Stories on Handling Fear

0:03 And there's no one here in the first second, so it's kind of... There's no one here. Ah, yeah, yeah, they're not that quick. Report an error in the passage at 0:03 Highlight the passage at 0:03

0:14 So we'll wait a couple of minutes. Hello Report an error in the passage at 0:14 Highlight the passage at 0:14

0:21 everybody, you're all here. We don't know if anyone is watching on the YouTube channel live stream, but welcome if you are. And welcome to everyone here this morning. You're looking more shiny and more smiley. I wonder if you've got your teddy bears. Did you bring your teddy bears? We've got two more teddy bears. Report an error in the passage at 0:21 Highlight the passage at 0:21

0:44 Yeah, I haven't got one. Yeah, yeah. I'm deprived. Yeah, you always say hello to the venerable beauty sucker. She's a sixth vessel, almost majima. Report an error in the passage at 0:44 Highlight the passage at 0:44

0:55 She's almost a middle non. That means she's no more a junior non. Okay. She was ordained in Keflava Road. Report an error in the passage at 0:55 Highlight the passage at 0:55

1:05 They can't see her, Ajahn. You have to hold her up. This is the first Bikini Bear of Great Britain. Venerable P.T. Sukkar. Oh, look at the dog. That dog is the luckiest dog ever. So there she is. Oh, her beanie. My mum stitched the beanie for her. She's a very nice bear. And we have... about. Report an error in the passage at 1:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05

1:35 Jerepin, which is the Nunga, indigenous people of Western Australia, the Nunga word for happiness. This is Jerepin, what a sweet bear. Report an error in the passage at 1:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35

1:46 Jerepin actually only listens, he doesn't talk. I don't see any more bears. Okay, Madeline has a bear. That's a nice one. Let's see on the other screens. Melanie has a bear. Oh, there's loads of bears. Little Pecker has a sheep. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:06 And Ouse has a bear. And there's a cat, look, Augustine, there's a cat. What's Petra got there? Who? That's a big, is that a bat? No, it's a sheep, isn't it? A sheep? Yeah. Okay. Eric's got a cat, look at that. Do you like the whiskers? Whiskers are good, yeah. And what's Richard got, some kind of angel, fairy? That's nice. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 2:06 Highlight the passage at 2:06

2:39 The people listening to this afterwards will think we're mad because they won't be seeing any of this. Yeah, I know they're going to come and take us away. Report an error in the passage at 2:39 Highlight the passage at 2:39

2:51 It's nice to have some joy and happiness in your life. And it doesn't matter what other people say, as long as you're having fun and enjoying it. It's a beautiful thing you're doing. Okay. The sound should be okay. I'm not sure if anybody else has problems with the sound. I'm not hearing someone. That's Joseph. No. Report an error in the passage at 2:51 Highlight the passage at 2:51

2:46 in the moon again okay Report an error in the passage at 2:46 Highlight the passage at 2:46

3:17 I'll have to speak louder. How is that? I think it's okay. I think it might be her. Okay. So I'll hand over to Ajahn Brahm for the morning's talk. The morning talk. And it will have nothing to do about this. Are you sure? No, probably not. For the morning talk, I've done some serious talks already. So I wanted to make this a lighter talk, but also a very meaningful and useful talk. Report an error in the passage at 3:17 Highlight the passage at 3:17

3:52 It was just this morning, just when I woke up, and I just, I don't know why, but I just thought about, I didn't experience fear, but I thought that'd be a nice little talk to give a discussion on how to deal with fear and how to move beyond fear. And believe it or not, as a monk, There's many times you can experience fear, and one of those experiences of fear, I was going to mention it a couple of, yesterday, when people were talking about, you know, being afraid of all sorts of things, especially accidents. Report an error in the passage at 3:52 Highlight the passage at 3:52

4:34 And I remember years ago, it became very, very dangerous to fly, I mean, an aircraft. And especially there was one aircraft, it was a Malaysian aircraft, which got shot down. There's obviously some misunderstanding of what that aircraft was, what it was doing. But I was actually following that same route very often whenever I come over to UK and go and do some teachings here. And some of my disciples, they told me, Ajahn Brahm. Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

5:12 We're not going to allow you to go overseas anymore. It's too dangerous. You know, you're flying over the Middle East and who knows what might happen there. And then I just responded immediately. I said, look, I'm not afraid of flying. I have it all worked out, I said. Report an error in the passage at 5:12 Highlight the passage at 5:12

5:36 First of all, this is one of the reasons why I have a big robe. This road is about three meters by two meters. It's very tough. So I said, if ever we see a missile coming towards the aircraft over the Middle East somewhere, I'd be quite safe. I can jump out. I'll hold four corners of the road and I'll come down like a parachute. And then they said, that's a good idea. Report an error in the passage at 5:36 Highlight the passage at 5:36

6:05 I think that's probably why. monks and nuns got the reputation of being good levitators. It's not levitation, it's just jumping out of an aircraft, using this as a parachute. But then they said, but what if it's like a missile and you get blown up at 30,000 feet? And it goes, bang, you won't float down then. Report an error in the passage at 6:05 Highlight the passage at 6:05

6:27 And that's when I told people what I, to this day, became quite well known for, the three advantages. of dying in an aircraft explosion at 30,000 feet. Now, you know that I've always done this my whole life. It's one of the reasons why I don't really feel much fear. And that is always see the positive side of things. So if Ajahn Brahm dies at 30,000 feet in an aircraft explosion over the Middle East, there are three advantages. Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

7:02 And those first advantage... Report an error in the passage at 7:02 Highlight the passage at 7:02

7:35 What should we do with the ashes? They are spread evenly all over the world. It would be nice to do. And then, so free cremation. And number two is that the, have you ever done, performed cremation services for people? They are extremely expensive. They cost quite a few thousand pounds. But if you die in an aircraft explosion, number one, you don't have to pay anything. Report an error in the passage at 7:35 Highlight the passage at 7:35

8:05 And you get an insurance payout from the airline. So you're actually family. If I die on the aircraft explosion on the way to Anukampa, on the way back again, I would donate all the money to Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project. Is that a good idea? No. Okay. I don't need this. is a buggy on the watch there. Report an error in the passage at 8:05 Highlight the passage at 8:05

8:39 So anyhow, it's financially very, very attractive. And I tell many people also that the biggest benefit of dying in an aircraft explosion at 30,000 feet is that no matter who you are, you're so close to heaven, it's easy to go the rest of the way, no problem. So that was my little three advantages of dying at 30,000 feet. And I only say that so as to make people a little bit more confident. Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

9:12 The chances of that ever happening are very, very small. And because of that, looking at things with a positive attitude takes away much of the fear. And that has been my life, taking away the fear. Because sometimes as a Buddhist monk, as a Buddhist nun, sometimes if you walk down the street, people haven't got a clue who the heck you are. Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:43 And so sometimes when you were walking down the street and people didn't know who you were, I just remember one time, I'm never afraid of just being a monk in a Western society which doesn't understand you. I remember the first year I went to Perth, when I was... In Perth, I was doing a lot and lot and lot of building work. And so usually on the weekend, we'd load our, in that day, a combi van. Report an error in the passage at 9:43 Highlight the passage at 9:43

10:11 That was a very cheap, a very reliable big vehicle. We put all our building stuff in there. And then I remember even getting some wood from the woodyard to build our huts. And the guy who helped us load it, In a big combi van, it's quite a big area. Take all the seats out. And we didn't just have the wood in the back, literally from the floor to the roof. Report an error in the passage at 10:11 Highlight the passage at 10:11

10:42 We also had a big stash of wood on top of the roof as well, on the bars on top of the roof. And I remember the guy who owned the wood yard told us that you guys must do a lot of praying. Report an error in the passage at 10:42 Highlight the passage at 10:42

11:29 We were loading that van in town to take to monastery. And I remember the neighbor from our next door to our little we have a tiny little we have the neighbor's daughter came out. She must have been about 10 or 11 years of age, maybe 12. And then she put her hands on her chest, hips, hips. I think they call it arms of Kimbo. And she looked at me. Report an error in the passage at 11:29 Highlight the passage at 11:29

11:57 And she looked at me up and down with as much disgust as she could possibly concoct on her face and said, you are dressed like a girl. That's sick. Are you ever afraid of being put down, criticized in public? If ever I'm criticized in public like that, I thought that was so funny. I just burst out laughing and couldn't stop. Report an error in the passage at 11:57 Highlight the passage at 11:57

12:27 laughing and cracking up. And that really upsets her because the result was to make me feel uncomfortable. Did I feel uncomfortable? No way. I thought it was very funny. And that's always how I've been taught. You know, whenever anybody tries to upset you, they ever try and spoil your day. Instead, just listen to it and see the funny side of it, see the positive side to it. Report an error in the passage at 12:27 Highlight the passage at 12:27

12:55 and then you can always have a very happy time whatever you're doing and so every time when i've had to do such things i've never felt afraid instead you feel this is a nice opportunity to extend the repertoire of your experiences and see what can happen And also, also I do recall Just how that can be not just personally a benefit, just facing fear and moving past fear. There was a time when I used to, if I ever need to feel afraid, probably the most dangerous places I've ever been is in the prisons. Report an error in the passage at 12:55 Highlight the passage at 12:55

13:41 You know, talking to the prison population, the crims, they call themselves, the short term for criminals. And some of those guys are really big. You just see the size of them. And some of them are in jail for so many years that they don't be afraid of anything because adding an extra couple of years on their sentence doesn't mean much to them. Report an error in the passage at 13:41 Highlight the passage at 13:41

14:05 So I remember just seeing some of these prisoners inside jail. And one of the first times I went to the prison to teach, I was really taken up by just a person who arranged it, explained to me, How long it took to arrange a monk actually to come inside that prison to teach. He said almost a year because the prison officers and the other people, they just didn't want monks to come in. Report an error in the passage at 14:05 Highlight the passage at 14:05

14:38 But anyway, that he persisted and persisted. And when I learned how much he persisted, how long he persisted, I thought I got to reward that and respect that. So I went into that jail to teach. And I was so impressed. I think you may have heard his story. I just don't hope it wasn't yesterday. Report an error in the passage at 14:38 Highlight the passage at 14:38

15:00 And I was so impressed that in this small prison in the town of Bunbury, which is south of Perth in Western Australia, about 102 prisoners actually came into the talk. A prison population of only 105 or six at the time. It was almost 100 % turnout. And because it was such a great turnout, I thought I never realized that prisoners, people who have done terrible crimes, would actually be so interested in spirituality. Report an error in the passage at 15:00 Highlight the passage at 15:00

15:40 And I thought, wow, I really underestimated the prisoners. And some of these guys were really big and they were full of scars on them, really tough guys. And I remember just I was talking about meditation to these prisoners and then one of the prisoners stood up. You know, weirdly, he became a good friend afterwards. I really liked him and he kind of bonded with me. Report an error in the passage at 15:40 Highlight the passage at 15:40

16:13 He'd always come if I ever gave a talk inside the jail he was in. And I remember him standing up. He was huge, full of scars. He was one of the leaders of one of the gangs in the jail. And so he stood up and he said, is it all right if I ask you a question? And this was in the middle of my talk. And, of course, I said, if you ever see anyone that big and strong and frightening and so scarred all over his face and everywhere, you always say, yes, sir. Report an error in the passage at 16:13 Highlight the passage at 16:13

16:44 What question do you want to ask? And that's when this big guy said, is it really true that through meditation you can learn how to fly over walls? Report an error in the passage at 16:44 Highlight the passage at 16:44

16:59 It's such a silly question, but it made me sort of crack up and laugh. You know, he thought that he could go into a couple of meditation classes, learn how to levitate, and the prison officers and guards would not be able to stop him. It's true that our last father would not be able to stop him. But it takes a long time to learn how to levitate. So I told him it takes a long, long time. So the next week, which I went to that jail to teach, only three people turned up to listen. Report an error in the passage at 16:59 Highlight the passage at 16:59

17:31 It made me find out exactly why they wanted to actually meditate. But still, at least it got them a little bit interested. And what meditation is and just more than just meditation, not just to fly over walls, but just how to overcome things like fear without violence. And so one afternoon when I was also about to visit the jail in Bunbury, I would arrive in the afternoon just because it was hard to get public transport. Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

18:04 And I would just sit meditation on the beach. This was on Bunbury Beach. And it was a big lot of sand there. It was warm. It was comfortable. And so I found a lot of solitude there in the afternoon. So it was free solitude. And I would just sit on the beach, not because it would look nice, but because it was quiet. Report an error in the passage at 18:04 Highlight the passage at 18:04

18:30 And I would close my eyes. And on this, I'm going to tell another one first, another story first about Bunbury Beach. I like telling stories. This is like life as a monk. You won't have this story. You know this story, don't you? I could have that story. You could have that story, yeah. This was very embarrassing for me as a monk. And so I sat down there on the beach. Report an error in the passage at 18:30 Highlight the passage at 18:30

18:58 It was very comfortable. I had a nice meditation, a couple of hours. And I know exactly the time of year. It was in November. It wasn't too hot. And I was sitting down there nice and quietly. No one was there when I sat down. And then when I opened my eyes, I realized there was someone sitting to my left and someone sitting on my right. Report an error in the passage at 18:58 Highlight the passage at 18:58

19:22 I thought, this is weird. And then when I looked, honestly, the young woman sitting on my left would have been a 17-year-old blonde in a bikini. And the one on my right was a 17-year-old brunette, also in a bikini. And I thought, what are they doing? Is this a setup? If somebody had actually taken a photograph of me and taken it to the home monasteries in Thailand, I would have been in huge trouble. Report an error in the passage at 19:22 Highlight the passage at 19:22

19:57 How can you explain that? Here's Ajahn Brahm on the beach on a sunny afternoon with two beautiful women on either side in bikinis. It is beach. Yeah, I know, but I'm not supposed to be there. Report an error in the passage at 19:57 Highlight the passage at 19:57

20:13 Those are some of the situations you get in. But what happened was I was just meditating, really nice and peaceful and still. And that afternoon, that was the last day of the final year of exams to enter university. So all that school, which was on the opposite side of the road, had just finished their exams. Report an error in the passage at 20:13 Highlight the passage at 20:13

20:41 What do you do? You just finish the exam. It's a beautiful day. You get into your bathers, into your bikinis and go to the beach to celebrate. All that hard work and stress is now gone. And a couple of those girls, they saw me on the beach and I was just meditating. So I was not aware of what was going on next to me or around me. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

21:03 I never saw those students come out of the school. And I was just meditating. So the first thing I do, I open my eyes, and there's two beautiful women sitting either side of me. And also there's a lot of kids playing in the surf, starting their celebrations after the last exam of the school. Report an error in the passage at 21:03 Highlight the passage at 21:03

21:24 And so what do you do? You don't feel afraid. Just cautious, yes. So I just wanted to know about meditation. What the heck was I doing? It's the first time I'd ever seen someone. Be so still and peaceful on the beach. Because people go on the beach to find exercise or whatever. And I was just being really still. And so they want to know, what are you doing? Why? It's the first time they've seen anything like that. So I discussed with them a bit about meditation and just how peaceful it is and how wonderful it is. Report an error in the passage at 21:24 Highlight the passage at 21:24

22:02 And they were very, very happy. It's just a little extra bonus at the end of the school year. But on that same beach, a later time, that when I was meditating on there, I hadn't gone into deep meditation yet, and you felt, so I heard a sound just wishing past your ear. I thought, that's really weird. And then another sound, and then another sound. And that's when I realized that somebody was throwing stones at me on the beach. Report an error in the passage at 22:02 Highlight the passage at 22:02

22:38 And... Then I heard the sound of some kids and they were shouting out, get off our beach, Rajneeshi. Report an error in the passage at 22:38 Highlight the passage at 22:38

22:51 You know that Rajneeshi, that was this Bhagavan Sri Rajneeshi who was threatening to open up a branch of his organisation in Western Australia. Get off our beach, Rajneeshi. Then another stone whistled past my ear. I'm very good, they weren't good shots. But I was also a mathematician trained in statistics. And I realized it's only a matter of time by statistical chance that one of those rocks might hit me. Report an error in the passage at 22:51 Highlight the passage at 22:51

23:20 So I realized I just can't just sit here and wait to get hit by a rock. So I stood up. But of course, there's no way in the world I'm going to run away. I stood up, turned around and walked towards those kids. And that was an amazing reaction when you walk towards danger. Without fear, rather than running away. Because as I walked towards those kids, they all ran away. They became scared. Report an error in the passage at 23:20 Highlight the passage at 23:20

23:48 And I was only, honestly, in those days, I was a thin monk. I've actually put on a lot of weight in the 50 years I've been a monk. Originally, I was really thin and skinny. And they all ran away, except for one. And one stayed. And so I went right up to him. I wasn't going to have a fight with him. I said, what are you throwing rocks for? Anyway, I'm not a Rajneeshi, I'm a Buddhist monk. I said, oh, Buddhist monk, what do you do? Report an error in the passage at 23:48 Highlight the passage at 23:48

24:20 He gave me the opportunity to teach some dharma to these kids. And once I was talking with one of these kids, all the other kids, about seven or eight of them, came up and I talked to them too. It was a wonderful opportunity. To one, to show that I'm not going to show any fear, follow any fear. I was not suppressing it. It just wasn't there. I didn't feel afraid. And it also gave the opportunity that they were not being just talked at by some person who was an intellectual, but someone who knew what they're talking about and practiced it. Report an error in the passage at 24:20 Highlight the passage at 24:20

24:53 So it became impressive. So I always noticed those times is when if you don't follow fear, but you have this great sense. As long as you're doing lots and lots of good karma and you're a good person, you sometimes get invulnerable. And it's also the case that later on, because I'm in UK this week, and when I was in UK, I do remember just I used to go and stay with my mother. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:25 It was over in the council flats in Acton. And just to be of use. And also to remind myself that I'm a monk, first and foremost. I used to go and give talks at the Sri Lankan Vihara in Chiswick. I called it the London Buddhist Vihara. And it was situated in Chiswick. And so I remember I would volunteer to give whatever talks you want me to give. Report an error in the passage at 25:25 Highlight the passage at 25:25

25:53 And so I went there one evening. And as I was walking there, I was walking down one of the places in South Acton called Acton Lane and I knew even then when I was living there, this was the area where I grew up, this was my backyard as a student, as a young man, I knew that was a very, very rough area of London. Report an error in the passage at 25:53 Highlight the passage at 25:53

26:19 They used to call it like a sink estate, a hotbed of crime. crime and sure enough I was walking down the road in London And so they saw me walking towards them. And as they saw me walking towards them, They started chanting, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha. They were trying to intimidate me by chanting like that. Report an error in the passage at 26:19 Highlight the passage at 26:19

27:06 And as I knew I was in trouble, I knew I could cross the road. I knew the area so well I could turn around and go another way. And I said, no way, I'm going to just face this. So I carried on walking towards them, not increasing my pace, not slowing down, not looking fearful. And as I was walking closer, the more the kids came up, gathering together, and they started chanting faster, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 27:06 Highlight the passage at 27:06

27:44 And then as I got even closer, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha. They were really trying to intimidate me. So what does a good Buddhist do when they try to be intimidated like that? I realized I just couldn't just walk peacefully through them. And I do remember, I do remember when I was a young man, before I became a monk, when I used to watch the TV, there was one TV show program in UK I would always try and watch. Report an error in the passage at 27:44 Highlight the passage at 27:44

28:21 And that was a TV program called Kung Fu by David Carradine or something. I'm forgetting that. That's a long time ago. I know I was a school teacher when I used to watch that TV program. And all my fellow teachers say, I thought Buddhism was quite peaceful path. And this guy is always beating up somebody or shooting at somebody every episode. They had a point there. Report an error in the passage at 28:21 Highlight the passage at 28:21

28:50 But anyway, I remember the Kung Fu TV program. And so when I got closer to these young kids, I just looked straight at them and I raised my hands in what I thought was a Kung Fu posture. It probably was not a Kung Fu posture at all. I didn't know what I was doing. I had no training in Kung Fu and I did have my brown robe on. Report an error in the passage at 28:50 Highlight the passage at 28:50

29:23 I did have a bald head. I was showing no fear. And I assumed my Kung Fu pose. You know what they did? Sometimes I think I should be more scared. I'm going to get into trouble one day. But it always worked for me so far. So I did my Kung Fu pose. And they were chanting Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha. And I did my Kung Fu pose. And I just walked the same speed right through them. They parted and let me through. Report an error in the passage at 29:23 Highlight the passage at 29:23

29:53 Caught in their bluff. And luckily, luckily it worked. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. So I love little incidences like that. It's wonderful when you don't, you understand what fear is and you don't even let it happen. You have this great confidence and trust in goodness. Report an error in the passage at 29:53 Highlight the passage at 29:53

30:17 Much more confidence in goodness than many people give credit for. And that means you can have a lot of safety and a lot of fun as well and joy to enjoy your life living fearlessly. Report an error in the passage at 30:17 Highlight the passage at 30:17

30:36 But what happens when I wanted to tell this story a couple of days ago, that some of the time as a Buddhist monk or Buddhist nun, you know, we are concerned about all the people who come to our temple, look after us. And I remember this time when I got this telephone call from a young girl. Her parents were Buddhists, Thai Buddhists, but she was born in Australia, very much westernized. Report an error in the passage at 30:36 Highlight the passage at 30:36

31:12 I don't know even if she could talk much Thai. But she was in Adelaide University doing a degree in... Report an error in the passage at 31:12 Highlight the passage at 31:12

31:26 Okay, I'll go back in time. In dentistry, and she had panic attacks, such bad panic attacks, extreme panic attacks, she could not even leave her room. And she had the best of doctors. She was a student at the university and had so much support from professionals, but no professional could actually just help her. Report an error in the passage at 31:26 Highlight the passage at 31:26

31:56 And she was stuck in her room, too afraid to leave, go to any lectures or any tutorials. But I also remember she had this amazing boyfriend called Lloyd. And Lloyd would look after her, do all her washing, cook for her and everything, because she could not do anything at the time. She was paralyzed with fear. Report an error in the passage at 31:56 Highlight the passage at 31:56

32:23 And then, and then Her husband, so no, her father was the disciple. So her father told her to go and call me. And when she did call, that is when I told her, you know, this little method of overcoming fear, especially extreme fear, because fear is not there all the time. Sometimes you have attacks of panic. Report an error in the passage at 32:23 Highlight the passage at 32:23

32:54 panic which just come and you cannot control them they're just there and they paralyze you you're afraid to do anything and so she told me about this When you have a panic attack, do you experience any feelings or sensations in your body? And that's when, you know, she paused for a while. She trusted me. Report an error in the passage at 32:54 Highlight the passage at 32:54

33:23 She respected me because her father was a close supporter. And then she said, actually, I feel this tightness, tension in my chest when I have a panic attack. I said, great. Now I want you to tell me exactly where you feel it. Now you're going to be a dentist. You're a scientist. You're a smart lady. Can you please give me coordinates from your navel, your belly button? Report an error in the passage at 33:23 Highlight the passage at 33:23

33:54 How many centimeters and millimeters does it extend upwards and to the left and the right? Can you please an accurate description of where you feel that sensation whenever you have a panic attack? Report an error in the passage at 33:54 Highlight the passage at 33:54

34:09 And I said, I'll give you three days because she had nothing else to do. And I was busy. It's actually, I was on retreat. So I was supposed to be doing meditation. So I did my meditation. She did her assessment of where she has the associated A physical feeling when she has a panic attack. And she gave after three days this very accurate description. When she has a panic attack, the feeling, this is where it starts and it grows and it extends this way and that way on her chest. Report an error in the passage at 34:09 Highlight the passage at 34:09

34:39 Of course, I think you understand what I was doing. I was asking her to be mindful, to be aware of what it feels like, not trying to get rid of it, not trying to get afraid of it. Not just to be aware of it. And when she gave that description, I said, yes, that's good. But how exactly does it feel? Does it feel the same in all parts of that area of your chest? Or is it more painful, more tight, more stretched in one area, and more contracted in another area? Report an error in the passage at 34:39 Highlight the passage at 34:39

35:15 Please give me a description. Give me a call in three days. So another three days, and then she gave, after six days, this incredible description. When she had panic attacks, how it felt, where it felt, how it changed. It was really impressive. I must admit that she was a very smart girl. And so once she gave me the description, I said, I think you're mindful enough of it now. Now, the next thing which you have to add is the lovely meta loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 35:15 Highlight the passage at 35:15

35:45 So I said, get your hand. You can still do this. You know, you're bedridden, but at least you can actually move your hand. Just put it on your chest. And just rub and massage that area of the body which feels tight, which is hurting, which is stretched, which is irritated, however you call it, by that panic. Report an error in the passage at 35:45 Highlight the passage at 35:45

36:08 Because the panic is an emotional state, but it has a manifestation on your body. And so she said she would do that. And to encourage her, you know, I told her, look, if you feel too tired to do it yourself, Ask your boyfriend, Lloyd. I'm sure he'll be very happy to massage you on your chest to relieve the tension and pressure there. Report an error in the passage at 36:08 Highlight the passage at 36:08

36:35 But tend to massage it very softly with lots of kindness. And they did that. And after another three days, after nine days, she called again and I asked, how did it go? She said, I followed the instructions. I asked him, or I did it myself, to massage the area when I had a panic attack. And I said, then what happened? He said, oh, when that happened, just the tension in the chest sort of diminished and diminished, and eventually the tension in my chest went. Report an error in the passage at 36:35 Highlight the passage at 36:35

37:09 And then, please excuse me that I pause here, because this was one of the beautiful moments which I'll never forget. Then I asked her, and what happened? To the anxiety, to the fear. And that's when she paused. I was 2,000 kilometers away in Perth, Perth and Adelaide. But nevertheless, you could feel the lights go on in their mind. The eureka moment. That's when she said, when the physical manifestation of anxiety left me, so did the fear. Report an error in the passage at 37:09 Highlight the passage at 37:09

37:51 Great. Now you know what to do. And she did that. And it was one of those beautiful experiences as a teacher. She did that. And then she was out of bed within a few days, back to university, first class honors in the dentistry. And she got a place over in Sydney to do this special course in dentistry, you know, with her partner, Lloyd. Report an error in the passage at 37:51 Highlight the passage at 37:51

38:24 And then eventually, She did contact me and said, Lloyd and I decided to get married on one condition, and that's that you do our marriage ceremony for us. So I had a great honor of actually doing the little chanting for her and Lloyd at their marriage ceremony. It's an act of gratitude. Thank you, you saved my life. So I want you to be there when we continue our life together. Those are those beautiful examples. Report an error in the passage at 38:24 Highlight the passage at 38:24

38:56 How these are not just helping a human being overcome fear. It's actually getting people's lives together and not just once. Many, many, many, many, many times. I always notice that anything like fear, it does have an emotional part, a mental part. But it's very difficult unless you know your mind really, really well to overcome these emotions like fear. Report an error in the passage at 38:56 Highlight the passage at 38:56

39:24 Just by working on your own mind, it's much better when you can feel there's a physical manifestation of that emotion somewhere. When you can find that physical manifestation of that emotion, then see if you can deal with that. And it's fantastically effective. Even one of the doctors over in Perth, she's heard me tell that story so many times. Report an error in the passage at 39:24 Highlight the passage at 39:24

39:52 And please excuse me, I don't know how many times you've heard that story, but I still reinforce it every time which I say it. And for this particular doctor, she was busy as many doctors were, and one of her patients had chronic anxiety and was on oxygen because she couldn't really breathe properly all the time. Report an error in the passage at 39:52 Highlight the passage at 39:52

40:18 And she told me that in that hospital, The usual treatment was going through one drug after another drug after another drug. Try the most common first of all, then the next one, then the next one, then the next one, then the next one. And eventually she got to the last recommended medication. And this poor old lady was still anxious. Report an error in the passage at 40:18 Highlight the passage at 40:18

40:43 And she said, I shouldn't have really done this. Actually, she should have, but she wasn't really allowed to. It was just to say Ajahn Brahm's method of dealing with anxiety. So she said that late at night, five or ten minutes, try this, and then she'd have to go back home. And the following morning when she went to work again as the doctor in the hospital, that's when this lady said, I'm okay now, I'm going home. Report an error in the passage at 40:43 Highlight the passage at 40:43

41:11 That method worked for me. I always remember that and I'm so happy that, you know, it wasn't just one person who had confidence in you. It can work for so many people. And even, what's another place where you have fear? I wanted to mention this as well. Because this is any of you who have to face the world and be assessed, to be tested, to do an exam or an interview, or, you know, these things which you can worry about, think about. Report an error in the passage at 41:11 Highlight the passage at 41:11

41:45 And instead of worrying and thinking about them, there's other ways of dealing with the problems. Which, you know, you learn when you do some meditation, when you learn dharma. You can learn to actually face anything and never be so tense or upset. And this event, first of all, it just came from my own experience of the final exams at Cambridge University in 1972. Report an error in the passage at 41:45 Highlight the passage at 41:45

42:15 In theoretical physics. Simple stuff, as I say. Was it 72? Report an error in the passage at 42:15 Highlight the passage at 42:15

42:20 The sums. And so I do remember in those days, I mean, it was crazy what they did there. And it was a three-hour exam in the morning, three-hour exam on the afternoon with, you know, no break. That was, sorry, hours of lunch break, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And Saturday as well, that was a bit too much, I thought, but, you know, I can't change things. Report an error in the passage at 42:20 Highlight the passage at 42:20

42:48 Six days, three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon. And I was told my life depended on this. Of course, it would be wonderful if I'd known I was going to be a monk. Then I wouldn't have bothered. You don't need degrees if you're a monk. I always remember the graffiti which I saw on the walls of the philosophy department in Cambridge University. Report an error in the passage at 42:48 Highlight the passage at 42:48

43:17 It said, exams. Killed by degrees. In those days, graffiti was actually meaningful. And so anyway, so I was faced with these really long exams, morning and afternoon, six days in a row. What do you do? Of course, I had a big breakfast, like I have here, which is very important. That's why I used to have big breakfast. Report an error in the passage at 43:17 Highlight the passage at 43:17

43:44 Thank you. And no lunch. I ate that here too. Oh, yeah, that's troublesome now. But I used to have dinner in the evening when I was a student and lunch. At lunch, I went back to my room to meditate. I was already meditating then. And so when I went back to my room to meditate, I sat down on a cushion, didn't think about any food, because I was going to have another exam in another half an hour. Report an error in the passage at 43:44 Highlight the passage at 43:44

44:20 I sat down on my... cushion and started meditating and this was such a wonderful experience because it taught me how to meditate and it also taught me how to pass exams easy so first thing you sit down there What do most people do when they first sit down and they think they're going to try meditating now? You've got all the unfinished business from the past. Report an error in the passage at 44:20 Highlight the passage at 44:20

44:50 Even though the morning exam was finished, it was over, I couldn't change it. That's the same with all of your past. You can't change it, it's done. Then you say, I can learn from it. No, you don't learn from the past. You learn much more from the present. Report an error in the passage at 44:50 Highlight the passage at 44:50

45:10 So I just, by then I was smart enough, I'd done enough meditation, I'd learnt to let go of the past. Right or wrong, the exam paper was in, I can't change it now. So I let go of the worry about how I'd done. And the next thing which came into my mind, couldn't stop it, was worry about the afternoon exam. Report an error in the passage at 45:10 Highlight the passage at 45:10

45:36 You know what a lot of people do, they try and plan for the future. I thought I should go and do some more study. Last minute, what do you call revision? Swatting, yes. Report an error in the passage at 45:36 Highlight the passage at 45:36

45:52 And so I did want to do that. Swatting was what many people did to flies. They swat them. I didn't want to do that to myself. So I decided just to let go of the future. Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

46:04 And this is where I got that little saying. I don't think I heard it from anyone else. Thank you. Thank you. now is the only time you can do anything about your future. Your future is being made now. So if you care about your future, don't go off thinking about what's going to happen next. Put your effort, your focus in this wonderful present moment. Because what should you do now? Give it kindness. That's the best preparation you can possibly ever have for the future. Report an error in the passage at 46:04 Highlight the passage at 46:04

46:43 I stopped thinking about the future. And this is what happened to me. And it was very revealing on how people, when they are in difficult situations of great tension, why they get sick. Report an error in the passage at 46:43 Highlight the passage at 46:43

46:58 Because when I came into this present moment, let go of past, let go of future, eyes closed, there's nothing else to look at except what's happening right now. I was actually physically shaking. And I had never seen that before. Report an error in the passage at 46:58 Highlight the passage at 46:58

47:16 The reason why I never seen the state of my body under stress, so shaking, because I never paid attention to that ever before. I was always in the future or the past. And now when you had nowhere else to look except right now, physically, I couldn't keep my body still. Report an error in the passage at 47:16 Highlight the passage at 47:16

47:36 And then as soon as you looked and could see the body shaking, it wasn't that hard just to learn how to shake a little bit less. And a little bit less. This is where that mindfulness always gives you the opportunity for feedback. When I relaxed a little bit here, then it shook a bit less. And that gave me the feedback, I'm going in the correct direction. That only took about five minutes, and all that shaking stopped. And the last thing which I noticed on these meditations at lunchtime, were just the fact that I was exhausted. You could feel that. And the simile which I used, which anyone in the UK of my age will probably understand, it was like you were trying to use an old tea bag to make a new cup of tea. Report an error in the passage at 47:36 Highlight the passage at 47:36

48:36 There was no oomph left in the tea bag. It had all been drained out. That was my brain. It had been depleted of any energy. And of course, you never notice that. Because you don't notice that, to do your work, you push harder and push harder. It doesn't really work. You just get more tired, more exhausted, more depressed, more sick. To me, that's a lot of times where depression can come from. Report an error in the passage at 48:36 Highlight the passage at 48:36

49:07 You're exhausted and you keep pushing because you have to do something to work and you get even more exhausted and you get to the point. It's very hard to generate energy again in depression. So anyway, I saw that how tired I was. Physically, I'd relaxed. Now mentally, I just didn't try anything. I just relaxed in this moment. And I only had half an hour to do all of this, but it always worked. Report an error in the passage at 49:07 Highlight the passage at 49:07

49:40 After 10 or 15 minutes of relaxing my brain. When I opened my eyes at the end of the meditation, it was like you just woke up that morning. I don't mean you had any sleepiness. It meant that you just had energy in your brain. You could feel it. I wasn't even a monk at this time. I was a young student. But I do remember, and this is an honest comment which other, my friends made of me, that I was the only student who went into the afternoon exam room with a smile on my face. Report an error in the passage at 49:40 Highlight the passage at 49:40

50:15 I had energy, and energy gives you happiness and smile. And I thought I was cheating. I remember them telling me that. Were you really cheating? How can anyone go into art and examination and finals, you know, on something simple like astrophysics of the galaxy or quantum mechanics? How can you do that with a smile on your face? Because I was relaxed. I mean, deeply relaxed. That's how I did well. And I love those little ways. Report an error in the passage at 50:15 Highlight the passage at 50:15

50:55 So these are some ideas of how we can overcome the fear and anxiety. When I was a school teacher, I used to know many young schoolboys and schoolgirls. They were great. They understood math and science. When they had an exam in front of them, they just blew it because they got too scared. That caused them a lot of problems and difficulties. And it's totally unnecessary. The fear, you know, killed their success. Report an error in the passage at 50:55 Highlight the passage at 50:55

51:32 And so that's one of the reasons why I enjoyed talking about that and allowing people to understand it. You know, what's the most... Yeah, I'm going to go soon. What's the scariest thing that you can ever do? In the world, they always say the scariest job you could ever do is giving a public talk. Report an error in the passage at 51:32 Highlight the passage at 51:32

51:59 And of all those public talks you can give, the scariest of the public talks is on live TV. Have any of you been interviewed on live TV? Will you make one mistake such as... Scratching your nose. And that gets focused on because people like just to have a bit of humor in life. But how can you deal with like live TV interviews? Report an error in the passage at 51:59 Highlight the passage at 51:59

52:30 And again, it's really easy. Just let it be. Enjoy. Relax to the max. When you relax to the max, you don't really worry at all. If you make a mistake, fine. Report an error in the passage at 52:30 Highlight the passage at 52:30

52:50 If it goes well, fine. Years and years ago, I decided never to be afraid whenever you have to give a public talk. One of the reasons why is that if you do a good talk, it's wonderful, many people benefit from it. If you give a very bad talk, a very hopeless talk, then that's even better. They won't invite you back again and you can have a nice, easy life. Report an error in the passage at 52:50 Highlight the passage at 52:50

53:22 In the future. Always look at things in a positive way. That means you don't have any fear. Does that make sense? Make sense or no sense? That's it. That's the ball game. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 53:22 Highlight the passage at 53:22

53:44 so if you want to come back again, if you haven't had enough already, you can come back again at 20 to 10. 20 to 10? Okay. 20 to 10, 940. Report an error in the passage at 53:44 Highlight the passage at 53:44