Stories about trauma
8 Buddhist wisdom stories about trauma from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Drawn out of catatonia by kindness (a dream)Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a young monk Ajahn Brahm dreams vividly of being tortured and retreating into a deep catatonic place for years, until a carer's kind words make him trust the world again and…
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I remember as a young monk, I had this dream once. The very powerful dream, which I remember it so well. And I remember just dreaming that I was being tortured. Don't know whether it is a past life, but it was very vivid, being tortured by people stabbing me and it hurts so much. And I went to a deep place inside myself, just to escape the pain. It's the only place I could find and it's a quite strange dream because I dreamt I was catatonic for years. Alive, but not being able to respond like in a coma. And what took me out was just these beautiful kind words, from a carer in some institution somewhere who was so kind that I trusted the world again, and allowed myself to be drawn out back into life. It's a weird dream. But what it actually showed me was the way that we hide because of the great pain of life, sometimes it gets so painful either physically or emotionally, we literally cannot take any more. We go into some sort of hiding place. Now for me, and that dream was just in a deep, deep catatonia where I would not respond to anything in the world. Or it could be just with the other protective mechanisms of unwilling to show any empathy and being violent, used to protect yourself. And the only way out was incredible kindness, which you know to me, and also in Buddhist ideas, is the power which nothing can resist. Incredible kindness, just drawing you out, from a place, a hiding place built by fear, coming out into the world, again, being alive again. It's only a dream but it was very meaningful for me.
- Paddington crash — those who skipped counselling did betterStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Paddington rush-hour crash; free counselling offered; follow-up finds (adjusted for severity) those who declined counselling often fared better — anecdote on not forcing talk.
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Paddington Station there was a fault in the signals and an incoming uh rush hour train uh slammed into an outgoing train. They were on the same track. These sorts of things should never happen, but of course Murphy's law always happens. If it can happen, it does happen. Rarely. So, there was this huge train crash outside of Paddington Station. Many people died and more people were injured. And many people were traumatized witnessing this. But the interesting part of this anecdote was that you know the British government they did offer free counseling to anybody who was involved in that tragedy. And then some very smart psychologists they did a follow-up. They got as many people as they could who'd been through that counseling. And those people who refused to go through the counseling. It was all offered to them for free. And of course they adjusted their findings to you know how seriously they were injured or how close they were to that tragedy, what they actually saw. And their results were so convincing. The people who depe
- She had to sign children away from their parentsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A highly educated Thai woman on retreat carries the job of signing final judgments that remove children from parents too damaged by addiction — she arrives late because that work…
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She was very highly educated Thai lady. And she was had a terrible, terrible, terrible job. It's the job she had was she had to sign off on people uh who she had to give the final judgment were in her opinion not capable looking after their kids. And when she signed that document, the children would be taken away from their parents
- She sat on the stone stairs when thunder cameStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A London Blitz survivor, years later, stops whatever she is doing at every thunderstorm and sits on the stone stairs — the safest place she was taught as a young woman. After the…
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Every time there was a thunderstorm over that part of London and the lightning bmed and cracked, it would bring back the memories of that episode during the Second World War. And whatever she was doing, she would stop and go and sit on the stairs. It was a second story flat she was living in. She would sit there because she was taught as a young woman that was the safest place in the house in wooden houses. The stairs were made of uh mostly um stone. They were tougher. So that's where she would sit. And after the thunderstorm had passed, she come back and join us. That was her way of dealing with it. It may not be the standard way but that was the way which worked for her
- The crooked trees are the beautiful onesAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a mental-health conference a woman apologises to Ajahn Brahm: when he walked in she thought “who is this wanker?” — but his talk made her laugh and cry. What made her cry was…
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this is the story I told this at a conference on mental health during the wintertime last year, and that was over in the convention centre in Perth. And they were the person came up to me afterwards and said, she apologised to me, because she said, "When I first saw you coming into our conference", now please excuse the language. This is what she said, "I thought who is this wanker coming to our conference?" And she came to apologise for thinking like that, because I made her laugh, I made her cry, what made her cry. These were clients who have been through mental health problems. And were just trying to do something to improve the service for others. So the story which made her cry, is my story of the the trees in the forest. I often use this when people go to Bodhinyana monastery or go to Jhana Grove, but you know, don't need to say it there, say it here as well. If you go this weekend and go for a walk in the forest somewhere, please find a perfect tree for me. A tree which has got all of the branches equally spaced, only green leaves, no yellow leaves, no brown leaves, no leaves which have been eaten by the insects, which is perfectly straight, not crooked, or leaning to the left or the right. And with a bark, which hasn't been damaged by the bush fires or by the winds and things hitting it. A bark without scars on it. If you can find such a tree, you'll be the first in the world to find a tree in the natural forests because every tree you look at them. They're all bent and crooked. They've all got branches which have fallen off and that leaves holes where the birds and other animals can nest. And if you look at the leaves, there's lots of yellow leaves and brown leaves and leaves which have been eaten by insects and all the trees are crooked and bent. And the scars on their bark, they're just the bark is really rough, and knobbly and scarred. They're the beautiful trees. And I said in this talk if you are one of those trees, all bent and crooked, with heaps of scars on the bark with branches which have been ripped off by the storms of your life. You belong as one of the beautiful trees in the forest, you're my favourites. Because certainly I like the crooked trees, the bent trees, with all the scars and the knobbly bits on the outside. They're the ones which are beautiful.
- The truckload of dungAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: You come home to find a truckload of manure dumped in front of your door. You didn't order it and no one saw the truck, so you're stuck with it. You can carry it around in your…
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because that was relating to a particular story that if you do have shit happens to you in life, you can dig it in and you can make these beautiful things out of the most unpleasant aspects of your life, there's always something you can do. Now I use that as an extreme example to show that when these things happen to you or happen nationally, the law of kamma means stop thinking why this happened and do something about it. Dig it in, yeah, it's tough to do, but the alternative which is in that story "who ordered the truckload of dung", is people carry the shit around with them in their pockets. And you find if you carry dung and smelly shit in your pockets or your bags you lose a lot of friends, and you understand what I mean by this.. When people really get depressed, angry and upset about what happens to them in life, no one likes to be around you, that's not the way to deal with these problems
- The twin who forgave at AuschwitzStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm recalls an article about a woman who, as an identical twin at Auschwitz, was subjected to the experiments of Dr Mengele's team; as he tells it, her twin sister was…
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remember reading this article [snorts] about a lady and one of these articles which really moved me that she was in Awitz. [snorts] When she was in Awitz, she was there because she was a younger uh sister of a twin. And when they discovered they were identical twins, they're so not younger sister but identical twin. They were forced to go on this program of experimentation. I think the name of the doctor at the time, Dr. Mangali, I think it was this was doc, one of Dr. Mangali's assistants, she remembered as her sister, the other twin was basically just treated so badly and tortured and killed. as an experiment. His other sister survived and after many many many years she discovered the location of one of the doctors who had helped Dr. Mangali and according to the story which she wrote she invited the person who had basically tortured and killed and her sister to meet her in Awitz. This is a true story. when he met them there sort of she forgave him say said look I've been I found you and I've been hating you and hating what happened to my sister all my life now you're here I don't want to be a victim anymore I want to be a victor so she forgave
- “You're so lucky” — counselling a rape survivorStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In Malaysia, as a last resort after counsellors, doctors and psychiatrists had failed, Ajahn Brahm is asked to see a woman, and deliberately learns nothing beforehand. She tells…
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one of the most moving stories was when I was in Malaysia they asked me can I please counsel somebody because she was in a big mess and no one had ever managed to do anything for her counselors doctors psychologist and psychiatrist so I was one of the the last throws of the dice for this woman and I never asked what she'd been through and why she wanted to see me I didn't want any preparation because I knew if you're going to help anybody the less plans you have the less knowledge the better so you can actually just be with a person and get right into them and find out who they are and what to do cuz the more plans and expectations you have the more knowledge that actually stops you seeing the truth that's one of my sayings never allow your knowledge to stand in the way of Truth so we know if you hear what's happened to her then you think about it and you you're not really seeing the problem anymore keep your mind perfectly still and open and peaceful so that's what I did with this woman I just didn't know who she was and asked her know what happened and then again one of those skin creeping moments when she told me how she was violently raped brutal raped don't know how people can do that to another human being but it happens and when she finished her story you know my mind was so still horrified but still The Words which came out of my mouth to this day shock me it was automatic not be meditated the words came out you're so lucky to have been raped what did I just said and then I looked at it and understand why I said that I said I just I look deep inside of you you know you have Incredible strength resources you haven't tapped you know you are going to find a way through this and when you do you are going to say something be able to say something which I can never say you'll be able to be with someone who's had that experience and tell them that I know how you feel that's such a wonderful thing to say to someone else to empathize with them to say look you're not alone I've been there too I can't say that you will be able to say that you will be able to put your arm around not just your real arm your spiritual arm and say I know what you're going through but you you will be able to say something even more you'll be able to say I know the way out of this I know the way out of this incredibly black dark painful hole take my hand come so that's why you're so lucky you'll be able to give heal care and relieve the pain there so many other women well I will not be able to touch them I can't get there you will be able to do that that's your meaning Embrace turn that experience into your garden which I hope she's done