things which I had read and learned from other highly attained monks and nuns and I thought I'm not giving the talk this evening my teachers are. So um you made a mistake there when you said Ajan Charles Ajan Brah's G I almost said it there didn't I when Ajan Brah's giving the talk this evening I never give a talk at the BWA it's all my teachers and all the people who have helped me what that does it takes away any sense of ego any sense of fear any sense of uh personally owning the contents of your talk. Sometimes I do say mistakes and if I say mistakes it's not my fault. It's my teacher. Blame him.
- Free beer — and the beer-garden roof fell inStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Nyanaponika as a young man in Germany: beer-garden brewery catches fire; friends run in for free beer; the house collapses and many are killed — a formative shock that kept him…
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he was at a beer-garden. The beer-garden was set around a house somewhere in the beautiful countryside of Germany and they would make the beer there, they'd sell it, and they had all the places on the outside, little benches and tables, where you go with your friends and have some beer and a really good time. They still have those beer gardens in Germany today, but maybe not as rustic as in his day. And he was with some friends having a few beers, having a good laugh, a nice time with his mates, and then the house in which the beer was made and sold caught fire - there was a fire in the cellar. Oh no - it was actually higher up I remember him telling me, and the owners of the beer garden house ran out, and a lot of his friends - young men and young women ran into the house for free beer, and when they ran into the house for the free beer, the top storey of the house collapsed and killed all of his friends
- His grandfather said you're stupidStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A brilliant monk in the monastery did terribly at school because his beloved grandfather once looked at his results and said 'you're stupid'. He believed it and stopped trying;…
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one day his grandfather took him aside saw his school results so far and said you're stupid and he loved his grandfather so much he believed it and he said from that moment on sort of he didn't do what at school at all everything else is brilliant if his grandfather hadn't said that he'd have been at University he's a very smart Monk
- Maha Bua sat in the cool centre of the feverStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Visiting Ajahn Maha Bua (late king's teacher), Brahm hears his talk about malaria under Ajahn Man: instead of fleeing the fever he went into it in meditation until he found a…
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when I was with this monk mahaboah he was a very famous monk he was the the late king of Thailand's teacher and but he never realizes how well I understood Thai at the time because he decided to give a talk and he'd said this is for that Western Market just come which was me gave me a special talk all the monks were there and afterwards he asked for it to be translated I didn't need that I understood it perfectly and obviously other people like that talk because I've seen it you know published you know in little booklets which they have and the core of that teaching was an experience mahabua had at when he was a student of adjun Charles teacher this guy called ajanman this monk great man and it was when the malaria fever now remember these are Forest monks living in the jungles of Thailand Northeast Thailand North Thailand even Central Thailand at a time when malaria was Rife it was just another Forest monks disease everybody got it and uh you learn how to deal with it yeah there was some herbal medicines but a lot of times you just dealt with it just as an aside I'm just going off and I love tangents but this is how he overcame his malaria fever he said he was still in just the first years of his Monastery upon where he settled down where monks like me went and listened to his teachings right in the middle of a malaria fever but he was meditating at the time meditating with a fever got no choice you know we can't sort of lay down well yeah he's still got the fever it's still really sort of uh aches and all lots of joint pains and no no energy so they decided to meditate and what he did was important it's part of the story instead of running away from it you know what it's like when it's something which is hurting which is life-threatening we always want to escape run away get rid of it find a place where you know we can live without this torturing us but he decided to go in the opposite direction go right into it now face it and go right towards it this is what we do in meditation we don't go away from stuff we always go into it we don't go on to another thing always into where we are now it's always in in never on on in meditation so you may hear me say about stages of meditation yeah that's almost like I call that land landmarks so you can some find some idea of where you are it's always going in this stage into the next stage into the next stage always going in so he went so far in to the malaria fever then he came to like a spot like the eye in the middle of a cyclone where it was really cool that's how we described it and around it was just like fire really intense he could feel the fire but he was cool in the middle he knew it was there but you know he was in a quiet calm peaceful cool spot right in the center and he said it got hotter and hotter and hotter but he always remained in that cool spot in the center and it got so hot it exploded and that was the end of the malaria fever never had it again
- That's not what Ajahn Chah said — I was thereStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm read a monk's translation of an Ajahn Chah talk he had personally heard and protested that it was not what Chah had said. The translator replied that he thought it…
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remember this one translation which was done by a monk I remember reading it and said what? that's not what Ajahn Chah said I was there when he gave that talk And the monk said oh .. yeah yeah but I think this is what Ajahn Chah wanted to say And you got to be very careful there, in translating
- The crab with a limpAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Chah's last teaching before he stopped teaching, acted out with his hands: a crab with a wonky leg tells its babies, 'I walk with a limp; don't you walk like me.' But all…
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he would get his hands out, and imitate a crab with a lame leg. So, once there was a crab with a wonky leg, and it always walked with a limp, and it told his little baby crabs, he said, "Look, I've got a bad leg. That's why I walk with a limp. Don't you walk like me." But all the baby crabs also walked with a limp, just like their mummy. They were just sheep. And he said, "Don't do that".
- The silent German monk who finally gave a talkStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In Sri Lanka with Bhikkhu Bodhi: a German monk who never gives talks is visited; an hour later Brahm emerges calling it the best Dhamma talk he had ever heard — better than Ajahn…
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this monk would He was another German monk. He would never give a talk to anybody. And Bhikkhu Bodhi said, "Just go in there and pay respects." It took an hour before I came out. [laughter] And he sat me down and gave me a nice Dhamma talk. And at that time, I said that was the best Dhamma talk I'd ever heard. Even beat Ajahn Chah's teachings
- The talk he couldn't rememberStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Years after Ajahn Chah's stroke left him unable to speak, Ajahn Brahm dreams — lucidly — that Ajahn Chah gives him a brilliant Dhamma talk. Knowing how rare and precious it is,…
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I remember a few Years later, Ajanchcha was still alive, but he couldn't travel, couldn't speak. I remember having this dream early in the morning of Ajancha coming in my dream and giving me this dharma talk. It was brilliant. And I remember at the time I had enough awareness. It was in a dream, but I was like a lucid dream. And I heard him giving this amazing dharma talk. And I remember at the time I said, "He's got a stroke. You know, this is so rare. It's just so precious. I must remember it. I was trying so hard to remember everything he said and when I woke up as the talk ended, you just woke up and then I couldn't remember a thing. That was so disappointing. That would have been amazing just almost like getting a sort of mind-to- mind dam talk from Ajancha when he was had a stroke and couldn't speak. He was alive but just not communicate communicating. I couldn't remember a thing. That was just one of the most disappointing mornings of my life.
- There are a thousand Ajahn ChahsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At Ajahn Chah's funeral the Western monks argued about what he had really taught — pure mind or nothingness. Ajahn Jagaro settled it: there are a thousand Ajahn Chahs, because…
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anecdotal and this is praising my predecessor Ajahn Jagaro At Ajahn Chah's funeral service You know they hang out for a couple of days That's a very nice anecdote because as you would expect.. I was with Ajahn Chah for about 8, 9 years And we were all having a discussion what did Ajahn Chah teach Did he teach pure mind or did he teach nothingness What did he teach? And there was a big argument between all the monks What did Ajahn Chah actually teach Then Ajahn Jagaro really wisely he said there are thousand Ajahn Chahs because every disciple remembered something from Ajahn Chah which he thought was important and interesting and other stuff we just didn't even get to our perception So he said there are as many disciples of Ajahn Chah that's how many different teachings there are which is so wise So what did Ajahn Chah say? I got Ajahn Brahm's version of Ajahn Chah and hundreds of other versions of Ajahn Chah of what he said Because we all know what we could understand or what we could see, and that's what we remembered things which were beyond us we just didn't even remember That's why when you quote other people it is great with the Buddha because at least we got it in black and white
- You're just helping me sharpen my knifeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An Englishwoman argues with elderly Ajahn Chah for hours; others say leave him alone — Chah says no, she is helping him sharpen his knife: hard questions are welcome.
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you just helping me sharpen my knife and that's actually how he would uh regard when you ask difficult questions always it was accepted