Stories about youth
18 Buddhist wisdom stories about youth from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- A private concert with Rod StewartStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a teenager Ajahn Brahm and his brother go to a gig where only six people turn up — the lead singer was a then-unknown Rod Stewart; 'like a private concert'.
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i went to this show with my brother only six people so turned up to watch this band you know who the lead singer was who was it no i wasn't mick jagger beatles it was his name again sorry no not jonah not paul mccartney it was rod stewart thank you yeah watched you uh there's only six of us listening to him it was like a private concert in those days
- Enlightenment by teatimeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At his first Vesak, with the Cambridge University Buddhist group, 18-year-old Brahm hears how the Buddha vowed under the Bodhi tree not to move even if his blood dried up and his…
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I still remember the very first way saac which I went to it was celebrated at Cambridge University cuz that's where I got into a Buddhist group and that was where I first heard the story of the Buddha becoming in love lightened as you usually do here on way out days and that's where you heard that the Buddha sat under the bod tree and he sat and he made this powerful resolution even if my blood dries up and my bones turn to dust I won't move I won't change my spot unless I get perfect complete Enlightenment it was a no more shilly Shing no more nambi pambi Queen Puff You're going to sit here and you're going to meditate until you become aligned that's a real great monks and nuns that's what you really have to do sister go to me if you really want to become in line just sit here and push through the pain I don't care my blood will dry up my bones will turn to dust this is it I don't care how much it's going to hurt Enlightenment is more important than anything else I'm just going to go through it I'm not going to give in whatever that my pain on my body throws at me I'm just going to sit here no matter what I'm going to be the tough person I know many of you have heard that story but you know cuz when I was uh only 18 when you're 18 you're very young and very stupid and I thought wow what a wonderful thing to do and if the Buddha could do that why not me so I went back to my room after the sermon were finished about you know 4:00 5:00 in the afternoon and very solemnly in my room in college I sat down on my cushion and I really meant it I made a great resolution and I told myself even if my blood dries up my bones turn to dust I don't matter how much it's going to hurt I'm going to sit here and I'm not going to move until I become enlightened I don't care how much it's going to hurt even if I die if I'm going to be crippled this is it I'm going to become enlight because I was a very busy person I want to get it out of the way so I can do other things in life and in those days I used to meditate 25 minutes 30 minutes was a Max and I got to 40 minutes 45 minutes and I still wasn't enlightened and worse my body was kidding me you know what it's like your knees are just so much pain you just can't stand it any longer and your back is exploding as well and your bottom is so sore and that's when I opened my eyes and it was true my blood hadn't dried up yet and I wasn't in light and I couldn't stand anymore and that was it
- Falling off a Scottish cliff, his life flashed byStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 19, walking alone in Scotland with a heavy pack, he stepped off an eroded sheep track and fell down a cliff; his life flashed before him. He landed after what felt endless —…
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I was walking in the cliffs of Scotland by myself. And I lost the path and I went along a sheep track instead of the the proper path by myself, a long way away from anywhere. And I had a big, heavy backpack on, not like these light ones these days, these namby-pamby uh backpacks. This was a really heavy, old-fashioned one. Had everything inside of it. And that I couldn't see. I checked afterwards. Grass had grown over the edge of a track which had been eroded. So, when I stepped, my left foot went into thin air. And I fell. And because of the weight of my backpack, it twisted around. And I was falling down this cliff. Went past, past, past, past. I really thought I was going to die. So many meters. This vertical cliff. And that was the time. I was only 19. Okay, not much had happened to me in those 19 years, but still the most important parts of my life were literally flashing in front of me. You know, just like that classic experience. It happened to me. And of course, what happened next was I felt solid earth underneath my feet. And now I just bent my legs to take the fall, rolled over. Got up. And that's when I was so surprised because the cliff was only about 3 m. And I couldn't believe it. And that's another thing. Whenever you actually have you think you're going to die, time goes slowly. And just distances, they get exaggerated. I honestly, I was really surprised. Only 3 m. And it No, to me it was like going past, past, past because time was going getting really weird and just distorted. But certainly that my biggest memories of my life that far had just flashed up in front of me, just like they say when you are really dying. It's a great experience to have. I only just lost a toe
- Free buffet lunch on the Norway ferryStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Hitchhiking student on a cheap Norway–UK ferry; a couple say he reminds them of their son and buy him a huge buffet lunch — first and only such feast.
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cheap boat going over from uh Norway over back to UK. I was just hitchhiking, living on a cheap and this uh couple came up to me and they said, "You remind us of our son who was also hitchhiking during a summer vacation over in Europe." So [snorts] I said, "Please let us give you this wonderful lunch." And they paid for this incredible lunch for me. And it was like a big buffet. And it was actually the first and only
- Giving up beer at 18Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a young Buddhist student who loved beer, Ajahn Brahm was told by his teacher that he shouldn't drink. He tried giving it up and felt a great sense of power — he had a choice…
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that's what I did, when I was a young man, I was a Buddhist and my teacher kept on telling me: ‘You shouldn't drink alcohol’. I liked my beer, I didn't like the other stuff, but beer, I used to love beer. And he said: ‘No, you can't take that anymore, you're a Buddhist, you meditate. ‘Do I really have to?’ He said: ‘yes, you do’, so I said: ‘okay I'll give it a try.’ And as soon as I tried it, just giving up beer, I felt this great sense of power inside of me. It was like I had the choice and I was exercising the choice. I could take it or leave it, I was proving to myself I could leave it. And I could go into a party and still enjoy myself and have… Actually, I found out it was more fun when I was sober. Okay, I was only 18-19 at the time. The best time at a party, when you find a nice girl, you’re in the corner, messing around… when I used to have beer and alcohol, I didn't remember that part. [laughter] And that was the best part. And when I was sober, I had much more fun. And so little things like that, ordinary things, meant you started to enjoy yourself more. Which meant, what's the point of going back to alcohol? And I was a student at the time it cost so much money, I had so much more money to use for other things.
- Green velvet jeans at the Isle of WightStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Going to the 1970 Isle of Wight rock festival, young Ajahn Brahm wears green velvet jeans to be rebellious and individual — and finds thousands of others in green velvet jeans:…
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remember going to the the Isle of Wight rock festival 1970 So the famous rock festival and I had to be cool, so I had green velvet jeans When I went down there I found I thought I was being rebellious, I thought I was being individual I thought I was just just rebelling against convention setting a new style And when I went down there I found thousands of other people had green velvet jeans It is another type of uniform
- 'I would'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Asked in Q&A what he's been most afraid of: at a friend's wedding reception while at Cambridge, the 19- or 20-year-old lads joke about who'll marry next. Pointing at his friend…
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I was still a lay person at the time. I think some of you heard the story before that uh still yeah still at uh college at Cambridge and still just uh you know messing around in the world but you know just I was pretty much committed to being a Buddhist and maybe in the future being a monk. And then it was one of my friends was getting married. So, you know, we just all went to the the marriage and after the marriage ceremony, we're at the reception just all dressed in nice actually dressed in nice suits. Actually did wear a suit. I think I only wor once or twice anyway. I was not really into suits, but anyway, that uh and they were just, you know, messing around about 19 or 20 year olds. And then somebody asked who's going to be next and then we just pointed to one of my friends still a I know him really well. His name is Jeff. Jeff Perry his name was. If he's listened to this I'm sorry but this happened. He's a good mate. And so they said oh Jeff he'll probably be next. And then know all the the guys said ah no one will marry him. Yeah it's guys being guys. Okay. And just and then they pointed at me. You know, my lane name was Peter. Said, "Oh, Peter, he'll probably be next." And I got the same response. I know I would marry that man, Peter. But you know what happened next? There was this little girl, you know, she was standing right next to me and she whispered into my ear, I would. And I think that's the most scary moment in my life so far. I was terrified. I moved far away as possible and made sure for the rest of the night the next week I wasn't close to her. I don't know. It was really unfair. But, you know, I was only 19y old, 20-y old kid, you know, young man growing up. But that really terrified me. So, I think that was the most scared I've ever been.
- If she looks at you again, go for itStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At about fourteen he asked his father how to find a girlfriend. Dad said: if a girl looks at you once you don't know; if she looks at you again she likes you — go for it.
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asking for advice about how to find a girlfriend I remember the advice he said this is the sort of guy he was he said look if a girl looks at you once you don't know but if she looks at you again she likes you go for it and that's what my father told me when I was about 14
- Mum's blessing at seventeenStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At seventeen, with a sleeping bag and his guitar, he hitchhiked from London to North Africa to explore the world. It must have driven his mother crazy, but she gave him her…
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I remember what my poor old mum, when I was seventeen, I shouldn't give all the young men here ideas, but I got too late now, seventeen, I had a sleeping bag, my guitar, and I went hitchhiking from London over to North Africa. Must have driven my mum crazy, but off I went to explore the world, and she gave me her blessing, what a courageous thing that was,
- On top of the pyramid at TikalAnalogy · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 18, in 1969, before university, Ajahn Brahm got bored of the USA and travelled into the jungles of Central America — buses, fishing boats, a river between British Honduras and…
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one of the great ways I figured out how to overcome confusion was uh a time when I was 19 no 18 only 18 and I went to uh just before going up to University went over to United States you know just didn't have a gap year but a gap three or four months and I got really bored with being in the US it just like any other country and just to the south over the Border was Mexico and a little bit South in the jungles of Central America and that was really interesting because there was indigenous cultures over there which were totally different than anything which I had known and so I went into the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula in bordering Mexico and Guatemala and I always wanted to go and visit those great pyramids in the middle of the jungles and those were 1969 there was no other way to get to that central part of the Jungle except on Old buses and fishing boats and uh trucks on the back of heavily Laden trucks going through the jungle it was like an adventure and I always remember just going down this river which separated uh bise British Honduras and Guatemala and you know it was literally just jungle on either side any moment I expected Taren to come swinging through on the trees and there was a Dugout boat with a couple of Indians indigenous uh jungle dwellers totally naked and I remember we stopped at the cafe and the Cafe was this is old thatch and bamboo Hut which serve this incredibly thick and sweet coffee and black beans with tortilla absolutely delicious probably terrible for your health but absolutely delicious and just going from there to the end of the river and then on the back of a truck and for about 3 days traveling through the jungle until you got to the the pyramids in teal and as soon as I arrived there there was I think one person supposed to be maybe an archaeologist was fossing around but no one else was there it was no sort of place where you had to pay entrance fees no shop selling artifacts or selling uh Cups of Tea it was actually totally sort of free and no signs telling what you could do what you couldn't do so I was an 18-year-old boy so you know what 18-year-old men do when they see a pyramid climb it don't worry do those things but so I climbed it not knowing what I'd find at the top but when I got to the top of this PID it's a long way up there I found a story about confusion and about insight and about wisdom and about truth because I was told that these pyramids have some religious or spiritual significance but I hadn't any idea what I never I couldn't afford any guide book and I hadn't done any research at all about those ancient um Mayan civilization they disappeared and no one actually knows why they disappeared and so it was totally unknown it's beautiful if you can have what we call like this open empty mind whenever you face any experiences because if you expect to find something if you know what you're supposed to see it spoils the whole experience you're not open to truth and seeing things in incredible beautiful ways and so as soon as I climbed on the top of that pyramid it was obvious to me what they were there for because I'd spent three days at least traveling in the jungle and if you ever been in real rainforest real jungle which hasn't been developed you'll find that any road or path they cut through the jungle within a few days gets covered over with this this Jungle which is full of Life trees branches they all cover over the path so you are literally traveling through tunnels and I'd never seen the Horizon for 3 days I never seen any far distances and now for the first time in 3 days I climbed up to the top of that pyramid and it was just above thee tree line and now I could see the Horizon these great distances and first of all I thought wow what it would be like to have been born in that jungle spent all your life never see seeing far distances and for the first time some priest takes you up to the top of that pyramid and now you can see Infinity in all directions with nothing between you and the infinite in every direction wow the metaphor was so striking you understand why sometimes when we put things between you and whatever you take to be the infinite in other words religions that that blocks you experiencing the vast emptiness and space there's no barriers there as you stand on top of that pyramid and see forever in every direction and of course afterwards then I looked down at the jungle and you could see where you'd come from it took days to get there but you know because it was Jungle you can't travel fast it's not like the freeway it takes forever and on the top there you can see these great distances I could see the village which I slept in the night before wasn't that far away away and you got the What I Call These Days a Google map view of the Jungle now I was not confused and I use that simil about how to overcome confusion in life wherever it happens to be cuz confusion is like you're right inside the jungle and you can't see great distances all you can see is the next tree the next Vine the next Bush and you know you don't know where you are where you should go even where you've come from to arrive here and the obvious solution when it's confusion is to try and find metaphorically a way to get out of that jungle a tree a tower or in this case a pyramid so you're actually out of your confused little lifestyle that your um entangled web of relationships emotions where you're climbed out beyond the the thicket of thoughts and when you climb out above that you can see from above all the confusion is resolved not only can you can see where you come from you can see where you need to go the path to go on you can also understand why you had to come that way and the greatest thing is to being above all of that thinking emotions difficulty entanglements you're so high above all of that for little while that you can see this great emptiness Infinity foreverness which Embraces and covers everything and gives it some meaning wow so I always thought that that was the meaning of those great pyramids only works in the jungle because it gives you that few moments where you're totally free of confusion
- 'Pass this, and then you'll be happy'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a boy Ajahn Brahm gave up soccer to study, because everyone said that if he passed his O levels (at 14) he'd be happy. Then it was A levels — so he gave up chasing girls. Then…
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I noticed this when I was at university because over in UK, you know, you had to first of all, the first big exams you did were the O levels. That was done usually about 16. I did my O levels when I was 14. And so I work really hard for those O levels because my friends and my families and teachers said if you pass your O levels then you'll be able to get good jobs in life and get enough money you'll be happy at that time I like playing football soccer in the park and I was pretty good you know I I could have been a millionaire by now if id have carried on playing soccer instead of going to [sighs] You seen how much these soccer players get. Anyway, I gave up soccer and just studied and I did very well in my old levels. Was I happy? No, because I had to do more exams, A levels. [clears throat] But A levels were important. You do well at A levels. You can go to university, you can be really happy. So I at that time, as I say, I wasn't chasing footballs then. I was chasing girls. And so you know my family and friends says look stop going out so much just you know just stay at home do your studies get your A levels and then you'll be happy. I I believe them you trusted others. So I did my A levels, did really well and so went to university and that big university Cambridge I mean that's a really big university say wow get your degree from Cambridge and then you'll be happy and that's when I started getting suspicious cuz I saw other people who had got degrees were they happy no they had to do more work either to get an MA or a PhD or something. Or if they didn't do that, they got a job. Were they happy getting a job when you got a degree? No way. They never got enough money. And you had to save up for a car, save up for a place to live. And at that time, you were trying to get just, you know, transport and a place to stay. And also, you know, just trying to get a wife in life if you're a guy. And that was really a lot lot of trouble. I always thought, yeah, once you get a nice wife, I thought, why why do men go to so much trouble getting them? I don't believe it's going to make them happy. So I thought once I get a nice wife and save up to have enough money, nice house, and a car, then I'll be happy. But I did some research. I was smart enough then to know some people who are older. And then what happens? Were they happy? No way. Because once you got married and that was really expensive, you know, you didn't in a bigger house and then you had to have mortgages and have to work hard to pay off the mortgages. You never pay it off because, you know, after four or five years of marriage, you have kids and that's really expensive. And many people kept telling me, "Oh, once the kids grow up and leave home, then I can be happy. And then what happens is by that time most people are close to retirement and they kept saying oh when I retire then I'll be happy I don't have to go to work every morning not so much stress and then when they retire are they happy no that's when I noticed that most of the people who went to especially Christian churches were people who are really old there's quite a few of them here too. You know why? Cuz they think if you go to a church or a mosque or a a temple, then when you die, then you'll be happy.
- Saturn's rings after 2001: A Space OdysseyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After watching 2001: A Space Odyssey as a student, he cycles with friends to an old Astronomical Society observatory; the dome opens and through the huge telescope they see…
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2001 A Space Odyssey is a really freaky film. And after seeing 2001 A Space Odyssey, then I was a member of the Astronomical Society. And they had all these old observatories, just like you see in the movies, these big domes with incredible powerful telescopes. And because I was a member, I told my friends, "Hey, we can just go and have a look." That was no part of being a member. So we cycled and cycled. I was very healthy in those days. Cycled out outside to the observatory. And that was the thing they found Pluto, Uranus on that observatory, but it was just out of date now. But anyway, we got in there, we uh somebody said, "Oh, yes, a really good time." This is 11:00, 12:00 at night after the movie. And they said that you can see Saturn was up there. And so you could go in this this chair and this huge long telescope and just the the hemisphere dome of the observatory would open. And it just had atmosphere. I know there's some people have these tiny telescopes, you can see much more, but that's got no atmosphere. This was like something out of a science fiction movie. You could actually see Saturn with its rings in huge magnification
- The duck that tried to nest in his afroStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Young Brahm with a big curly Hendrix-style afro lies down in a London park; something tugs his hair — a duck harvesting nesting material.
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Somebody pulling my hair." It was a big f like, you know, my icon at that time was Jimmyi Hendris. I I have changed a lot since that time. Like a big afro hair hairstyle. That's what I had. 60s or 70s. And someone was putting my hair and I turned around. You know what it was? A duck. True. This duck saw my hair. That's really good nesting material
- The king eagle in the mountainsStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Young spiritual searcher in cold mountains sees a vast eagle (king eagle) after spotting a freezing lake of melting ice — wonder interrupting the climb.
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spying one of the biggest birds I've ever seen, a king eagle. I checked afterwards, and those birds exist. It's big as me. Huge. It was actually just sitting there looking at me. And I realized that, you know, that could do you a lot of damage. They could kill you or injure you very easily. So, very careful when you saw that, you turned around, and you walk back
- The punk and the old manJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a New York train a punk with multi-coloured spikes, razor-blade earrings and piercings snaps at the old man opposite: 'What are you looking at, old man?' 'Just you. Didn't you…
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And I remember this story about, I think it was somewhere in New York. There was this old man sitting opposite one of these punks, just spiky hair, about 20 different colours, and razor blades coming from his ears. His clothes were just really multi-coloured, you really need a pair of sunglasses to look at him. And there were just piercings all over his face. And then there's a guy opposite him, you can't help, he's right in front, you have to look at him. And so the punk shouted out, 'what are you looking at old man?' And he said, oh, just you, Didn't you ever do anything a bit outrageous when you were young? Oh yes, I did. When I was in the Navy, I had sex with a parrot, I thought you might be my son.
- The young people's biggest problem: tirednessStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At an afternoon youth seminar in Malaysia for about 200 people aged 15 to 25, the participants wrote their biggest emotional problem on slips of paper. Ajahn Brahm expected…
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it was last April uh in Malaysia uh I travel many many countries they wanted me to take a youth seminar for the afternoon it's about 200 35 to 25 year olds and know we had many discussions and one discussion was what's your biggest emotional problem and I thought it was going to be like depression or sort of a lack of self-esteem you know for people because the peer pressure in adolescence is so strong but what they came up with the clear winning they wrote These on pieces of paper and we so collected everything and collated the biggest problem 15 to 25 year olds in Malaysia this is probably the same in most countries of our modern world was tiredness our kids are exhausted
- What boys and girls really wantStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a big youth conference in Kuala Lumpur, Ajahn Brahm splits the teenagers by sex. He asks the girls what makes a boy attractive: not strength or showing off, but someone they…
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I've talked to youth groups you know young people 14 I the last time was over in quala had this big youth conference and I was talking to the boys and the girls I I separated them out first of all because it's a waste of time talking religion because what boys and girls are interested in is each other so I talked to the boys first of all I said what do you want in a girl girlfriend what would you like in a girlfriend and all the boys suddenly started paying attention you know this is something they don't teach in school and this is something the boys really wanted to know I know when I grew up no one told me you had to try and figure it out for yourself you used to ask other boys and what did they know about what girls want so I asked the girls what do you like in a boy what would make a boy really attractive and they talked with each other and they came to the conclusion it they didn't have to be strong and mash show and show off they wanted boys they could trust they were well groomed not dirty wanted you know people who would make them happy were fun to be with they didn't have to be strong and big it was like trust caring reliable fun to be with that was high on the list of what these girls told me they wanted in a boyfriend he asked the boys what you want in a girl do they have to be drop dead gorgeous well it helps I'm a boy but it's not that important what the boys wanted and they said this we wanted someone we can trust someone who will care for us someone who's fun to be with it's amazing it's exactly the same thing you want someone who you can be with trusting care he in you can relate with and have fun together with they were the highest priority
- Who learned the most after Cyclone NargisStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Groups in Singapore took privileged, highly educated teenagers to southern Myanmar to help villages destroyed by Cyclone Nargis. The students told Ajahn Brahm they learned more…
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They took a whole bunch of kids, elite, I think you probably call elite, rich parents, very comfortable, highly educated uh to it was I think southern Myanmar after the the Naris um cyclone destroyed so many villages in southern Myanmar. And because I go to Singapore, I've got some groups over there. Some of the kids were telling me that they learned more in those two or three weeks than in their whole school life. Being able just to be with children who they couldn't really understand their language and the Singaporean English or Chinese which they were talking totally incomprehensible but they could still bond. They could feel one another. and connect with one another and work together and have something which who benefited the most from that interaction. Was it the kids who had no place to go to school, no place to go to sleep, their houses destroyed, infrastructure disappeared by cyclone Naris? Was Naris, wasn't it? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. by that devastation. Who learned the most? It was the kids from Singapore. They learned so much about the big world and how they could help.