Stories about worry
6 Buddhist wisdom stories about worry from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Between the tiger and the snake: taste the honeyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Chased by a man-eating tiger, a man jumps into a dry well, catches a root and hangs between the tiger pawing from above and a cobra striking from below, while a black and a white…
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that was a story of the man who was being chased by the tiger this is the story which says what to do when everything goes terribly wrong he is being chased by a tiger in the jungle, a man-eating tiger and these two things you should know about tigers. First of all, they can run much faster than you can so if you're being chased you’re in big trouble. And number two, they like human beings for dinner. It's a delicacy, especially fat human beings like monks So anyway this tiger was running after this man in the jungle what did the man do he was really in big trouble the tiger was almost at his at his heels he saw a hole in there in the jungle, an abandoned well. Yes, it's exciting isn't it? (Audience laughed) Thank you for those special effects (Audience laughed) and he had no choice, he took a risk he jumped into that well and as soon as he committed to jumping into the well that's when he realized he made a big mistake. You ever done that? You know you take a risk and you find Oh! Oh! big mistake. Because that well was dry there was no water in the bottom instead of water there was a big black snake coiled up at the bottom of the well. Instinctively he reached to the side of the well and grabbed a root which was poking through the wall of the well that stopped his fall and when he sort of settle down and came to, he looked up. The tiger hadn't given up yet, the tiger was leaning over the well trying to paw him from above but his hand, his hand holding the root was just too low the tiger couldn't reach him and then he looked down the snake had woken up, the snake had lifted its head, had open its hood and hisss… Did I get any of you that way? Look, it's Friday evening you've been at work I need to wake you up somehow, to make this alive. trying to strike his feet but the feet were just too high the snake was stretching couldn't quite hit the guy's feet. So there he was, stuck between a man-eating tiger and a venomous snake and as he was wondering what to do next he saw from a hole in the side of the well two mice crawl out. A black mouse and a white mouse and those mice started chewing at the roots. Just to make it a little bit more scary. So what should he do next? What would you do? You get so anxious and afraid, the the roots getting thinner and thinner, I’ve got Tiger above me, a snake below. Aah! but not this guy. This guy had been to the Buddhist temple many times. He'd read the story “opening the door of your heart” he knew exactly what to do. That's why you come to places like this. If you’re ever in a jungle and this happens to you you know exactly what to do or something similar because what was happening next. The tiger, the tiger was trying to paw him from below and his backside was rubbing against the tree making the tree shakes. On a branch of the tree directly above the well there was a beehive. Don’t worry about the bees they’re okay but as the hive was shaking honey started to drip down and this man put out his tongue to taste the honey and said Mmm, that's so delicious. And that is the end of the story.
- George Burns on worryingJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 96, comedian George Burns still stays out at nightclubs, drinks whisky, smokes and eats fatty food. Asked if he isn't worried about his lifestyle: “No, my wife was worried…
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This is one of my favourite quotes. He is real scallywag but you could admire this person, he was very smart, that comedian George Burns. He is dead now but when he actually said somewhere when he was 96 or 97 birthday. And those of you who know this American Comedian; he was a scallywag all his life. Now at 96 he was still going to night clubs ok;. staying out till 2 or 3 in the morning drinking lots of Whisky, smoking as well eating KFC and all these fatty foods. And they asked him (probably healthy foods at KFC I have to be careful they would sue me or the Buddhist Society) but anyway you know what I mean. I don't need to criticize any food any way eating really sort of unhealthy food and the interviewer asked him 'aren't you afraid of your health, aren't you worried with your lifestyle , you smoke you drinks alcohol, you eat fatty food, you are out late at night ; aren't you worried about your lifestyle? And his reply was 'no I am not worried about my lifestyle my wife was worried about my lifestyle and that's why she died 20 years ago.
- Snoopy: “Most days we won't”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Charlie Brown and Snoopy sit on a pier enjoying a beautiful view of mountains and lakes. Charlie Brown says, “You know, Snoopy, all of us one day will die.” Snoopy replies:…
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And this Peanuts, this Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy, must have been on vacation somewhere, they were on a pier and they were sitting there enjoying the afternoon, this beautiful view, just mountains and lakes and waters, having a beautiful afternoon there, and Charlie Brown says to his dog Snoopy, "You know Snoopy, all of us one day will die." And Snoopy, this great philosopher, he really is wise dog, much wiser than human beings, Snoopy says, "True, one day all of us will die, but most days all of us won't die.
- The dentist appointment that never happenedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At about seven, terrified of the dentist, the young Ajahn Brahm tries every trick — “Mummy, you don't love me, you're sending me to the torturer!” He sleeps badly with worry and…
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one of my earliest memories is when my mother told me I didn't need to go to school the following morning. I must have been about six or seven, or eight, maybe. I said: “Yeah! I don't need to go to school tomorrow morning!”, and because my mother said I had to go to the dentist I said: “I think, I'd rather go to school, mom”, but she said: “No, you have to go to the dentist”. And those were the days, where the dentists, oh, they had these drills, they had these sharp pointers, which they picked your teeth. It was like going to a torture chamber, and so I was very upset as I don't want to go to the dentist, and I started crying, I started throwing a tantrum. I didn't want to go, but my mother said: “You had to go”. So, I went to bed, and I was really upset. I didn't sleep well, I was trying to think of all ways to get out of going to the dentist tomorrow morning, and when I woke up, I decided on my plan. Never underestimate kids, because even kids they got some plans, which I thought would certainly work. I told my mother: “You can't love me. You don't love me, do you, mommy? Because you're sending me to the dentist”. It didn't work, of course. She dragged me to that dentist, screaming and kicking. And I always remember that, when I got to the dentist's surgery, there was a sign on the dentist surgery's door “Closed” because a dentist was sick. I remember that all that suffering, all that kicking and screaming, all that crying and not sleeping well, I was worried about something, which never happened, but it taught me a very good lesson
- The locust plague that never cameStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Years ago The West Australian reports a locust plague advancing on Perth: twenty kilometres closer each day, arriving in two days, arriving tomorrow. Then nothing happens — the…
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I remember here in Perth many years ago there was a locust PL I remember in the West Australia you used to get those newspapers and it reached I think um somewhere like in gerton and it was coming to Perth and the next day it was 20 km closer and the next day and the next day and they said it's going to be coming in 2 days time and the next day we've got the paper it's coming tomorrow and nothing happened it was a complete sort of wind up cuz I think you know the Locust whatever they decided to go somewhere else didn't like per I don't know why but whatever it was it's a complete buildup of fear
- “There is no problem in the Middle East”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Asked during the Six-Day War about 'the problem in the Middle East', a British Prime Minister (Ajahn Brahm says Harold Macmillan) replies there is no problem: “a problem is…
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the famous story of the Prime Minister of Britain many years ago, Harold Macmillan, who was interviewed during what was known as the six-day war between Israel fighting Jordan, Syria, Egypt and I don’t know who else but a lot of countries. It was called the Six Day War. One of the beginnings of the difficulties in that part of the world and this journalist interviewed the prime minister and the first question was, what is your view about the problem in the Middle East? To which the Prime Minister replied without hesitation. Sir, there is no problem in the Middle East. What do you mean said the journalist, there's the war on as we speak, people are blowing each other up, bullets are flying all over the place people are dying. There's a war on. What do you mean there is no problem in the Middle East? To which this Statesman said very calmly. "Sir, a problem is something with a solution," there's no solution in the Middle East. Therefore it can't be a problem.