Ghosts and Kindness

0:00 I did ask a few people beforehand to make sure that there's going to be a talk which you don't mind. Actually, everyone's going. I think they might be back. The talk for this evening originated because I have a friend who's visiting Perth. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:30 And he's staying at Bodhinyana Monastery, or actually Jhana Grove tonight for the last day. But it's okay if he can have a nice rest this evening. But he was one of the co-workers of Stephen Hawking, another theoretical physicist. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:58 And he was Stephen Hawking's PhD student. And what they discovered was so kind of profound that he told me how he wrote a book together with Stephen Hawking, the two of them, on many things like primordial black holes, Hawking radiation. Report an error in the passage at 0:58 Highlight the passage at 0:58

1:32 But anyway, because it was an important part of modern physics, one of the byproducts of that was that book being translated into Japanese. And at that time, he was dating his girlfriend, who was from Japan. And when the dating got serious, Report an error in the passage at 1:32 Highlight the passage at 1:32

2:04 His mother-in-law-to-be said, I don't want my daughter marrying an English guy. Who is he? And when the wife-to-be showed her mother that he'd written a book with the famous Professor Hawking, he said, OK, I don't mind. You can marry him. So he got his wife. Approval to marry her from that little book. But he was not just the first Buddhist I met when I was in England. Report an error in the passage at 2:04 Highlight the passage at 2:04

2:46 I became a Buddhist at the age of 16. When I did well at high school, because I did well, I was awarded like a school prize. I was told to go and get some books on math. I went to the shop. Big bookshop in London. I went to the math section. This was the first time I got any prize. And I decided, no way am I going to spend my first school prize on boring books on math. Report an error in the passage at 2:46 Highlight the passage at 2:46

3:22 But instead, on the opposite side of the road, in the annex, in the top story, the attic, that was where they had all the interesting books. Report an error in the passage at 3:22 Highlight the passage at 3:22

3:36 Books on psychology, sociology and eastern religions. And one of the books which I got there, I don't know if any of you have ever known its existence, was this book called The Third Eye by Robsang Rampa. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

4:00 And I mention that because talking with Bernard, Even though I've known him for such a long time, over 50 years, 60 years, we found that that was his first Buddhist book, Lobsang Rampa's Third Eye. And the book was very well written, very entertaining, but weird. Because what it said was this author had been a young Buddhist monk in Lhasa. Report an error in the passage at 4:00 Highlight the passage at 4:00

4:34 He had some inherent psychic ability and they wanted to take that further and so they gave him this little operation called the third eye. But unfortunately he died in the war between Tibet and China and as a result of him dying he left his body and entered the body, as I remember it, of a Tibetan, of an Irish plumber and basically got reborn into that body. And as a result, as he grew up, he was not just an ordinary plumber, he could write these amazing books, which were quite knowledgeable. Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

5:24 And that was one of the reasons why Professor Bernard Carr was really interested in psychic phenomena. And why I was also interested in that part of the human experience. Professor Bernard Carr became a top physicist, a top scientist. I did my physics but then I became a Buddhist monk. And that part of life I never forgot. And so when we invited him to give some talks in UWA, And over in Bodhinyana Monastery last night. That's what I wanted him to focus on, more than physics, which you can read in a book. Report an error in the passage at 5:24 Highlight the passage at 5:24

6:13 But it's experiences of life, the weird part of life. And because that was part of my own experience, one of our friends, Dr. Tony Cornell, he was, again, a scientist. But I also remember him showing me his business card, Dr. Tony Cornell, the head ghost hunter of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by the London Psychic Research Society. Report an error in the passage at 6:13 Highlight the passage at 6:13

6:53 It was real. And when I say these things about things like ghosts and spirits and other stuff, these are real things which occur in this world. And you can't deny them. Report an error in the passage at 6:53 Highlight the passage at 6:53

7:08 And that's why I asked and given your encouragement, how can we talk about these things in a way which shows how positive they can be? And one of those ways is a good example, similar to what someone told me this evening. This is one of the Buddhists I know in Malaysia. Report an error in the passage at 7:08 Highlight the passage at 7:08

7:35 He was working in the southernmost town of Johor Bahru and this was an old hospital built by the British. They knew the Second World War was coming and they wanted to, they thought the Japanese would actually invade Singapore from the south. The Japanese were smarter, they came through Malaysia. And so they built the hospital on what they thought would be a safe place, just north of Singapore. Report an error in the passage at 7:35 Highlight the passage at 7:35

8:07 And of course, that didn't work. And the Japanese took over Singapore and Malaysia. But anyhow, because of those situations, that hospital did have many ghosts. Report an error in the passage at 8:07 Highlight the passage at 8:07

8:23 Should you be afraid of having ghosts in a hospital? He told me several times, a good example, he was a surgeon, he was doing an operation. on the operating table. And we focus on the person you're operating on. It's a matter of life and death. So as he was operating on this person, he needed a scalpel. Report an error in the passage at 8:23 Highlight the passage at 8:23

8:57 He asked the nurse, can I have a scalpel please? He didn't actually say please, but it's in Malay. And so the nurse gave him a scalpel. And then he stopped. Because the nurse was standing in front of him. And this nurse who handed him a scalpel was right behind him. He turned his head around. There was no nurse there. It was a ghost nurse giving him a scalpel. Report an error in the passage at 8:57 Highlight the passage at 8:57

9:28 And this was one of the professors in that particular hospital. And his particular practice was amalgamated with monash. Report an error in the passage at 9:28 Highlight the passage at 9:28

9:39 University Medical Service. And this is one of those guys who just doesn't lie. There was another guy later on, which is similar. He was in Yugoslavia many years ago, when it hadn't separated into Serbia and the other parts of what was once Yugoslavia. As a young kid, He was having an operation and as a young kid he felt himself leaving his body, floating above, but being able to see his body, the kid's body. Report an error in the passage at 9:39 Highlight the passage at 9:39

10:25 And as he was looking at that kid's body, he knew, even he hadn't hardly much education yet, he knew that the doctors were looking at the wrong part of his body. He just willed them. Don't look there, look over here. And one of the doctors did and shouted out, this is a problem over here. And they looked at the correct part of this young boy's body in enough time to heal the problem and to bring him back to life. Report an error in the passage at 10:25 Highlight the passage at 10:25

11:02 He survived that operation, came back into his body, but he remembered exactly what had happened and why. And he said, from that time on, he could always leave his body at will, float out of it. Is that a useful ability, to leave your body, laying down on the bed and floating out? For him, it was very useful. Because where I met him was when he was doing a sentence in prison. Report an error in the passage at 11:02 Highlight the passage at 11:02

11:41 And he said, He doesn't mind being in prison. He can leave whenever he wants. He just lays in bed, gets out of his body. If he wants to see a movie or a football match, off he goes and no one even knows he's gone. Leaving your body has many, many advantages. Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

12:06 There was another man I knew from the very early years of this Buddhist society. He was Burmese. I think I don't mind mentioning his name. His name was Keith. Keith Sword. Many of you have been here long enough. Do any of you here remember him? Yeah, Keith Sword. But anyway, he made his career, his income, through maintaining air conditioner units. Report an error in the passage at 12:06 Highlight the passage at 12:06

12:43 Now for companies and government departments. So I was working once in the Northern Territory. He lived over in Beckenham here in Perth. And so he told his wife he'd be away for a few days while he works on air conditioning units. So off he flew up to the Northern Territory somewhere and he was working on his air conditioning units. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

13:10 And every now and again he was so protective. No, he was a bit doubtful about his wife. He loved his wife very much. So every now and again, it was a waste of time phoning her. Who knows what a person is doing when you phone them. Instead he went to visit her by leaving his body and coming to Perth. She was not a Buddhist. Report an error in the passage at 13:10 Highlight the passage at 13:10

13:43 She was English. But anyway, he told me this story and she confirmed it. She said, I know when he comes to visit. And I tell him, Keith, Keith, I'm faithful to you. You're going away for a few days, but I will not get up to any hanky-panky. She couldn't, because he could see it if she did. Report an error in the passage at 13:43 Highlight the passage at 13:43

14:06 He'd come all the way from Darwin or somewhere to Beckenham in South Perth to check him. To check her, rather. And I've no doubt that that was absolutely true. That's what happens. For those of you who are a bit concerned about travel in today's world, where the price of fuel is going up, and when you might get shot down by a missile from somewhere, that's a much better way of traveling. Report an error in the passage at 14:06 Highlight the passage at 14:06

14:39 Just lay down, leave your body, and just go and check out. See what's going on. But anyway, these are true stories. These are the source of weird stuff, which we can do. And as a Buddhist monk, you know how it does it, how it works. Report an error in the passage at 14:39 Highlight the passage at 14:39

14:58 But more than that, it's nice if you have that ability to leave your body and go and check things out. But what happens, the most common of experiences which people have, is with things like ghosts. I don't know how many of you, I'm going to ask you now, please, you don't, please be honest, how many of you have actually seen a ghost? Report an error in the passage at 14:58 Highlight the passage at 14:58

15:31 Put your hand up, be honest. That's not actually, that's not that many. Report an error in the passage at 15:31 Highlight the passage at 15:31

15:41 Yeah, no, no, I meant seeing. Now the reason I said that, because I asked that question at UWA, and I used it Because it was an analogy. I said, in science, one of the great discoveries of the past few years is the discovery of the Higgs boson. Higgs boson in the Large Hadron Collider. And they kind of proved it was a Higgs boson. Report an error in the passage at 15:41 Highlight the passage at 15:41

16:19 You know how much money that cost? Billions. You know how they celebrated? The three people at the center of that were given Nobel Prizes. They only discovered one. Report an error in the passage at 16:19 Highlight the passage at 16:19

16:38 What about the existence of a ghost or a spirit? Isn't that worth confirming or not confirming? These are important matters in life. That was one of the reasons why when I was a scientist, Number one at Cambridge, another theoretical physicist. I joined Bernard many times, going to houses which were supposed to be haunted, other places which were supposed to be spooked. Report an error in the passage at 16:38 Highlight the passage at 16:38

17:14 And you've carried on that investigations, even here in Perth. And the thing which you know is not what I believe, what you know, that is... Ghosts and spirits, they can't harm you. They're just beings, like good Buddhists. Any being, whoever they are, wherever they are, you always give them loving kindness. One example. Report an error in the passage at 17:14 Highlight the passage at 17:14

17:48 I had this photo which a Burmese Buddhist gave me many years ago. And I had it in my heart because I liked it so much, especially the story behind it. And it's been such a long time ago now, I don't know where it went to, but it was a photo of a cave in Burma many, many years ago. And in that cave there was a beautiful Buddha statue. Buddha statues in so many caves. But in this cave, on top of the Buddha statue, there were three pythons, three snakes. Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

18:30 One curled up on the head, one on the shoulders and a third one on the lap of this big Buddha statue. Can you imagine a Buddha statue behind me? This was a golden Buddha statue with three snakes on it. These three snakes were revered by the villagers. Report an error in the passage at 18:30 Highlight the passage at 18:30

18:51 They made sure they had plenty to eat or drink. But once... I don't know if it was once a fortnight or once a month on the full moon days, maybe the new moon days, the villagers would do a ceremony with these snakes. They'd invite them out and they would ceremonially bathe them. And after bathing them, the snakes would never harm anybody. Report an error in the passage at 18:51 Highlight the passage at 18:51

19:16 They'd crawl back into the cave and resume their position on the Buddha statue. And that had been going on for years. When one of those snakes died, there's only two snakes left, some months later, a Report an error in the passage at 19:16 Highlight the passage at 19:16

19:37 woman in Rangoon, she was pregnant, she gave birth, and when the little kid started to be able to teach, the little kid started claiming, starting to talk, sorry, the young girl started saying, She missed her friends, the two other snakes. She said she was one of those three snakes. And she missed her friends. Report an error in the passage at 19:37 Highlight the passage at 19:37

20:07 Everyone thought she was crazy. And so they never took any notice of her. But she kept on at this. To the point when she got to be six or seven years of age or something. Then she said, I'll take you there. And so she guided her father to the village. Where she claimed to have lived before. She guided them, the villagers got excited too, guided them to the cave and then met her two old friends, the two other pythons. Report an error in the passage at 20:07 Highlight the passage at 20:07

20:42 It was a true story. And there was no harm at all in all of this. It was kind of cute, compassionate, nice to see that even if you've been born, In a new species, you never forget your old friends. And this is why I love these kind of stories. Each one of these stories, I can guarantee, is absolutely true. And sometimes, it means you never need a meanness, never need to be afraid of things which you can't understand like ghosts or spirits. Report an error in the passage at 20:42 Highlight the passage at 20:42

21:28 But you can be kind to them and they can be kind back to you. You know that for those years, because of that background, I was never afraid of ghosts. Report an error in the passage at 21:28 Highlight the passage at 21:28

21:42 So much so, a couple of those personal ghost stories, that when I was, on that year, as a Tudong monk, that's when you go walking, you know, through some of the remote areas of Thailand. And actually to try and find out, you know, great teachers, secluded places, and get some more experience of life as a Buddhist monk. Report an error in the passage at 21:42 Highlight the passage at 21:42

22:13 I did go to some very dangerous areas, but that was because at the time there was a rebellion happening in Thailand. These were called the pink areas of Thailand, run by communist Thais. Report an error in the passage at 22:13 Highlight the passage at 22:13

22:31 And the government dealt with the problem so beautifully, non-violence, kindness, and trying to find out what... I'm sorry, the kindness was amnesty. When any of those insurgents wanted to give up, they weren't punished. They were sent back to their village or their town and carried on with their life, no matter what they'd ever done. And also, The government was looking after the poor areas. And I remember telling this story, I've been in Australia such a long time now, over in Sydney. Report an error in the passage at 22:31 Highlight the passage at 22:31

23:14 And when I was telling this story, the whole insurgency had totally stopped. Everyone had given themselves in. And there were some enterprising Thai businessmen who were actually taking tourists So the K's were the insurgents, you know, ahead from the police and from the army. And there were beautiful places up in the mountains. Report an error in the passage at 23:14 Highlight the passage at 23:14

23:45 But in particular, after I told that story, the Thai consul in Sydney interrupted me. And he said, Ajahn Brahm, what you said is totally true. You know, I know this, he said, but also I wish to tell you. That the leaders of that insurgency, the people who were trying to overthrow the government of Thailand, when they gave themselves up, they didn't just forgive them. Report an error in the passage at 23:45 Highlight the passage at 23:45

24:24 They gave them top positions in the government civil service. They were great organizers, willing to sacrifice themselves to work for their country. And now two of them, he said, were now ministers. serving their government from the inside. People who were insurgents were not sort of put down, tortured or put in some jail somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:53 Their good qualities were recognized and they were now serving the peace in their country. I thought that was really inspiring. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:04 But more than that, those were the dangerous areas and those insurgents did kill monks. I never went in that same area, thank goodness. But anyway, when I was walking, and I made sure I walked, I would not accept any lifts. When I was walking in that part of Thailand, I did ask, I did try and stay in a monastery on the full moon nights, so I could actually wash and rest. Report an error in the passage at 25:04 Highlight the passage at 25:04

25:41 and get some teachings from some of the monks, some of the famous monks. And this was a famous Thai monk. He used to have some close disciples living here in Perth, but I didn't know Perth at that time. Ajahn saw what? In what time did he go? And when I went to stay with him for a couple of days, I did ask his advice. Report an error in the passage at 25:41 Highlight the passage at 25:41

26:07 I'm going to be walking north. Is there any cave? You know, about halfway between here and my destination of Sakonakon, about 30 k's. 30 k's, you know, halfway, and 60 k's to get to Sakonakon. He said, yes, there is a cave, but be careful, he said. It is haunted. Report an error in the passage at 26:07 Highlight the passage at 26:07

26:38 When a monk says this, a forest monk, who, you know, everybody hears him, And he was well known. I kind of think it must be true. So what did I do? Report an error in the passage at 26:38 Highlight the passage at 26:38

26:57 Please, where is it? I want to go. He warned me. He said that was a very powerful ghost. He said some of his monks have stayed there and they haven't been practicing well and they go mad. Report an error in the passage at 26:57 Highlight the passage at 26:57

27:15 So I said, no, I'm going. It's a long walk, the 30 k's. And so when I got there, I met one of the local villagers and I said, this is where I want to spend the night. So he took me there. And I must admit, it was a beautiful cave up in the mountains. It had a spring coming out from the ground just in front of it where he told me just to bathe first of all. Report an error in the passage at 27:15 Highlight the passage at 27:15

27:45 You know, the Thai style, get a little dish and throw it over yourself to wash. And don't... Don't waste time. The reason why he asked me not to waste time, because he didn't want to stay with me that long. It's not because he was hungry, because he wanted to avoid the ghost. Report an error in the passage at 27:45 Highlight the passage at 27:45

28:08 So I bathed quickly and got dressed and went inside the cave. And you must admit, I love caves. Also these are caves just like you see in Sri Lanka sometimes or in Burma. Monks have been using these caves for hundreds of years. And this was one of them. It was beautifully situated. It had running water outside which you can also drink. And it had this very old Buddha statue. You see this one we have over here? Report an error in the passage at 28:08 Highlight the passage at 28:08

28:43 I want to send that to one of the monasteries soon. But it's a smaller one, but still beautiful, very ancient. And probably worth a fortune if you took it to Sotheby's or something. But it was a very beautiful Buddha statue and this little bench where I could sit in meditation and later on in the evening I could lay down to sleep. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:06 But I was meditating and I invited the ghost. I said, please, don't be afraid of me. Please come. I want to see you. And I meditated and meditated and meditated. I'm saying this as accurately As I can remember, I don't want to exaggerate. And I waited and waited and waited and meditated and meditated. Report an error in the passage at 29:06 Highlight the passage at 29:06

29:34 And then the sleepiness started to come in. I'd been walking all day and had no rest. And so I said, okay, if you're not coming, you're not coming. And I laid down. Not went to sleep. I laid down and as soon as I laid down, I heard something running towards me. Now this was pitch black. There was no light. You couldn't see anything. Report an error in the passage at 29:34 Highlight the passage at 29:34

30:06 We could hear somebody was running right to where I had laid down, right next to my head. It was a ghost. You know what I said? I said to this ghost, I have been waiting for you all night. And now you decide to come, that's no way to respect a monk. Honestly, I scolded that ghost and it went away. Report an error in the passage at 30:06 Highlight the passage at 30:06

30:38 Sometimes I thought, well, anyway, if you'd opened your eyes and stood up, still, you know, the ghost might go, you're wasting your time. But anyway, that's one of those ghosts. But actually seeing a ghost? But I should say something else about seeing a ghost. Report an error in the passage at 30:38 Highlight the passage at 30:38

30:59 Because... The following morning, once I woke up, the ghost was not there. He knew it was a waste of time trying to scare me. So the next day, I carried on my walk with Sakonakon. It's not ghosts which I saw. This was the other type of beings which were invisible, which can help you, heavenly beings. Report an error in the passage at 30:59 Highlight the passage at 30:59

31:29 Because I was walking and it was very, very hot. The land was mountainous. There weren't many villages. And as I was walking, I drank all the water I had in my flask, and I hadn't noticed any other springs in that area. No villages. And I was really getting dehydrated, especially being a Westerner, not used to that climate. Report an error in the passage at 31:29 Highlight the passage at 31:29

31:59 And I noticed my feet started to swell. Which apparently is a sign of dehydration. It made you thirsty. So anyway, what can I do? I was looking for any rivers or any wells or villages somewhere. Eventually, in the mid-afternoon, I saw a village from one of the ridges. And this village had a, it's obviously a new village, seven or eight houses. You can see by the steel roofs. Report an error in the passage at 31:59 Highlight the passage at 31:59

32:35 And I realized, I've been in Thailand, especially the northeast of Thailand, long enough to know, in one of those, under one of those steel roofs, would be the general store. Report an error in the passage at 32:35 Highlight the passage at 32:35

32:50 I've seen them so many times. That's where you can get matches, kerosene, rope, a few just basic requisites. But one of those requisites, Pepsi Cola. Report an error in the passage at 32:50 Highlight the passage at 32:50

33:06 That's what people used to buy for us when it was really hard to rehydrate. The reason being that water could be maybe not pure enough. And so Pepsi-Cola was cheap. And they'd often give monks a Pepsi. I knew that from experience. I made a resolution. My resolution was, I knew about ghosts, but heavenly beings? Report an error in the passage at 33:06 Highlight the passage at 33:06

33:37 My resolution was, if there are such things as heavenly beings, may I please have a Pepsi? And I say that because it was one of the stories we used to talk about with each other, about one of these monks who was walking between Burma and Thailand during the Second World War and ran out of food. Report an error in the passage at 33:37 Highlight the passage at 33:37

34:07 And he was really concerned. He may not make the journey without dying. So he made a resolution. If there are such things as heavenly beings, can they help me with some food? Report an error in the passage at 34:07 Highlight the passage at 34:07

34:23 And about five or ten minutes later, he turned a bend in the path. And he wrote this in his biography. And there was a man standing there, the first man he'd seen in days. It was up in the mountains. If you do see anyone up there, it's also like, Poor people, villagers, and they usually live on potatoes and fruit. Report an error in the passage at 34:23 Highlight the passage at 34:23

34:55 And this time, it was a man, number one, he was well-dressed. But you don't see that in the jungles. He was well-dressed and he was just standing there with a tiffin can. A tiffin can is like... Four little bowls, one on top of the other, and with a handle, and that's what people used to carry food. So he was interested. Report an error in the passage at 34:55 Highlight the passage at 34:55

35:25 But as we were trained, as I was trained, he never asked for anything. As he was walking, the first human being he'd seen in days, he walked past this well-dressed man, his eyes down, he walked past him. Report an error in the passage at 35:25 Highlight the passage at 35:25

35:43 In Thailand, the... So the monk stopped, opened his bowl, and the man opened the tiffin cans. The first tray was rice. not the sticky rice which is usually what you get in the poor areas really fine rice Hot. Report an error in the passage at 35:43 Highlight the passage at 35:43

36:31 And number two. couple of fine curries, hot. Report an error in the passage at 36:31 Highlight the passage at 36:31

36:37 or desserts in the bottom. And the monk could not believe it. Where on earth can you get food like that in the middle of the jungle? Hot. And number two, How come you're so well dressed? How do you know I was coming? And so the monk, he broke one of the rules. Report an error in the passage at 36:37 Highlight the passage at 36:37

37:01 The monk asked this man, where are you from? When you receive alms food, usually you just receive it, give a blessing and carry on. You don't ask where you're from. You know what the man said? He didn't say anything. He stared with his finger. Report an error in the passage at 37:01 Highlight the passage at 37:01

37:27 Pointed upwards. That monk, in his biography, he said that was a heavenly being looking after me. He made the resolution, if there are heavenly beings, please help. You know, I'm really close to dying. In my story, I wasn't close to dying, but I was really thirsty. And I did have that swollen feet, which was a sign of dehydration. So when I went down into the village, I walked like you see people walking in the retreats which we teach, like walking meditation, not looking to the left, not looking to the right, but putting your gaze down in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 37:27 Highlight the passage at 37:27

38:17 But I did notice in the corner of my eye, I did pass that general store. I did not look inside, but I know what they have in those general stores. I walked right past. And no one did anything. And then I heard, after passing it by about three or four meters, Nimman Krupp! Report an error in the passage at 38:17 Highlight the passage at 38:17

38:45 I knew what that meant. So I stopped. I turned around. And there was a man holding an open bottle of Pepsi Cola. And a straw in it. I couldn't believe it. But then, of course, you always think, coincidence. But then... Another man came out, nimankap, with another bottle of Pepsi-Cola. And then a woman, nimankap, a third bottle of Pepsi-Cola. Report an error in the passage at 38:45 Highlight the passage at 38:45

39:22 And then another man, nimankap, a fourth bottle of Pepsi-Cola. Nimankap, a fifth bottle of Pepsi-Cola opened. Nimankap, a sixth bottle of Pepsi-Cola. A seventh bottle of Pepsi-Cola. An eighth bottle of Pepsi-Cola. A ninth bottle of Pepsi-Cola. And there was a little table there. I put all of them down, all opened. Report an error in the passage at 39:22 Highlight the passage at 39:22

39:58 Nine bottles. In Thailand, what is the lucky number? Yes. And I had nine bottles in front of me. And I said, thank you to those devas. And I never doubted their existence evermore. They're real. Report an error in the passage at 39:58 Highlight the passage at 39:58

40:23 And I asked them for favours, even now. Never personal favours, but for favours. How many of you have been to Dharmasara? How did that happen? It's beautiful, big land. Report an error in the passage at 40:23 Highlight the passage at 40:23

40:51 Please, you've heard it before, but it's such a wonderful story. We were looking for a nice place to start a nun's monastery. Report an error in the passage at 40:51 Highlight the passage at 40:51

41:01 And I remember being with Ron and Bianca. They were taking me to a 30-acre bit of farmland down the end of Reen Road. Reen Road? We passed this big sign. What was it, like 583 acres of perfect solitude? And I looked at that and said, well, that looks good. And Ron Battersby said, no, don't be stupid. We can't get that. We'd be lucky to get 30 acres somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 41:01 Highlight the passage at 41:01

41:33 We don't have millions in the bank. But I said, listen, it doesn't cost anything to look. He said, oh yeah, fair enough. So I convinced Ron and Bianca. And I think those of you who know them, they're not easy people to convince to go inside and have a look. And my goodness, even there with no buildings, it looked absolutely perfect. Huge land, nice water, plenty of space for giving some respect to the female monastic community we wanted to build. Report an error in the passage at 41:33 Highlight the passage at 41:33

42:17 And it wasn't on sale, it was on auction. And first of all I said, auction? No one ever knows how much it's going to cost on auction, so I decided to go there on the auction day, making sure I arrived about an hour beforehand with Ajahn Chaitamalo. You know, he came to visit recently. And when I got there early, it was on purpose, so we could go to the very center of that piece of land. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:58 And my goodness, I don't think I've chanted so hard and so loud and so long before the auction started. As our heavenly beings, this is important. It's not for me. This is for women of the future, so you can have a nice monastery to go to and support. Report an error in the passage at 42:58 Highlight the passage at 42:58

43:23 And the auction started. And the auctioneers said they'd already got an offer some months previously. of one million, which was turned down. And we had a limit, absolute limit, $650,000. No, sorry, $600,000. $600,000 was all we could afford. And that's with loaning, I don't know how many people, and some from this fund, some from that fund. Report an error in the passage at 43:23 Highlight the passage at 43:23

43:58 We tallied it all up. It was actually just almost an exaggeration to afford $600,000 for this piece of land. Then the auction started. And the auctioneer, our sort of bidder, you always assign one person to do the bidding for you. And that was Mr. Eddie Fernando. He's not here today. He was our auctioneer. Report an error in the passage at 43:58 Highlight the passage at 43:58

44:27 And as the auction progressed, he put his hand up for the figure of 600,000. And straight away... Pretty mean. I shouldn't have done this. I apologize for this. I feel embarrassed about it. I started focusing my mind, wishing that all the other bidders would not be able to open their mouths. Report an error in the passage at 44:27 Highlight the passage at 44:27

44:54 I actually thought that and just tried. That's kind of cheating. You shouldn't do that. And someone else put their hand up. 625. When you work really hard, You have great aspirations and it just doesn't work. How do you feel? You get so close, you feel so disappointed. Report an error in the passage at 44:54 Highlight the passage at 44:54

45:22 But Eddie Fernando, against all of our instructions, 6.50! And our treasurer was standing next to me. He was literally jumping up and down, said, stop him Ajahn Brahm, stop him, we can't do this, I'm the treasurer, I know how much we have, you can't bid what you don't have. Report an error in the passage at 45:22 Highlight the passage at 45:22

45:44 And of course I told him to shut up. I don't know about you, but I know just when something is so beautiful, it's almost like a test. You know, are you going to manage to get the rest of the money? So anyway, that was the last bid, $6.50. Report an error in the passage at 45:44 Highlight the passage at 45:44

46:06 And that was the minimum bid, the minimum amount the owner would allow. We got the land. That's how the nun's monastery... was actually purchased with money we didn't have. And I knew, if you ask the devas, the heavenly beings, for something beautiful, honestly, I'm doing this, saying this as a theoretical physicist, okay? Report an error in the passage at 46:06 Highlight the passage at 46:06

46:39 As a mathematician. Of course it happens, it works. That's why I've been to so many places, chanting for people with cancers. Mathematician. Report an error in the passage at 46:39 Highlight the passage at 46:39

46:52 Chanting for people who are really sick and having a difficult time. A lot of times it works. So I often do that for people who are kind of special. Report an error in the passage at 46:52 Highlight the passage at 46:52

47:08 And it does work. I even said last week, you know, Bin Anson, his daughter, his youngest daughter is visiting. And last week I saw her and so she put food in my bowl. And I told her, do you remember that? And she said, yes. I remember that I was at Curtin University doing my exams and I was certain I'd failed. Report an error in the passage at 47:08 Highlight the passage at 47:08

47:43 I did terribly in the exam. So my father told me to come and see me and get some chanting. And I really chanted for her. She passed against all of her Expectations. Get us started off in life. So I love things like that. There are such things as heavenly beings, spirits. Have you ever seen any? Sometimes you can. They're much rarer than ghosts. Devas, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 47:43 Highlight the passage at 47:43

48:25 Oh yeah, certainly. But for ghosts, again, sometimes, I feel I shouldn't say this, but it fits everything. Seeing ghosts. I was not scared of ghosts, never have been. So the place where I became a monk was this place in the northeast Thailand which is now known as Wat Ba Na Na Chat in Bungway village. Report an error in the passage at 48:25 Highlight the passage at 48:25

49:01 And that was a cremation ground. Twice a week on average. Some would be cremated. They'd get enough wood in that forest, make a pyre, put the person on top, and we'd cremate them. So imagine how many ghosts there were in that forest. So one day, okay, instead of just seeing the effects of ghosts, can I actually see a few? Report an error in the passage at 49:01 Highlight the passage at 49:01

49:33 So one day, I decided to go looking for them at night time. When I started going looking for them, I remember the first one I saw. And I started walking towards him. And straight away, he shouted at me. Report an error in the passage at 49:33 Highlight the passage at 49:33

49:58 His words were, my local language was not that great. But then when you see things like ghosts, they're not speaking. You don't communicate word for word. It's like mind to mind. I understood exactly what he said. He looked at me and said, You can see us? I said, yeah. And I said it in a way of just obvious, not threatening. Report an error in the passage at 49:58 Highlight the passage at 49:58

50:29 Yes. And so he settled down and he came to talk with me and take me to his friends. There's quite a few of them in that part of the forest. I always wanted to not just see the effects of ghosts, but actually go and speak to them and listen to them. And give them some loving kindness. And they realized that all the ghosts were, they were beings. They died. Report an error in the passage at 50:29 Highlight the passage at 50:29

51:03 They didn't really know what to do next. They were kind of stuck there. And they just wanted some help. And I volunteered for that. And so I talked to them. And just said, you've got nothing to worry about here. You're only going to be here for a few days. And then afterwards... You take a nice rebirth somewhere. Come and listen to some of the chanting, which we do every evening. We share merits with you. Report an error in the passage at 51:03 Highlight the passage at 51:03

51:34 At the very end, I asked them, what do they want? What can I get for you? And that was kind of weird, because what they asked for was some jiel. Report an error in the passage at 51:34 Highlight the passage at 51:34

51:49 Jiel is a kind of Thai, northeast Thai chili sauce. Even though they can't eat it, for me it was like a challenge. Can I do something for them? Even if they just see it, they know that somebody cared for them. Report an error in the passage at 51:49 Highlight the passage at 51:49

52:09 So the next day, there was some jail offered, like it's a standard condiment, and some jail offered, so I took some and put it out in the forest for them. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:25 Simple kindness. Why can't you be kind? These are animals who will never harm you, but who are suffering. They're hungry, they don't know what to do, they've just died. A lot of times, the thing they want the most, what would you want the most if you died? What you want is to tell your loved ones, you're fine. Report an error in the passage at 52:25 Highlight the passage at 52:25

52:50 Please don't worry about me, I've died. There's enough people giving me good karma, sharing merits with me. That's all I ever want. Report an error in the passage at 52:50 Highlight the passage at 52:50

52:59 And so they can get on a nice rebirth on their journey through saṃsāra. So that's what you want to do for them. And if they have anybody, you know, you die suddenly or you're not sort of, maybe your daughter or something is not here, then can you please tell her, you know, I'm fine, don't worry about me. Report an error in the passage at 52:59 Highlight the passage at 52:59

53:25 Because a lot of times, remember, many times people's deaths are long and drawn out. Imagine what that's like. And after a long battle, you know, you're dead, but there's no more pain. There's a sense of freedom, I can go on now. I've done whatever karmic penalty or something, I've had the pain and the sickness, now I That's usually the comment which most people want. Report an error in the passage at 53:25 Highlight the passage at 53:25

54:02 I did, I think, tell you, even that time when in Singapore, Sri Lankan was really sick with some stage four cancer or something, and the sister, with the help of the family, took her to a Singapore hospital to try and recover. During the rains retreat, and the sister Report an error in the passage at 54:02 Highlight the passage at 54:02

54:34 He called me in Bodhinyana in the evening. Can you please say some words to my sister? She's in bed when she can't speak herself and I think she's like paralyzed. Can you give her some advice about dying? So for three nights I answered the phone call from her sister and told the dying lady basically how to let go. Report an error in the passage at 54:34 Highlight the passage at 54:34

55:08 That's what it is about letting go. You can't keep this body alive any longer. You can't worry about your loved ones. You have to go. The fourth night, the sister never called. And I figured out straight away that the person had died. Report an error in the passage at 55:08 Highlight the passage at 55:08

55:27 For the next night, she called. Ajahn Brahm, you probably figured out that my sister has died now, but I have to... to ring you this evening. You can't talk to her anymore. But, I have to tell you this, because this is weird, but true. Report an error in the passage at 55:27 Highlight the passage at 55:27

55:50 He said, this morning, I got an email from her, nine hours after she died. Report an error in the passage at 55:50 Highlight the passage at 55:50

56:04 An email. He said, please, please call Ajahn Brahm one more last time. Tell him thank you, and thank you for you as well, for helping me. Report an error in the passage at 56:04 Highlight the passage at 56:04

56:18 And there was a message, email. It's amazing what ghosts can do. Spirits. They've already died. And she couldn't have planned that because she couldn't use. And she was kind of paralyzed. But she managed to send the email. And to finish off this evening's talk, I've only gone over time. This is why I now figured it out, what Gmail means. Report an error in the passage at 56:18 Highlight the passage at 56:18

56:53 What does it mean? Please Report an error in the passage at 56:53 Highlight the passage at 56:53

56:59 excuse me, but I could have told so many more stories about other weird events, which you've either witnessed or you've done, but that's just some of them. These things are real. But the nice thing about them is you don't have to be scared at all. Because just, why are you scared when human beings are alive? Report an error in the passage at 56:59 Highlight the passage at 56:59

57:22 It can be your mother. She won't harm you. It can be your sister. It can be your husband. He loves you still. He's not going to hurt you. It can be your dog. Report an error in the passage at 57:22 Highlight the passage at 57:22

57:38 Can you have ghosts who are dogs? Please take the microphone away from me afterwards. But the last story, the ghost dog, I love this story. That's why I keep loving to tell it. There's a lady over in Rolling Stone. I think her... I don't know if she ever got married, but she had no husband at this time. But she had a big dog. She loved that dog. You know, those of you who have a dog or a cat, you almost worship that. Report an error in the passage at 57:38 Highlight the passage at 57:38

58:16 So she would take the dog for a walk every morning and evening in the forest above Rolystone. And one day, playing with the dog in the forest, when she got home, She found that she'd lost a little ring from her finger. And the little ring from her finger was not worth a lot, but it had a lot of emotional value. Report an error in the passage at 58:16 Highlight the passage at 58:16

58:42 So she went back to the forest to try and find it. Took the dog, and she couldn't find it. So she gave up. It's impossible if you, you know, with all those leaves and twigs and rocks, how can you find a little ring? So she came home a few days later. Report an error in the passage at 58:42 Highlight the passage at 58:42

59:02 The dog got sick and soon the dog died. She was in her heart broken, but she didn't have to worry so much because she could hear the dog barking in the house after it had died. Report an error in the passage at 59:02 Highlight the passage at 59:02

59:22 And if it's your dog, you know the sound of your dog's bark. But when she heard the dog barking, she opened the door of that room, went inside, there's nothing there. But she heard the dog there. And the next day or two, she was almost playing this game, rushing to the room where she heard the dog barking, opening the door, nothing was there. Report an error in the passage at 59:22 Highlight the passage at 59:22

59:46 Until one day, she heard the dog barking on the front door of her house, just on the outside. And just immediately she opened the door. No one could disappear that fast. There was no dog outside. But in the middle of the welcome mat, And she swears it's absolutely true. There was her ring. And that's the last she heard of her dog. Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

1:00:23 One last thing the dog did. Get the ring back for the lady who looked after her and loved her. That's why, how can you ever be scared of ghosts? They do wonderful things for you. That's the first story. The doctor got given a scalpel. When the nurse wasn't even close to him, it was the other side of the table. Heavenly beings, give me Pepsi colders. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:23 Highlight the passage at 1:00:23

1:00:57 That's the only time I ever got so many Pepsi colders. Nine of them. You can't drink that much. Give them all to the kids afterwards. But I drank some from every one. I want to make sure, Ajahn Brahm, we'll teach you later on in your life, I want you to know that these things are real. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:57 Highlight the passage at 1:00:57

1:01:17 Even dogs, even snakes, you can love the whole lot. Thank you for listening. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:30 Sorry for going on for too long. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:30 Highlight the passage at 1:01:30

1:01:45 Ah, Jana. I think Jana's coming first. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:45 Highlight the passage at 1:01:45

1:01:53 Yay! Thank you, Jana. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:53 Highlight the passage at 1:01:53

1:02:00 Have you ever seen a ghost? They're very safe, they're never harm here. Just love them to bits. Okay, I'll just do this quickly. Wolf from, Gabby from Germany, Dear Ajahn Brahm, I think the teaching should be in my heart, not in my mind. Great. Why does it take so long till the intellectual topic turns into my flesh and blood and becomes me? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:00 Highlight the passage at 1:02:00

1:02:24 I think it's up to me, you know, whoever teaches, to teach it with emotion, personal stories, please the truth. And after a while, even when I gave this talk this evening, I felt it. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:24 Highlight the passage at 1:02:24

1:02:41 You feel all these stories which happened to me and they're beautiful stories and so it's part of my flesh and blood and after a while keep listening to these and experience them for yourself and they become your flesh and blood. Not intellectual at all but emotional. Richard from Bolivia, how to deal with an enemy? My family and I have one who stole a big house from us. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:41 Highlight the passage at 1:02:41

1:03:11 put my mum in jail. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:11 Highlight the passage at 1:03:11

1:03:16 But my mom in Jhan is now suing us many money as compensation for damage, for I have gained I remember, Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:38 I don't know if you remember this, that we had these clay trucks coming past our monastery many years ago. sometimes if you do see someone who has given you such a hard time, please be kind to them wherever you can. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:38 Highlight the passage at 1:03:38

1:03:46 And one of the people who was supporting them was actually a neighbor from over in Scrivener Road, around that place. And when it came to Christmas time, Ajahn Sujata insisted on sending them all Christmas cards. I wish I'd have thought of that. Being kind to the people who are being mean to you and see what happens. It's a tough one to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:46 Highlight the passage at 1:03:46

1:04:21 It doesn't cost you anything like a Christmas card or a greetings card or something, or a basket of mangoes or whatever. But a basket of mangoes, he'd have probably thought that we were trying to poison him. But anyway, kindness is very powerful whenever there is the idea of an enemy. Again, that's how Thailand defeated an insurgency, amnesty, not going in. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:21 Highlight the passage at 1:04:21

1:04:53 To shoot the enemy, but doing what the enemy wanted. Doing a proper service for the villagers. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:53 Highlight the passage at 1:04:53

1:05:05 Question from Poland. How do you help yourself when someone accuses you of something you didn't do? Thinking it's karma from the past doesn't help. Sometimes it does. Remember that man I met in jail? He was in jail for thievery. He told me he didn't do it, he was innocent. And I thought, that's really mean, you're in jail, you don't have any resources, how can you defend yourself when you're already convicted? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05:05

1:05:36 And then, when I was thinking of which lawyer to call up when I get back to the monastery, he gave me this really ridiculous old smile. He said, it's true, I didn't do this crime, but there's so many other crimes I got away with where I wasn't caught, I guess this is fair. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:36 Highlight the passage at 1:05:36

1:05:56 That's how karma works. How many times have you been speeding the last week? Honest. How many times were you caught? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:56 Highlight the passage at 1:05:56

1:06:11 Sometimes we think one time we weren't speeding, we were caught and charged with something. And many other times we got away with it. Love karma means it balances. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:11 Highlight the passage at 1:06:11

1:06:25 But if it accuses you of something you didn't do, then sometimes you have to make sure you can prove that. I'm a Buddhist monk. 51 years I've been a monk. And I've been a good monk. I haven't done crazy, silly, stupid things. But of course, in those 51 years, I've been accused of all sorts of stuff. Remember that time I mentioned this? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:25 Highlight the passage at 1:06:25

1:06:54 I've still got the original piece of paper that after one evening here I gave a talk, when people went to their cars, they had this poster put on their cars. They didn't even call me Ajahn Brahm. Peter Betts, he's not a real monk. He slept with my wife. Don't trust him. You remember that, Lin? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:54 Highlight the passage at 1:06:54

1:07:16 Yeah. What happened? The next week, I got many of our past presidents here, and I said, this is what was on your cards last week. If anybody has any doubts about, you know, it wasn't signed. We didn't know who actually made that accusation. If anyone has any doubts, here are some of the past presidents, secretaries, people who know what I get up to. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:16 Highlight the passage at 1:07:16

1:07:45 I'm totally innocent. But anyway, if you have any questions, please ask them. I'm not hiding anything. Never will. And that was the end of it, basically. Is that correct, Lin? So that's where, if you live a good lifestyle, you make sure if anyone does make an accusation against you, They know it's not going to stick. Lastly, USA, I'm an introvert, quiet and reserved. People say I need to be more talkative to survive, which brings self-doubt, anxiety and feelings I'm not good enough. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:45 Highlight the passage at 1:07:45

1:08:26 How to deal with this? Who are the people who say you need to be more talkative to survive? Are they wise? You're listening to me. I think you probably agree that I'm wiser. And I say, No, be an introvert, be quiet, be reserved. And if people say you need to be more talkative to survive, say you're not surviving, you're doing much better than surviving. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:26 Highlight the passage at 1:08:26

1:08:53 You're learning what peace means, what kindness means. You'll be more than a survivor. You'll be a leader. People talk too much. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:53 Highlight the passage at 1:08:53

1:09:08 Eddie? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:08 Highlight the passage at 1:09:08

1:09:12 No, that's not what I meant. Ajahn Brahm. Thanks for the very interesting talk tonight. You talk about ghosts and heavenly beings. Heavenly beings are devas. They are real Ajahn Brahm. If you refer to the Buddhist cosmology, 31 planes of existence, the lowest one is the hell realms. The second one is the ghost realm. And then there's animal realm. The fourth one is the asuras. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:12 Highlight the passage at 1:09:12

1:09:46 Fifth one is human. Six, seven, eight are the deva realms, the heavenly being realms. And it is said that the heavenly beings, they can come down to help Buddhist practitioners. And I want to ask you, Ajahn Brahm, the question is, the Tibetans, they believe in spiritual disturbance, like disturbance by evil spirits. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:46 Highlight the passage at 1:09:46

1:10:14 To make us sick, some of our sickness is due to disturbance. What do you think of that Ajahn Brahm? No, they don't have the power to do that. Humans have much more power to look after their body. So sometimes when people say be careful of this, be careful of that, I say no. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:14 Highlight the passage at 1:10:14

1:10:35 There was that one time, when I performed, not performed, be accurate. I arranged for the first bhikkhunis to be ordained. And afterwards, they said, Ajahn Brahm, be very careful. You were one of those people outside here on an alms round. You surrounded me. You said you'd heard that the plan was about some people who were trying to stop me. They were going to pretend to put food in my bowl. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:35 Highlight the passage at 1:10:35

1:11:09 And a pretty Thai lady, all with makeup on and everything. would actually jump at me and give me a quick kiss and then somebody would take the photo remember you were protecting me that day oh I was I don't run I was with that day I wasn't waiting for that to happen and then I'll kick we I got people 20 people surrounding surrounding there you know yeah I was taking photographs you can get the person yeah No, don't do that. But anyway... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:09 Highlight the passage at 1:11:09

1:11:42 I was protecting you that time. You didn't need to. Then the next day, they said that they were going to go to Bodhinyana Monastery to offer some pumpkin soup. And they told me, whatever you do, do not eat that pumpkin soup. Because that had this special Thai medicine. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:42 Highlight the passage at 1:11:42

1:12:07 The way I remember it, it's called Yaffa. And what that does, when they put that in there and you eat it, the first person you see, you will fall in love with. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:07 Highlight the passage at 1:12:07

1:12:23 So when they told me that, don't eat that, I had triple helpings. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:23 Highlight the passage at 1:12:23

1:12:31 Ajahn Brahm, just talking, coming back to the... the spiritual disturbance, you know, evil spirits. But sometimes, some people, they are not good in character, you know. They sink down, you know. So, you know, they don't have good character. They go down to the evil, you know, lower themselves. So these people can harm, these spirits, can't they harm them? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:31 Highlight the passage at 1:12:31

1:13:04 Yes, there, how it works. There was one lady, She would always go to Wat Bananachat once a week and she was single, she kept her five precepts and a very good person. And then one day when she was brushing her teeth in the morning, she didn't see her face in the mirror, she saw the face of a demon. And so she was very scared. And so I'd already come to Perth by that time. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:04 Highlight the passage at 1:13:04

1:13:43 And so they got another Thai monk to go to her house. This was in Thailand, I was in Perth. And they did a little ceremony and one of the people just fell into a trance. And the head monk said, who are you? And it was this monster. Monster taking control of this old woman's body. Yes. But then he said, I've been trying for about two or three years. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:43 Highlight the passage at 1:13:43

1:14:12 To take control of this woman and kill her. I've never been able to. She's been keeping her precepts. She can't be harmed. That's right. And then what happened was the head monk said, well look, she's a really good girl. There's no way she's going to break her precepts. The best thing for you is to give up. The monster said, I'm going to have to die. Much better you die, but I'll give you the five precepts first of all. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:12 Highlight the passage at 1:14:12

1:14:42 Give it to the monster. And that's what happened. This monk gave the five precepts to this monster who's possessing this other lady. And then the other lady fainted and came to again. And the monster never came back. And the lady become well again. Oh yeah. Did nothing about it. Also, there's just, there is like a... Report an error in the passage at 1:14:42 Highlight the passage at 1:14:42

1:15:02 a possession isn't it make you sick this thing by a monster and then if you go and see like do more good thing you know or the monks like you can see monks and you sprinkle the water you know oh yeah shoo away all the bad bad things yeah that's right anyway have a great thank you thank you People sometimes ask me, Ajahn Brahm, aren't you bored being a monk? Not bored, you have a very interesting life. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:02 Highlight the passage at 1:15:02

1:15:33 Hi, I just wanted to ask, I missed most of the lecture on Tuesday night. I just wondered whether you recorded it or whether you could give a lecture yourself and summarize the main points. The one on Tuesday, that was the one in UWA. The one on Thursday, is that the one you were... No, Tuesday night at UWA. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:33 Highlight the passage at 1:15:33

1:16:02 Yeah, Tuesday night. Basically, not that much. I know that Bernard was trying to make the case, one of the things he was trying to make the case, was like consciousness, what's its origin? And he was giving the physics idea that it's a big C, like the universe is big C consciousness, and it filters in through the brain. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:02 Highlight the passage at 1:16:02

1:16:30 To me, I said no. Okay, so maybe just watching one of his recordings on YouTube or something might be alright. The one on the Thursday night, I thought it was to be recorded, but it was just live streamed. But I know human beings' nature. A few people, because it was live streamed, they would have recorded it. I haven't found out yet who it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:30 Highlight the passage at 1:16:30

1:17:04 I think I know one person who recorded it. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:04 Highlight the passage at 1:17:04

1:17:13 Anyhow, okay, make this the last question because... Has Eddie asked too many questions already? No, there's never such thing as too many. I was just wondering, you know how mediums, they can contact people that have passed away or people that have passed away use mediums to communicate? Report an error in the passage at 1:17:13 Highlight the passage at 1:17:13

1:17:42 And I was wondering, is it people that have not been reborn, that are in between, that they contact? I usually believe, not believe, but understand, if you're in between, a lot of times you're not in between very long. This is more likely that other heavenly beings who are in a realm, pretty sort of stable existence for them. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:42 Highlight the passage at 1:17:42

1:18:12 who have the opportunity to actually contact others. So not just like ghosts who have been there for such a short time. But in the thing I do with mediums, this is even when I told Bernard, the one thing which really sort of convinced me that mediums are real, was that family story. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:12 Highlight the passage at 1:18:12

1:18:40 Experience is more powerful than anything you can ever read in books. And the family's story is my mother and my aunty. I think I've told this here before. After the Second World War, my mother and my aunty were actually cousins, not sisters, but they basically grew up together. They went to a dance, looking for a partner in life. That's what people did in those days. They didn't go to nightclubs. Before they went to a dance, they saw a medium. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:40 Highlight the passage at 1:18:40

1:19:14 And a medium said to my aunt, her name was Opal, that you are going to meet the love of your life very soon. It was actually that evening. And his name is Donald Wolfreys. It is a weird name. And that evening, this guy came up to her and asked her, can I have a dance? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:14 Highlight the passage at 1:19:14

1:19:44 Yes, and they asked me, what's your name? Opal, what's your name? Donald, Donald what? Wolfowitz. And they were married for 60 years. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:44 Highlight the passage at 1:19:44

1:19:56 And so many times I asked her, I asked my mum, this is family, was that real? You know, this guy came up, you've heard that name that evening, this is the guy the medium said you're going to marry, and he comes up. To actually just ask you to dance. You know how I felt, you know, just when I was a student and, you know, just playing a stupid game like young guys do. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:56 Highlight the passage at 1:19:56

1:20:29 Yeah, who's next to be married? You'll be married next. No, no, no, no. And somebody pointed to me, I'll be married next. And they said, no, no, no, no one marry me. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:29 Highlight the passage at 1:20:29

1:20:39 And then this girl was standing next to me. She did whisper in my ear, I would. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:39 Highlight the passage at 1:20:39

1:20:47 I was so scared. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:47 Highlight the passage at 1:20:47

1:20:52 That's actually just, when these things happen, you've been just told you're going to marry Donald Wolfreys and he comes up to you. You've never seen him before in your life. And there he comes up, Donald, that's my name, Wolfreys. How would you feel? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:52 Highlight the passage at 1:20:52

1:21:11 Even if you thought he was nice, you'd still be terrified. Anyway, wouldn't you be terrified? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:11 Highlight the passage at 1:21:11

1:21:26 Anyway. Yes? After the pumpkin soup, who's the three ladies that you fell in love with? None. I was a good monk by that time. There's no way you're going to fall in love, that romantic love with anybody. But then, you know, you still, you do love people in the sense you care for as many people as you possibly can, but not just one person. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:26 Highlight the passage at 1:21:26

1:21:53 Didn't work. Thank you. Give me some more soup, please. Yeah? Should I stop now? OK, yeah. Is this a record going on till 9.30? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:53 Highlight the passage at 1:21:53

1:22:12 I apologise, but I enjoyed that talk. Is Report an error in the passage at 1:22:12 Highlight the passage at 1:22:12

1:22:19 that OK? OK. One, two, three. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:19 Highlight the passage at 1:22:19

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:23:44 Sorry? Yeah? Blessing? Blessing for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:44 Highlight the passage at 1:23:44

1:24:05 Happy birthday to you. So how old are you today? 43. That's not old. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:05 Highlight the passage at 1:24:05