Insight

0:00 If you meditate a lot, a little tip is when you finish the meditation, smile. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:13 Meditation creates a beautiful natural form of happiness. And if you can just acknowledge that with a little grin, you'll find that meditation will last a little bit longer inside. Report an error in the passage at 0:13 Highlight the passage at 0:13

0:29 So those who need to go out, to go to the toilet or wherever, fine. Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

0:37 But for the talk tonight, in my life as a monk, I've given so many talks, thousands of them, literally, and that's not an exaggeration. Report an error in the passage at 0:37 Highlight the passage at 0:37

0:50 So I don't like repeating myself, although some stories and jokes you repeat. But I do remember many, many, many years ago, I was saying this to the monk who's with me this evening. Many years ago I was teaching a weekend meditation retreat over in Safety Bay. And that was when we used to hire this Catholic retreat center. Report an error in the passage at 0:50 Highlight the passage at 0:50

1:19 It was run by Catholic nuns. They're very nice to us. And honestly I didn't mind just whoever was running the retreat center as long as they kept reasonably quiet, which these couple of nuns did. But while I was doing this retreat and teaching it as well, in order to allow yourself to innovate, to actually to experiment, to try other ways of teaching, one of the things which I did was combine two of the most powerful popular meditation techniques. Report an error in the passage at 1:19 Highlight the passage at 1:19

2:01 And I remember asking monks who were much senior to me, can you do that? And maybe, I hope that some of them said no, because that's a sure way of making me try it. I'm rebellious. If you say you can't do it, of course you can do it. And combine loving-kindness meditation together with breath meditation. Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

2:29 Oh my goodness, that was so powerful. You know, sometimes the insights, we talk a lot about insight meditation, You know what that is? It's actually doing a bit of experiment, watching, being calm, being peaceful, and being penetrating and seeing, you know, what happens. Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

2:55 And I think, I don't know if I told it, I told this at the retreat which I led recently. What insight is, is when you pick up something like this, which I have in front of me, and you ask people, what is it? Report an error in the passage at 2:55 Highlight the passage at 2:55

3:11 Who knows what this is? Straight away, when I ask a question like that, people think there is an answer, like a correct answer and a wrong answer. No, that's not the way of insight. Not correct, not right, not wrong. But you're seeing what you haven't seen before. Report an error in the passage at 3:11 Highlight the passage at 3:11

3:34 You look deeper into it. If you say it's a stick, you've known that already. What else can you see this can be used for? Report an error in the passage at 3:34 Highlight the passage at 3:34

3:47 It's very good as a backscratcher. Report an error in the passage at 3:47 Highlight the passage at 3:47

3:52 So a lot of times we innovate. And I did tell that story. I was reminded of this incident because about a couple of weeks ago, the person who was responsible for this, a friend from over, I think, in Queensland, he was a Sri Lankan academic, and he was running or helping run the World Computer Conference. Report an error in the passage at 3:52 Highlight the passage at 3:52

4:24 In South Korea, in the town of Daejeon. This was high profile. I remember one of the people I met over there, he was the head of the European Union Cyber Security. Report an error in the passage at 4:24 Highlight the passage at 4:24

4:42 And they got me to give the keynote address at this World Computer Conference. Keynote address means the top address, what sets the tone of the conference. conference. Report an error in the passage at 4:42 Highlight the passage at 4:42

4:58 Look at me. Yes, I did get a degree in theoretical physics from Cambridge, but that's nothing to do with computing. That was so many years ago. What do I know about computing? Zero. So they asked me, what am I doing at that conference? Giving the keynote address. What papers have I published on computing? Report an error in the passage at 4:58 Highlight the passage at 4:58

5:20 Zero, nothing, nil. What are you doing here? And that's when I told them what insight means. And how productive insight can become in your life. I told him the old story. I'm sure I've told this one before. It's not so much a joke, but a powerful insight into how the mind and life works. It's over a hundred years previously, I think in the town of St. Report an error in the passage at 5:20 Highlight the passage at 5:20

5:50 Louis in the US. They had the World's Fair. A World's Fair. And of course, if you go to one of these big occasions where many, many people are exhibiting weird and strange things, you have to eat. Report an error in the passage at 5:50 Highlight the passage at 5:50

6:08 And so they arranged stalls with different types of foods. And it just so happened, just by chance, nothing else, the stall which was selling ice cream was right next to the stall which sold waffles. Report an error in the passage at 6:08 Highlight the passage at 6:08

6:30 What's a waffle got to do with an ice cream? When you make the waffle into a cone and put the ice cream on top, you have the first ice cream cones which ever existed in the world. That's how ice cream cones were invented. Just by the chance of two different types of food being sited next to each other and the two owners combining. Report an error in the passage at 6:30 Highlight the passage at 6:30

7:02 So that's what I was saying. I'm a Buddhist monk, a meditator. I'm not good at computing at all. So if you combine computing with some of the stuff we practice in meditation, what's going to happen? Report an error in the passage at 7:02 Highlight the passage at 7:02

7:21 Amazing stuff. So when I say, what is this? You keep looking and you see things you've never seen before. It's not just a stick. It's something more than that. Report an error in the passage at 7:21 Highlight the passage at 7:21

7:36 And so when you look very deep, you find new usages, new combinations for old things. Are there any ties here this evening? Because one of the things which I wasn't discovered, but I found, really was, okay, I admit it, one of my favorite foods, ice cream and sticky rice. Report an error in the passage at 7:36 Highlight the passage at 7:36

8:08 Many people in Thai cuisines always put some sticky rice, no cow neo, with ice cream. They go together really well. Little things like that, which I thought, ice cream and rice, what have those two things got to do together? One's a dessert, one's the main part of a meal. But they work very well together. They're innovation. Report an error in the passage at 8:08 Highlight the passage at 8:08

8:37 It makes you see so many different beautiful things in this world which you never noticed before. And that's even in a business like computer science. They can do so much to innovate, to help, to move things forward in the world. So that's one of the reasons why, you know, with understanding things like insight. Report an error in the passage at 8:37 Highlight the passage at 8:37

9:00 What is your life? How to best live your life? How old are you? Why are you? All of those insights. Sometimes we're so busy, we don't have time to really look. And take time just to see a stick, which is on here all the time. What actually is it? What can it be used for? And not just say the ordinary things. You know those ordinary things, it's a stick, it's brown, it's about 10 inches long. Report an error in the passage at 9:00 Highlight the passage at 9:00

9:31 That's what you've been told at school. That's what other people have brainwashed you into seeing. It's much more than that. And to see that extra is where we have these beautiful things which we call insight. But it's not just seeing its utility and getting new understandings of how this can be used on new machines. Report an error in the passage at 9:31 Highlight the passage at 9:31

9:58 One of the most beautiful things about insight is the beauty itself. And that kind of surprised me. I don't know about you. I was always told that Buddhism is about suffering, the Four Noble Truths, suffering. Yeah, I mean, that's not a good way of marketing Buddhism. Okay, it's true, but it's much more than that. And that's why I can hardly believe it, you know, that when I really got into the meditation practice, my goodness, it was the most beautiful, happy thing I've ever done in my life. Report an error in the passage at 9:58 Highlight the passage at 9:58

10:37 And on that retreat, Over in Safety Bay, sometimes you were just walking through the compound and then sometimes you saw something. Wow, that's gorgeous, that's beautiful. And it was just a speck of dust on the floor. Report an error in the passage at 10:37 Highlight the passage at 10:37

11:00 How can that look so gorgeous? I'm not exaggerating. And that's when I remembered when that first happened. This old poem, I repeat this a lot because it gives it credibility, by this English poet and artist called William Blake. Report an error in the passage at 11:00 Highlight the passage at 11:00

11:22 1600 and something. I think he died in 1700 and something. And it's only a four-line poem which he wrote. And I never forgot it. To see a world in a grain of sand. See a heaven. heaven and a wildflower. Report an error in the passage at 11:22 Highlight the passage at 11:22

11:46 Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. I don't know why, but when I first read that, I read it again and again, and I remembered it. To see a world in a grain of sand, something so small, you pass by it, you don't give it the importance it deserves. You ever notice that when you have that moment, you have the time? Report an error in the passage at 11:46 Highlight the passage at 11:46

12:15 You may be at the beach, but you don't look at the sea. There's too much going on there. You look at just a little bit of sand, which is maybe stuck to your feet. You look at it. Look at its shape. Look at its color. Look at all the amazing facets it has. And after a while you see so much more than you've ever seen before. Just in that, a worthless piece of sand. You think it's worthless. Report an error in the passage at 12:15 Highlight the passage at 12:15

12:45 The longer you see it, well, see a world in a grain of sand, oh my goodness, in a wildflower. You know, we have wildflower seasons here in Australia. How many people actually see the wildflower? Or they see just a whole swathe of color from many, many, many flowers. It's much more beautiful to see in one. Seeing its shape, it's tiny. Report an error in the passage at 12:45 Highlight the passage at 12:45

13:14 It's one of the most humble, beautiful things you can ever imagine. Tiny little flower, gorgeous colors, gorgeous shapes. It's like, I don't know if you've ever been to art galleries. Sometimes the best art galleries are those of nature. And you see something and it just captures your attention and it's absolutely beautiful. And you're not just saying that because other people say it. Report an error in the passage at 13:14 Highlight the passage at 13:14

13:45 Not just because that's what people want to hear. It surprises you, the beauty which you can see. And straight away, if you start to experience those sorts of insights, you find out just how happy you can be. There's grains of sand all over the place. Heavenly wildflowers just everywhere. Report an error in the passage at 13:45 Highlight the passage at 13:45

14:12 And then you get to the more powerful, hold infinity in the palm of your hand. You know people who look for spiritual truths, always look for them somewhere else, in books. You go to nice monasteries, you see nice chadiers with relics in them. Notice, hold that in the palm of your hand, right here, right now. See infinity in the palm of your hand. Report an error in the passage at 14:12 Highlight the passage at 14:12

14:44 Infinity means cannot be judged, cannot be contained. Can it be put in a box? It's uncontainable, infinity. And this is where you really get your mind starting to go very wide and very far. You know, that's one of the things which I liked in my education. You know, and sometimes, I still remember this occasion, that one of the classes I did in astrophysics, It was called Astrophysics of the Galaxy. And it was taught by Stephen Hawking, his teacher. Report an error in the passage at 14:44 Highlight the passage at 14:44

15:35 So this guy knew what he was up to. And sometimes, I'm not concerned with what he actually said, but just the power of what he said. He was talking about something he knew, which was really weird. And profound. And I was supposed to be taking notes because there was an exam coming up in a few months. No way could you take notes. Report an error in the passage at 15:35 Highlight the passage at 15:35

16:01 It appeared too beautiful. How can you take notes of one of the most gorgeous sunsets you've ever seen in your life? I don't want to take a note. It would just disrupt the enjoyment of what was being said. You know, interestingly, I learned that. Report an error in the passage at 16:01 Highlight the passage at 16:01

16:24 Beforehand, I remember I was a Buddhist and I thought, Buddhist, what should Buddhists do? Buddhists go to India and go and see the holy sites. I didn't really understand what I was doing, but I decided I wanted to do that. So I remember one of the things which I always wanted to do as a young man is go and see the Himalayan mountains. Report an error in the passage at 16:24 Highlight the passage at 16:24

16:50 I've seen photos of them. And they look absolutely gorgeous. A whole chain of mountains stretching across the northern horizon. And so that was one of my to-do lists. I really wanted to see this. But when I got there, into India, this is how stupid I was. It was during the rainy season. In the rainy season, the whole northern horizon was covered with clouds. Report an error in the passage at 16:50 Highlight the passage at 16:50

17:23 No way you could see the mountains underneath. So after a few weeks, I gave up. No way am I going to see the Himalayan mountains. Report an error in the passage at 17:23 Highlight the passage at 17:23

17:34 And then one day, I was with these other couple of travelers. We found out we could get into one of these very cheap post office trucks who took the man up to the northern part of Nepal, to the Tibetan border. Report an error in the passage at 17:34 Highlight the passage at 17:34

17:53 And that's a cool thing to do. So he got in there and travelled in a small little truck and gave the driver a few extra rupees. That's what he did it for. No one would challenge him about carrying a few westerners inside his truck. And we were far north of Nepal, close to the border, but then he wanted to stop for lunch. Report an error in the passage at 17:53 Highlight the passage at 17:53

18:24 So he had some lunch. And together with the other two people on this journey, with me, three Westerners, we decided to have some exercise. We climbed up one of the hills. Not a tall hill. But when you got to the top of the hill, oh my goodness, the clouds parted. Report an error in the passage at 18:24 Highlight the passage at 18:24

18:48 And the first time in a couple of months, you can actually see the Himalayan mountains, the whole of them. Just after the rainstorm, it's so clear. When I saw the whole range of the Himalayan mountains, almost like crying in joy. You know what I did? Stupid, stupid, stupid Ajahn Brahm. I ran back down to the truck. Report an error in the passage at 18:48 Highlight the passage at 18:48

19:16 I left my camera in the truck. It couldn't have happened just so perfectly for me. I could see the mountains very quickly, ran down as fast as I could. Running down is easy enough, running down, but running up took much more time. When I got to the top, right at that moment, no exaggeration, right at the moment, the clouds closed in. Report an error in the passage at 19:16 Highlight the passage at 19:16

19:45 And the other two travelers, they said, where did you go? I felt so dumb. Trying to capture beauty, I've lost it. That's one of the reasons why I learned in life. Beauty is nothing you can put in a box and keep forever. Beauty is there to be enjoyed and valued in this moment and then let go. Report an error in the passage at 19:45 Highlight the passage at 19:45

20:15 And then you will never forget it. It was like someone was teaching me an important part of the dharma, of the practice. Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:25 And in my whole life of being a monk for so many years, you've seen some beautiful experiences. But one thing which I've always remembered, you can't take a photograph of it. If you try and take a photo of beauty, you destroy it. Report an error in the passage at 20:25 Highlight the passage at 20:25

20:43 So wherever you are in your life and you see the wonderful things which you experience in life, see the beautiful stars at night, sometimes, you know, spending evenings over in Jhana Grove, our retreat center, those of you who've been there, just know how wonderful it is on a nice clear night. And you can lay down on those, we call them stupas, these beautiful, what do you call them? Report an error in the passage at 20:43 Highlight the passage at 20:43

21:17 Stupas, it's where, once in Janagraha, there's two of them. And they were donated by this monk and his followers over in Bodh Pador in Indonesia. Report an error in the passage at 21:17 Highlight the passage at 21:17

21:31 And he said, you're building a retreat center, can I please help? And he offered this. Wonderful Chaitiyas, which of course are still there. And all for free. They've got these amazing Buddha statues inside, all made out of stone. The same stone as in the big Chaitiya at Bola Padua. And they are beautiful, but a lot of times I don't watch those Buddha statues inside. Report an error in the passage at 21:31 Highlight the passage at 21:31

22:03 I lay on my back. And look up at the stars. They are so clear. And if you've done some meditation, your mind is open to be able to see the stars of the Milky Way at night. It's one of the best places to see them. You're laying down on your back. And it's not cold because those stones, they soak up the heat from the day. Report an error in the passage at 22:03 Highlight the passage at 22:03

22:31 So it's like on a warm, heated mattress. And looking up. All these stars in the sky, so clear, so powerful. That brings you joy and happiness, natural, not caused by something you've eaten or drunk, but just seeing nature, see, infinity in the palm of your hand. You don't have to pay for it. No one's telling you, you've had your time, get out, you can stay there as long as you like. And when you do, the joy and the depth, ...of perception which you have, it's huge. This is where insight comes from. You know, one of the things which I learned from experiences like that, because this was one of the fields of study for me, you know, academia, intellect, I knew all the names. Report an error in the passage at 22:31 Highlight the passage at 22:31

23:31 And I found out that created a huge barrier to enjoying them. Oh, you know, that's Alpha Centauri, you know, that's... All of those names, they cause discrimination. You know, this is bigger than that one. This, you know, is further away. This is not a star. This is a galaxy. All of those things disturb the appreciation in stillness of beauty. Report an error in the passage at 23:31 Highlight the passage at 23:31

24:07 And because of that, I realized that it's much nicer not to know. If you want to experience and appreciate things. That's also kind of what I figured out when I was even younger. Report an error in the passage at 24:07 Highlight the passage at 24:07

24:23 And I did this, basically I didn't have much choice, gap year. I got my scholarship to get to Cambridge when I was only 17. You couldn't go there until you were 18. So I had a year off. So what do you do? You don't have to do any more study for a while. I decided to go traveling. I didn't want to go traveling to France or Scotland or something. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:53 I wanted to go somewhere a little bit further, different cultures. And I mentioned this on the meditation retreat because we had one of the retreatants on the retreat down in China Grove last month over Easter. And she was from this area, from Guatemala. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:15 And from the area of the jungle called Tikal. And she didn't actually call her country Guatemala. She called it Guatemala. It was a civilization, a Maya civilization. They didn't leave much in the realm of records to prove what they were up to, what they were doing. But they had these beautiful pyramids in the jungle. Report an error in the passage at 25:15 Highlight the passage at 25:15

25:48 Somebody knew that these had some religious significance, but no one knew what it was. And I kind of say, thank you for leaving no records. Report an error in the passage at 25:48 Highlight the passage at 25:48

26:01 I didn't want to know what they're supposed to mean. It's much better to discover it for yourself. And to get there, in the middle of the jungle, a mountainous jungle, the only way to get there was on the back of... A fishing boat, back of trucks, it took forever to get there, really slow, you know, just winding around. And one thing I never realized, if you're traveling through a jungle, the paths, the roads, they overgrow with vines so quickly. Report an error in the passage at 26:01 Highlight the passage at 26:01

26:40 I never realized this, but for about three or four days, I hadn't seen in a straight line. The paths were really twisting all the time. And so my eyes had not seen long distances. You may think that's nothing, but that had a big effect on the experience which I was about to have. I was a boy, okay. Sometimes boys, they see a pyramid, they want to climb up to the top of it. I don't know why else you want to climb it. Report an error in the passage at 26:40 Highlight the passage at 26:40

27:15 You know, it's because it's there. In other words, no reason. So I went up to the top of one of these pyramids. No one could stop you because One other archaeologist I saw was there at the time. He wasn't interested in me. I wasn't interested in him. So I just walked up the top of one of these pyramids. Report an error in the passage at 27:15 Highlight the passage at 27:15

27:33 No books, no explanations. When you got up to the top, it was kind of obvious to me why they had built those big pyramids. One of the reasons was when you got to the top of the pyramid, you were just above. The first time in days, I could see further than a few feet in front of me. I could see distance. I could see infinity in all directions, with nothing between me and the idea of infinity. Report an error in the passage at 27:33 Highlight the passage at 27:33

28:18 And that just blew my mind. The first time in days, you could see what was beyond the normal things which you look at. How far do you look? A lot of times there's so many things to see, we can't see distance. We can't understand what infinity is. Report an error in the passage at 28:18 Highlight the passage at 28:18

28:42 And one of the things I mentioned at the time, it was like you can see infinity in all directions with nothing between you and the infinite. Report an error in the passage at 28:42 Highlight the passage at 28:42

28:52 No sort of books, no people, no leader, no guy who says, I know more than you know. You're free. See forever, whichever way you look. And the other thing which I noticed was up there, above the tree line, you could feel the wind. In jungles you can't feel wind. There's too many bushes and trees. They stop the wind giving you some fresh air. Report an error in the passage at 28:52 Highlight the passage at 28:52

29:25 And on top of those pyramids, ah, it's a beautiful wind. It's like... Going into an air-conditioned place for the first time in days, it was gorgeous. There's little things like that. You're beginning to know something very deep in the idea of spirituality. Not what you can read in a book, but what you can feel, which was real, true. Report an error in the passage at 29:25 Highlight the passage at 29:25

29:53 Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. When I say that phrase, From William Blake, eternity in an hour. A lot of people say, yeah, is that how long you're going to talk this evening, Ajahn Brahm? An eternity. That's my usual time of talking, an hour. But it's not just time, it's seeing the end of time, beyond time. How long, how many years do you live? Report an error in the passage at 29:53 Highlight the passage at 29:53

30:28 Does that make any sense to you? 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, 80 years, 100 years? What is that? Sometimes we can get so stressed out by time, we become a prisoner of time. It doesn't matter how much time we have, still we never really understand it, for we are confined by time. That's why some of the experiences you've had in meditation, they're brilliant. When sometimes you're sitting there in your room, or for me, my cave, sometimes time disappears. Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

31:08 What does that mean? That means you're sitting there and you go so much into this present moment that time, you realize, is only understood in natural life just by measuring something, a minute, an hour. Imagine there's so much in this present moment you can't measure. So what is time? Sometimes I always say that time... Report an error in the passage at 31:08 Highlight the passage at 31:08

31:39 It's a space between the past and the present, the present and the future, or the past and the future. They are distances. Report an error in the passage at 31:39 Highlight the passage at 31:39

31:49 If you really get into the present moment, you can do that in meditation, really get into it. Right now, in this second, in this, not even a second, you can't call it a second, right now, it gets so present, you can't measure anything. Report an error in the passage at 31:49 Highlight the passage at 31:49

32:10 You can't count. Time loses its meaning. Imagine when time loses its meaning. Things like wanting, craving, loses its meaning. To crave is something, here I am, that's where I want to be. This I haven't got, I want to get it. That's craving. Imagine right, right in this present moment, that vanishes. Hatred, ill will. Report an error in the passage at 32:10 Highlight the passage at 32:10

32:41 So things which really cause you a lot of pain, that disappears. Imagine what it must feel like when all those things vanish. And that's why you have these stories to verify. Some of these meditators, they don't just meditate for half an hour. Sometimes they meditate for a few days without drinking, without going to the toilet. They're not dead. Report an error in the passage at 32:41 Highlight the passage at 32:41

33:15 They're just almost like... So still that they've escaped from time for a few days. I tell people on retreats this happens. That's like the Vietnamese monk over in Sydney. He meditated for eight days. When I say meditated for eight days, he didn't move. Report an error in the passage at 33:15 Highlight the passage at 33:15

33:41 Because they were Vietnamese, they'd heard of this happens before, so they didn't try and disturb him. They just... In the evening, after the first day, he was still meditating, never rang any bells. It was a retreat of no-bell silence. Report an error in the passage at 33:41 Highlight the passage at 33:41

33:59 It was supposed to be a joke. Maybe it was badly placed. But anyway, he never moved at all, never ate, never drank, never went to the toilet. Just sat there, like a Buddha statue. And apparently when he came out of his meditation after eight days, it was a nine-day retreat. He came out and he apologized. He said, I'm sorry, I go into this really deep meditation. He didn't need to eat or go to toilet or rest or anything. Report an error in the passage at 33:59 Highlight the passage at 33:59

34:29 He just sat there all the time. And he said, sorry, I should have taught. And the Vietnamese, the result of seeing that for eight days, they said, no, thank you. We actually saw it. Too many people talk, people like me. But that's how he did, and he saw them. All of his life faculties were still perfectly okay. Report an error in the passage at 34:29 Highlight the passage at 34:29

35:00 So when those sorts of things happen, that really can impress people, inspire you, show what's possible. Which would you prefer? Report an error in the passage at 35:00 Highlight the passage at 35:00

35:10 A dharma talk, like I usually give, or to see, just sitting here, not moving, for half an hour, an hour, another hour? Report an error in the passage at 35:10 Highlight the passage at 35:10

35:25 What would you like to see? Sometimes, yeah, maybe a bit late in the evening to try this now, but sometimes when you see that happening, it's amazing what you see. And that's what you actually experience. And so some of these beauties which are possible, which bend everything you've ever thought you'd ever experience, change. Report an error in the passage at 35:25 Highlight the passage at 35:25

35:51 That's one of the things why I like this sort of stuff. Why, you know, you can... Have more experience of the beautiful, of the amazing, of the wonderful, things which do impress you, and how limited you make yourself be. Why are you so limited? See a world in a grain of sand, a heaven in a wildflower, all infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour. Report an error in the passage at 35:51 Highlight the passage at 35:51

36:23 And some of the... I've done these similes. So many times, but I still also remember in the first meditation hall we built over in Wat Bananachat in Thailand, built by the villagers, less than two bits, because they did the concrete floor. Report an error in the passage at 36:23 Highlight the passage at 36:23

36:48 And when, I don't know how many of you know how concrete is made, but to actually to make it level, it takes someone with a trowel to make sure it's as level as possible. If it starts getting dry, bricklayers or concrete workers here in Australia, they'd sprinkle some water on it. Over in Thailand, they spit on it. They needed to make it wet so it didn't dry too fast so they could make it smoother and smoother. Report an error in the passage at 36:48 Highlight the passage at 36:48

37:24 I saw them make the floor like that. So if you look at that floor, I mean, the colors. The different shades of grey. I've got to be careful because when I mention that, it's natural, you saw a hundred different shades of grey. And then they say, apparently a movie's been made about that. I said, really? They can see the beauty like I saw the beauty? He said, no, not that at all. Report an error in the passage at 37:24 Highlight the passage at 37:24

37:54 Some sexual thing. I said, that's not what you mean. You don't, it's the excitement. When you get that type of experience, not just the beautiful, which goes much, much deeper, but they had all these beautiful different shades, and because it was just done with spit and just hard work, that floor was never really level. Report an error in the passage at 37:54 Highlight the passage at 37:54

38:18 It had contours. And I do recall the first range retreat which I spent in that monastery. That was in 1974? Yeah. 74 or 73, I forget which. But anyway, that I was doing walking meditation. When you do walking meditation, you put your gaze on the floor. You don't look to the left, you don't look to the right. And you just walk as slowly or as fast as you want, just putting all your attention on just this little area of experience, what you're watching, what you're feeling. Report an error in the passage at 38:18 Highlight the passage at 38:18

38:58 And I recall, it's amazing, I recall to this day, Just walking meditation and then having to stop. I stopped because what I saw, just the body length in front of me on this concrete floor laid by the villagers, it was like another artwork. The different shades of grey, the contours of the piece of concrete were unbelievably beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 38:58 Highlight the passage at 38:58

39:35 And I stopped and stood there for a while. And that's when I decided to, I think I should get a concrete saw, cut it out, and send it to some gallery in London. Report an error in the passage at 39:35 Highlight the passage at 39:35

39:51 I wasn't crazy. I could see beauty where other people couldn't. And that was just, again, blew my mind. But I won't keep going for too long. There's one last story, which I'm sure that many of you are expecting. Report an error in the passage at 39:51 Highlight the passage at 39:51

40:11 It's one of my favorite stories. I've seen beauty, but I never expected to find it. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:20 Sorry, it's too late now. I've started. Report an error in the passage at 40:20 Highlight the passage at 40:20

40:26 And that was weird to the max. Over in Jhana Grove, on a retreat, and like everybody else, I meditate with you. I get into maybe deeper meditations, but then you also have to go to the toilet. So I went to the toilet. I remember the toilet, the reason you remember the toilet cubicle you went into, in the male toilet, in the middle cubicle, I went in there, sat down, just like you normally would do, and you relieved your bowels. Report an error in the passage at 40:26 Highlight the passage at 40:26

41:07 Nothing wrong with that, just as ordinary as you could expect. But then, what I did, I was very peaceful, very aware, and my mindfulness was huge. Report an error in the passage at 41:07 Highlight the passage at 41:07

41:19 My mistake was to look at the content of the toilet bowl. Report an error in the passage at 41:19 Highlight the passage at 41:19

41:25 Wow! Report an error in the passage at 41:25 Highlight the passage at 41:25

41:30 That's what it was like, honestly. Many of you have heard this story before, but I'm explaining it again because there's some details you always miss out. Report an error in the passage at 41:30 Highlight the passage at 41:30

41:43 It's actually to know the full extent of the beauty you saw there. I mean, it was incredible. It wasn't just, you know, a piece of feces. Report an error in the passage at 41:43 Highlight the passage at 41:43

41:55 It was all these different balls all stuck together, but not just stuck together at random. Like they've been chosen to put this way and that way by like a Michelangelo. Some with a huge amount of skill. There are some people who've got the artistic talent and they put things together. They do really look beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 41:55 Highlight the passage at 41:55

42:17 And this was one of the most beautiful pieces of SHIT. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:26 I'd ever thought could exist. And that was just the shape of it. Then you got the sort of the color. I don't know why people get repelled by this. This is natural. This is real. Sometimes people paint, when you just finish painting, repainting the gates of Bodhinyana Monastery, some brown or gold or something. Report an error in the passage at 42:26 Highlight the passage at 42:26

42:48 But this is more real. It's down to earth. It's just, it is natural. How many of you? Don't like sort of fake chemical stuff. This is what happens when you really appreciate the beauty of nature. Report an error in the passage at 42:48 Highlight the passage at 42:48

43:07 You can't get more natural than a piece of shit. Report an error in the passage at 43:07 Highlight the passage at 43:07

43:15 And I was looking at it, and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Report an error in the passage at 43:15 Highlight the passage at 43:15

43:24 This is what you do, just like seeing a world in a grain of sand. Beautiful. How come you've missed this for as much of your life? Things which are right there in front of you and you just don't know how to look at them and see them. And then you can't go past also the last thing which I noticed, the fragrance. Report an error in the passage at 43:24 Highlight the passage at 43:24

43:55 Now come on, get real. I've been a monk a long time and sometimes people wear perfumes and they wear jewelry. I can never forget that time while we were at Bodhidharma Monastery, years and years and years ago, when I just finished laying some concrete. You know, I work. Listen, quite a few years ago, finished laying some concrete. If you mix concrete, you know, you get some of the splashes of the mortar on your robes and on your face. Report an error in the passage at 43:55 Highlight the passage at 43:55

44:33 It's a dirty job to mix concrete. So, and I was just going back to my room to take a shower and then go for lunch. And then I heard a strange sound at the car park in Bodhinyana Monastery, and I really, really thought it was an ice cream truck. Report an error in the passage at 44:33 Highlight the passage at 44:33

44:53 You know they make a sort of jingly sound? But then when I looked, it wasn't an ice cream truck. It was a very high-class Sri Lankan lady dressed up in all her jewelry. Dingle, dingle, click, click. Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:10 Honestly, she has so much jewelry on. It sounded like an ice cream truck. Report an error in the passage at 45:10 Highlight the passage at 45:10

45:19 There's no sort of criticism of Sri Lanka custom or whatever. It's just that Thais do that. I'm sure you've done that before in your life. Dingle, jangle, quangle, whatever. So when I sort of, she came up to me and said, I'm looking for Ajahn Brahm. Report an error in the passage at 45:19 Highlight the passage at 45:19

45:39 Now I'm smart enough not to admit who I am. So I said, you'll probably be down in the dining room in a few minutes. So off she went, jingle, jaggle, daggle. Report an error in the passage at 45:39 Highlight the passage at 45:39

45:55 And I went, took a quick shower, changed into some clean robes, and I went to the dining room and saw her. Gave her a little talk about Buddhism and why we're doing what we're doing. Then after much of the talk to her, she said, oh, wonderful, thank you. That was a really nice talk. I'm glad I finally met you. Report an error in the passage at 45:55 Highlight the passage at 45:55

46:17 But then she said, if you don't mind me saying, I saw one of your monks on the way here, and he looked very, very badly dressed. Report an error in the passage at 46:17 Highlight the passage at 46:17

46:30 Honestly, she never realized it was me. And I can understand why, you look very different if you haven't been to the shower and tidied yourself up a bit. And so I said, okay ma 'am, I think I know who it is. I'll say something to him later. Report an error in the passage at 46:30 Highlight the passage at 46:30

46:51 He said, thank you, thank you, that's very good. But you know, you don't want to have one or two monks spoiling your beautiful monastery. So he said, I understand, I understand. And I never told her what was going on. I kind of enjoyed the sort of secrecy of that and just a little fun of a good story to tell people on a Friday night. But that's actually what happens with beauty, tidiness, and what happens in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 46:51 Highlight the passage at 46:51

47:18 How much beautiful stuff you can see. I don't know if you... I don't want to tell any stories. I don't know if you noticed, those who were on the retreat with me over in Jhana Grove, you can always tell if my meditation is going well. You get lots of joy coming up, especially in the morning. In the morning time, sometimes, this is really nice, you get much more happiness, much more good health, and even your breakfast tastes more delicious. Report an error in the passage at 47:18 Highlight the passage at 47:18

47:59 You've just got to be very careful to actually eat the breakfast and not say, wow, wow, look at that, taste that. Because that's another experience I do remember. Doing a retreat, a personal retreat, doing a bit of fasting as well. And then the first breakfast which I had after that retreat, or after that fasting, was baked beans. Report an error in the passage at 47:59 Highlight the passage at 47:59

48:29 Please, you know I like baked beans, so don't keep offering too much to me. But I just took, not a spoonful of beans, I took one baked bean. Because when you're mindful, you don't want to overblow your senses. Just one baked bean, and I put it in my mouth slowly. My goodness. That was an incredible taste sensation. The taste exploded. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

49:00 Like on the outside of that baked bean was like the tomato sauce. Beautifully balanced between a bit sour, a bit sweet, a bit salty. But it had that taste of tomato sauce, you know what I mean. And it was so well balanced. I just let it dissolve into my mouth as the baked bean flavor just permeated. All of my mouth, and I never rushed it because it was one of the most gorgeous flavors I've tasted for a long time. And eventually, the flavor disappeared. Report an error in the passage at 49:00 Highlight the passage at 49:00

49:43 I still had the bean left in my mouth. And then I very slowly crushed the bean in my mouth. And just the texture of a bean which has just been baked just enough, not too much, not too little. And I could let it just dissolve into the saliva of my mouth. And I thought, my goodness, this is like it's been, just one bean has been cooked by, was it Jamie Oliver or someone? Report an error in the passage at 49:43 Highlight the passage at 49:43

50:14 I don't know the names. I looked at the cat afterwards, I'm looking for his name. It couldn't have been done just by any old cook. This was amazing, high cuisine. Report an error in the passage at 50:14 Highlight the passage at 50:14

50:30 So Baked Beans by Jamie Oliver. Have you ever tasted those? Of course it was done by another cook called Mr. Heinz. But it's just how your perception gets enhanced by ordinary meditation. And you start to see tastes and pleasures and things you never expected. Beauty in so many places. That's what happens. That's why I love being a monk. Report an error in the passage at 50:30 Highlight the passage at 50:30

51:06 That's why I love going on retreats. That's why I love meditating. How much fun do you have? It's one, just one baby. Wow! Thank you for listening. Report an error in the passage at 51:06 Highlight the passage at 51:06

51:23 [chanting]

51:27 Okay, we've got some questions and answers, I hope. Maybe from Mr. Oliver, from his lawyer, wanting to sue me. Yeah, we've got some in the back there, yeah. Is the internet not working? Report an error in the passage at 51:27 Highlight the passage at 51:27

51:45 Yay, sadhu, sadhu. Oh, you have some there. Great. OK. This is Jana. Thank you for being the, what do you call it, the beautiful lady who comes to give the questions to the, what? Report an error in the passage at 51:45 Highlight the passage at 51:45

52:04 Maitre D. That'll do. Anyway, thank you. Friday night talk, Ajahn Brahm. Question, Ajahn, I can feel calm while meditating. But I'm overcome with anxiety soon after. If you follow what I was saying, you don't get anxiety at all. You can't. You get beauty and safety and gorgeous, everything feels so wonderful, like you're in a heaven realm. Report an error in the passage at 52:04 Highlight the passage at 52:04

52:31 It's just ordinary poo, ordinary baked beans, simple stuff. And that's how you react to it. I really can't understand why more people don't come here. If we had... The menu for this evening's talk, like that, the most beautiful artwork you've ever seen in your life. And just the fragrance of the poo, oh, tremendous. Report an error in the passage at 52:31 Highlight the passage at 52:31

53:00 I can feel calm while meditating but overcome with anxiety soon after. How do I carry the peace into day-to-day life? Meditation seems like escaping from reality. Now it's escaping from suffering and getting into reality. What can be more real than a baked bean, a grain of sand, a wild flower? Nothing which is constructed but which is right there which people can walk over looking for something more and they miss what's already there. Report an error in the passage at 53:00 Highlight the passage at 53:00

53:37 So that's how it works. After a while you just get so much into the meditation, you have a wonderful life. Do you imagine if I'm taken advantage of Do I be a good Buddhist and forgive or do I raise my disapproval to stand up for myself? I try to form and I just get so much pent up frustration, hell. You know, that's one of the meanings of my life. Same with you as well. The purpose of your life, Anabuddha Ayollu, is to be taken advantage of. Report an error in the passage at 53:37 Highlight the passage at 53:37

54:13 Me too. Sometimes we should put a sign up outside, the monks are to be taken advantage of. Report an error in the passage at 54:13 Highlight the passage at 54:13

54:25 We want to be able to give. And you get so much joy giving. You were telling me, you were telling me the story that for my last birthday, last year, someone gave me a, I don't mind saying this, you can take it out afterwards if I say something wrong, a dome gift card. You know the dome cafes? And it so happened, They're beautiful for monks to use because, you know, you can get food at a dome cafe like a lunch before 12 noon. Report an error in the passage at 54:25 Highlight the passage at 54:25

55:09 So we were going to UWA to give a talk with Bernard Carr just last month. I went with three monks and also a driver. Were you in there? No, okay. So, you know, how are we going to pay for this? So I got out the dome card. It's on me. You know, that's one of the things I miss, honestly. Being a monk, people treat me, but I can't treat you. I miss that. So I said, well, it's really for Ksenia and Drew as well. Report an error in the passage at 55:09 Highlight the passage at 55:09

55:48 Were you involved in that? Yeah. And see, that's what we use it for. And the monks had a nice treat. And I had a treat too. I know another time I was going to the airport. No time to have a proper meal. So we went to a dome restaurant over in, was it Benton? Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:11 Anyway, close to the airport. And Nicholas drove me there and said, what do you want to eat? I said, no, no, no, I could invite you. He said, no way. I got out one of these dome cards and I shouted a nice lunch for Nicholas. I enjoy that. Please don't take away my little perks. Being a senior monk, to treat somebody. At the same time, you know, is she here, Madhu? You know, one of our treasurers or accountants, whatever she does. Report an error in the passage at 56:11 Highlight the passage at 56:11

56:49 She was in that dumb cafe and she sent over some cake to us as well. Never expected that. I was already four. So we sent that to Dhammasara, the nun's monastery. Have a really nice, interesting life. I can do good karma as well. I'm there to be taken advantage of. Please take advantage of me. But not tonight, thank you. I need to save my energies for tomorrow. Okay. And next one from Medan in Indonesia. Report an error in the passage at 56:49 Highlight the passage at 56:49

57:28 I'm going to Indonesia on Monday, but this time not Medan. I never organized this. The Ehipasco Foundation organized the trip. What are the ways and suggestions in dharma when we make important decisions in life without regret, even though sometimes it disappoints certain parties? Forget about other parties. If you go out of this hall and you go out of the main gate and you turn left, is that a wrong decision? Report an error in the passage at 57:28 Highlight the passage at 57:28

57:59 If you turn right, is that a wrong decision? Both decisions are the same. The road around the park is round. Turn left, turn right, it's all the same. And that's a very good simile for life. Whichever way you go, left or right, you always get to the same place in the end. Report an error in the passage at 57:59 Highlight the passage at 57:59

58:22 Is that true? Of course it's true. You get to the same place in the end, the symmetry. Report an error in the passage at 58:22 Highlight the passage at 58:22

58:35 A couple of times, you know, there's actually just sometimes I've got an irritable throat sometimes because my body talks too much. I cough. He said, Ajahn Brahm, you should do something about that cough, you know, it could be dangerous for your health, you might die. Yes, of course that's true, but my reaction to that is the old saying I learned when I was a kid. Report an error in the passage at 58:35 Highlight the passage at 58:35

59:00 It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coughing they carry you off in. I'm not afraid of coughs. Coughing is a bit more dangerous. But anyway, you all know that story about how to stop a coughing? Report an error in the passage at 59:00 Highlight the passage at 59:00

59:24 No, cough mix. Report an error in the passage at 59:24 Highlight the passage at 59:24

59:30 You throw a cough mixture at coffins and they stop. Report an error in the passage at 59:30 Highlight the passage at 59:30

59:37 Haven't you heard the pharmacist say that? Cough mixture stops the coughing. Okay, I'm getting past my bedtime, I think. Report an error in the passage at 59:37 Highlight the passage at 59:37

59:48 Question, how to deal with obsessive thoughts about what others think of me and thoughts about impressing other people? If they're going to impress other people, they've got to think of you first. Report an error in the passage at 59:48 Highlight the passage at 59:48

1:00:00 Isn't that the case? And sometimes I'm very happy when they think bad thoughts about me, because then they leave me alone. I've been wondering, how can I retire? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00:00

1:00:12 Because every time, you know, you give a talk somewhere, like even going to Indonesia, apparently they're all, whatever it is, they're all booked. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:12 Highlight the passage at 1:00:12

1:00:22 They've heard of my stories before, they know me, why do they keep bothering me having to give talks? So what I wanted to do, if anybody knows this, I know it's such a... There's many schools which teach people how to tell funny stories and how people to give good talks. I don't want any of those type of organizations. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:22 Highlight the passage at 1:00:22

1:00:44 How can we have an organization which teaches me to be more grumpy, more offensive, more irritating? I want to go to not a charm school, an irritable school. Is that a good idea? Because if I go to an irritable school and give irritable stories every Friday night, Then they leave me alone. I can go to bed early every night and have more time by myself. Is that a good idea? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:44 Highlight the passage at 1:00:44

1:01:17 Does anybody know the address or phone number of an irritable school? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:25 What did he say? The committee, what committee? I said this, they say it too. That's right, a group of young people came to Bodhinyana Monastery and I said to them, look, You know, some of you at that age, you're looking for a partner in life, you always choose the wrong partner. And I know this, you know, because they will come and complain to me afterwards. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:25 Highlight the passage at 1:01:25

1:01:52 My wife does this, my husband does that. And the solution is so easy. If you are a young man, never marry a beautiful wife or beautiful woman. Marry an ugly one. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:52 Highlight the passage at 1:01:52

1:02:09 If you marry an ugly girl, think about it, it's logic, it's reason. If you marry an ugly girl, you don't have to worry about her at all. You can be late in the office at night, you can just go have some fun with your friends. Because she's ugly, she'll always be there for you afterwards. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:09 Highlight the passage at 1:02:09

1:02:32 And you women, never marry Report an error in the passage at 1:02:32 Highlight the passage at 1:02:32

1:02:38 a rich man. That's really dangerous. If he's a rich guy, then he can have, you know, he's actually given them a name, trophy wife. Yeah. Anyway, because he's wealthy, he can have girlfriends on the side, never lets you know. But if he's poor, if he really has got very little money, then you're safe. You don't have to worry at all. No one will want to go out with him if he's that poor. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:38 Highlight the passage at 1:02:38

1:03:16 So this is my trick for a happy marriage. Never marry a beautiful girl. Never marry a wealthy guy. And if you're already too beautiful already, you can go to ugly school, not beauty parlor, ugly parlor. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:35 You have a much happier life. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:35 Highlight the passage at 1:03:35

1:03:49 That's why I'm single and happy. Okay, I can't even finish the sentence anymore. So I'm going to finish off now. Thank you for listening. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:49 Highlight the passage at 1:03:49

1:04:05 Okay Eddie, you haven't asked the question yet, but thank you for being here. No, time. Okay. Let's bow to the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:05 Highlight the passage at 1:04:05

1:04:27 [chanting]

1:04:35 mi. Svakkhato bhagavata dhammo dhammam namassami Supatipanno bhagavata. Bhagavato Savakasangho Sangham Namami Report an error in the passage at 1:04:35 Highlight the passage at 1:04:35