Rebirth

0:00 So the talk for this evening, for those of you who just want to know before you go out, or if you're going to go out, to know to come back quickly, it's on rebirth, reincarnation, living again. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:19 So if you need to go out, it doesn't matter. Someone else will give the same talk again the next time you're born. Report an error in the passage at 0:19 Highlight the passage at 0:19

0:32 You never really miss out. Report an error in the passage at 0:32 Highlight the passage at 0:32

0:37 One of the reasons I wanted to give this talk today, is he here today? Last week, if you remember, I got this really good question. And the question, it kind of stunned me a bit, but of course, I will never forget good questions and will try my best to answer them again the week after. And one of those, the question, Was Ajahn Brahm, what are you going to do? How can you comment on just so much growth of people in Australia and many other parts of the world who start to believe in some of these ideas like of migration, being bad, not being kind to people because they come from a different land or not being Welcome in. It's like the world has got, I don't know why they call it right wing, but that kind is irrational, illogical, unkind. Report an error in the passage at 0:37 Highlight the passage at 0:37

1:48 I don't know how many migrants are sitting in here. I'm one of them. I was born in London. That's why when it was raining this afternoon, ah, this is so heavenly. Just what I'm used to. Report an error in the passage at 1:48 Highlight the passage at 1:48

2:06 But you can see that causes so much pain for many people. Why do people get into that? And what's a good way of contemplating so we don't have to worry about that? Report an error in the passage at 2:06 Highlight the passage at 2:06

2:21 Look at me. Am I English? That was only part of my journey through so many lifetimes. You're not just, you're not Bangladeshi. You're not sort of Italian. You're not Thai. That was just this lifetime. Imagine you could have confidence that this thing called rebirth is a truth, something you can prove. Report an error in the passage at 2:21 Highlight the passage at 2:21

2:57 It's also why I was talking earlier, why is it we get some young people ...who come here and meditate. Oh my goodness, you're so, so welcome. Recently, you know, I'm talking about a nice little girl over there. Thank you. You made me sign my little book. Very happy about that. But also, when I was over in Cambodia, one of the ladies I've known for so many years, and she'll be coming back here for the rains retreat. Report an error in the passage at 2:57 Highlight the passage at 2:57

3:35 She brought her nephew into my retreat, a nine-day retreat over in Cambodia. And she brought her nephew, and the nephew was such a great meditator. And he got into some very nice deep meditations. Report an error in the passage at 3:35 Highlight the passage at 3:35

3:55 He was only nine years old. And when you saw him, you know, I thought, why should we ever have... So you have to be 18 to come to a meditation class. We've seen that for so many years here. There was that little girl, Sarah, which I'll never forget. That was 30 years ago or something. And she was a great meditator. Report an error in the passage at 3:55 Highlight the passage at 3:55

4:28 And she would always come with her mum and come and sit here on a Saturday afternoon. She wouldn't make any noise. She wouldn't fall asleep. She would meditate the whole way through. And I remember one day when the person, I was teaching the class, but one of the people who was organizing everything, Bianca, when she made this beautiful little cushion. Report an error in the passage at 4:28 Highlight the passage at 4:28

4:53 See the big cushions you have? She made many of these cushions, but she made a special one for her, a small one, because she was so young. And he came up with a gift, you know, here's a nice cushion for you so when you come here you can have a bit more of a comfortable seat to sit on. She was a genius meditator. And I've seen so many other little kids who do so much goodness in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 4:53 Highlight the passage at 4:53

5:22 And you want to help them and serve them and let them keep on coming. It's not exploitation. They love it, they enjoy it so much and make no noise at all. So because of that, you ask the question that a young boy over in Cambodia, coming in from Hawaii, how come he was such a good meditator? He could not have learnt it in this life, not that well, not that deeply. Why? Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:59 And the idea that this is not the first time they've been meditating comes up. They've come into this life, you know, with some extra gifts, memories, tendencies. And when they are able to follow those tendencies and they become excellent kids at school or university or wherever they go, They become really, really peaceful. And of course, you know, the person I know the best, I can prove this, is this one over here. Report an error in the passage at 5:59 Highlight the passage at 5:59

6:40 And I was just saying today, you know, I grew up with me. I took myself for granted. But some of the things, I was kind of naughty sometimes, but I always thought myself was just the same as everybody else. But was I? Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

6:59 I remember one of my best friends, he told me that, you know, he was really confused by me, not confused but encouraged by me. Because throughout the whole life we were friends together at secondary school. He said I was one of the only people he knew at that school who never got into fights. Report an error in the passage at 6:59 Highlight the passage at 6:59

7:26 I was a male, in high school. And it was just kind of normal that people got into fights, you know, boy against boy. But I never did. He thought I was weird. Why didn't you get into fights? I don't know, it's just who you were. You didn't try to avoid anything. You just enjoyed peace more than conflict. And sometimes you see other kids like that. Report an error in the passage at 7:26 Highlight the passage at 7:26

7:58 Why? It made me interested in things like reincarnation, rebirth. Rebirth is a much better word than reincarnation, but nevertheless, both words are used. And unless you're very, very sharp in these Buddha's teachings, you can use both words for the time being. That is one of the reasons why I was interested in it. Report an error in the passage at 7:58 Highlight the passage at 7:58

8:24 I wanted to find out, is that true? Have you been reborn? If so, why can't you find out? And of course, there is ways to find out. Report an error in the passage at 8:24 Highlight the passage at 8:24

8:42 And this is, I've taught this for so many years now, usually teach it on retreats, and this is how I found it's easy to do it. Report an error in the passage at 8:42 Highlight the passage at 8:42

8:54 So what I did, again, I was not taught this by Ajahn Chah, my teacher. Just one day at Bodhinyana Monastery, just decided to have a nice deep meditation. It's important to have that depth of meditation when the mind gets very, very still. When it gets still, when I came out of the deep meditation, I asked myself a very simple question, what is my earliest memory? Report an error in the passage at 8:54 Highlight the passage at 8:54

9:32 And just see what happens. I only asked that question once. And almost immediately afterwards, I didn't, it was not getting a memory. It's much clearer than a memory. It was, I was back there as a one or two week old kid. It's like reliving that experience. Report an error in the passage at 9:32 Highlight the passage at 9:32

9:58 When you're reliving that experience, you were back there, you could see, feel, hear. And also, One of the things which occurred to me was obviously my mother, biggest person in my life for me as a couple of week old kid. And I recognized her, not how she looked, but how she smelt. Report an error in the passage at 9:58 Highlight the passage at 9:58

10:30 It was kind of weird. You're back there like you're just visiting a two or three week old kid. And I also had the ability. You know, just like a monk, you know, just almost being transported back so many years, and just a little kid in the pram, of being able to explore my home, the pram, actually going under the covers and exploring what was underneath there, and seeing one of my favorite toys. Report an error in the passage at 10:30 Highlight the passage at 10:30

11:07 I told this story before. One of my favorite toys was a little blue pig. It was ceramic, not plastic. I don't know if they had plastic in those days. Ceramic with beans in it. You could shake it and make a noise. You could walk it and it made a noise. And my mother called it Porky. I couldn't speak at the time, but I could laugh like little two-week-old kids can. Report an error in the passage at 11:07 Highlight the passage at 11:07

11:42 And I still remember that to this day. Little Porky, light blue coloured ceramic pig, my favourite toy. And when I said that to many people, I know I remember one doctor once told me, he said, you just remember how your mother smelt? I said, yes. I didn't recognise her face. He said, that's because... Report an error in the passage at 11:42 Highlight the passage at 11:42

12:12 When your brain grows as a kid, the sense of sight is not fully developed in the first few weeks of your life. You recognize your favorite things by how they smell. That's just the development of your brain and the senses. Report an error in the passage at 12:12 Highlight the passage at 12:12

12:35 And I kind of say this, I tell too many jokes so people don't take me seriously, but honestly, in those early weeks, If you, your mother, the mother changes her scent, her perfume, you really create havoc. Your kid won't know who you are. They recognize you by how you smell. Just like a dog recognizes your smell. Report an error in the passage at 12:35 Highlight the passage at 12:35

13:07 And these are really weird things. One other lady, because when I was explaining this, Explaining others. Try the same. If you really want to convince yourself that rebirth is absolute truth, ask yourself, you know, what is my earliest memory? And she had an interesting experience. She did have very good meditation. And she asked, what's my earliest memory? Report an error in the passage at 13:07 Highlight the passage at 13:07

13:41 And she remembered, she was back there breastfeeding from her mummy. But unfortunately, the person she was breastfeeding from was not her mother, brought no recognition to her mother. And that really confused her and caused her to come up to me as soon as she could for an interview and said, well, it was very clear I could see this woman I was breastfeeding from. Report an error in the passage at 13:41 Highlight the passage at 13:41

14:17 And that wasn't my mum. What do you do? I knew her mother, and so I told her, this woman, the next opportunity you have, ask your mother. Don't go being stupid and say, are you my real mother? Imagine what that would do to a mum. And just tell her, look, I had this kind of deep meditation and had a doubt. Report an error in the passage at 14:17 Highlight the passage at 14:17

14:51 And then ask her gently, as gently as she could, but she went a bit too far. Are you a real mum? Was I adopted? Did you really give birth to me? And she said, yes, I did. I know that. I was there. And then the mother was intrigued and just asked the other daughter, what did that woman look like? By this time she could actually recognise images. So she gave a very good description of this woman. Report an error in the passage at 14:51 Highlight the passage at 14:51

15:30 ...who was breastfeeding her day after day. And at that, the mother, wow, she recognized that woman. How on earth can you remember that? You were only just a few weeks old at the time. And she said, and I was from a wealthy family. That was your wet nurse. She recognized her features straight away. In her life so far, she's never been told that when she was young, the family paid for a wet nurse to feed her the first months of her life. Report an error in the passage at 15:30 Highlight the passage at 15:30

16:20 So these experiences which you can tell are really true. If you want to try that, and I hope you do, please be careful though. Because the danger of this exercise is you remember... When you remember these things, it's like you're back there, you're re-experiencing it. It's not just the memory of what you had for lunch today, it's like you're back there eating that lunch. Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:52 It's much more real. And so a few people have told me that, yes, I got back to the, what's my earliest memory? It was very unpleasant, because sometimes the earliest memory you have, have, you can maybe even go to your last life when you died, which was obviously such an intense emotional tragedy for you, or experience, it's traumatic. Report an error in the passage at 16:52 Highlight the passage at 16:52

17:23 So that is the first thing one remembers. numbers. So if ever that happens to you... Report an error in the passage at 17:23 Highlight the passage at 17:23

17:41 You can go past that and go earlier. What was there before you passed away your last life? And when you can start to do this, these days it's very helpful because you can actually find out so much information. You can check. We have so many records of who you were before. Report an error in the passage at 17:41 Highlight the passage at 17:41

18:11 Who your mother was before, where you lived. And some of those records are easily accessible. You can find them. And they corroborate or disprove what happened to you. You can get that evidence and prove it. Report an error in the passage at 18:11 Highlight the passage at 18:11

18:33 Like one of these guys who used to come here, he got married and moved overseas some years ago. But while he was here, he'd always tell me that he had a very weird memory. Well, not memory, but ability. Report an error in the passage at 18:33 Highlight the passage at 18:33

18:55 He could always have the ability to fly a plane. He just knew how to do it. He hadn't got a clue why. Not a big sort of jet airliner like you have in today's airports, but like a small plane. He knew how to do it. He never knew why. And it was in this particular case that he went to see a hypnotist. And the hypnotist did hypnotic regression to bring him to a past life. And in that past life, he found out why he had the ability, even as a kid, born in Scotland, how he could fly aircraft. Report an error in the passage at 18:55 Highlight the passage at 18:55

19:45 Even though he had no training. And he said it was because in his previous life, Second World War, not in Scotland, but in Wales, he was part of the RAF, and he was not fighting in the war, he was just piloting a supply plane, taking equipment. From Wales to Gibraltar. And he said that when he was flying this plane with many crew on it and lots of equipment, the rudder became unviable. Report an error in the passage at 19:45 Highlight the passage at 19:45

20:35 And he tried. And when he got down to a certain altitude, he tried to stabilize the plane but failed. And the plane crashed. Report an error in the passage at 20:35 Highlight the passage at 20:35

20:48 And as soon as I heard that, the hypnotist in question was good old Dennis. And he told me, with the subject's permission, I just, I'm surprised I could do this. I went online and checked out, you know, deadly crashes in Gibraltar, Second World War. And it was amazing, I got it straight away. Now usually my internet skills are very, very hopeless. But this one got straight away and I could actually find it, all those details. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:28 This new type of plane which they were using as transport did have a faulty radar system. It didn't work below a certain altitude and that's exactly what happened to him. But nevertheless, even though he died in that crash, he retained the ability. To fly aircraft, a small aircraft, without any training. And it was something which you'd always wanted to find out. Report an error in the passage at 21:28 Highlight the passage at 21:28

21:57 Where did that weird ability come from? Now each one of you, I don't know what you were very good at doing when you were young. Report an error in the passage at 21:57 Highlight the passage at 21:57

22:08 Did you just learn it first in this life? You may be an artist, you may be like a driver, What profession are you? Why did you choose that? Why? Is this the first time you've done that? Or is it just sometimes you remember things from the past? I remember, sorry, ordinary memory, okay, nothing special. Report an error in the passage at 22:08 Highlight the passage at 22:08

22:40 But I remember just loving giving talks on things like rebirth. And then one of those talks which I gave on rebirth, It was when I was visiting my mother in the UK, in London. I don't want to just abandon being a Buddhist monk, so I do recall just walking from her apartment where I was staying to the old Sri Lankan Vihara in Chiswick, in Heathrow Gardens, the old one. Report an error in the passage at 22:40 Highlight the passage at 22:40

23:17 When I went there, I'd already announced the topic of my talk that night, It was on reincarnation, rebirth. And it was well publicized. And the High Commissioner went as well. But not just him. They had afterwards, this boy was introduced to me. And he was one of the cases of spontaneous recollection of his past lives in a professor Report an error in the passage at 23:17 Highlight the passage at 23:17

23:54 What's his name again? A famous researcher, Stevenson, yes, thank you. In his book, one of the nine or ten cases supportive of the idea of reincarnation. And it's nice being able to actually talk with the boy himself. He was about fourteen or fifteen at this time. And he was much younger when he first started saying. Report an error in the passage at 23:54 Highlight the passage at 23:54

24:22 His mum and dad weren't his real mum and dad. And spontaneous memories which Stevenson started to look at and investigate. Are they real or are they just kids who are being a bit psychotic? And I talked with this kid as well. And this kid, one of the first things he said, this is the worst thing I ever did in my life. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:53 To tell about my memories of a previous life. He said the worst result of that was how he was given such a hard time at school. The other kids at school kept on teasing him and making his life hell simply because he was different. That's how schools used to work in those days. There's something slightly different about you. Something They can tease you on. They give you such a hard time. And I remember him telling me that personally. I wish I'd have never done that. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:34 To me, I gave him that compassion and sympathy. But that also made it more real for me. People don't go around saying the details of their previous life. They don't do that easily. It's only if it really is true. And it means something. Report an error in the passage at 25:34 Highlight the passage at 25:34

25:58 So because of that there's so much truth in these stories. And I was also, you know, smart enough to know enough philosophy that I know if one or two people can almost prove that they were reborn, or if I could remember some of the realities of a past life, if one person gets reborn, why not a lot? Why not everybody? It's part of the teachings of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 25:58 Highlight the passage at 25:58

26:36 If you want to notice how important it is in the Dhamma in Buddhism, the Buddha said that under the Bodhi tree, when he became enlightened, he became the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 26:36 Highlight the passage at 26:36

26:51 He attained those four deep meditations, the jhānas first. The next thing he did, was developed what he called the three insights, the tevija. This is the original form of insight meditation. Report an error in the passage at 26:51 Highlight the passage at 26:51

27:11 The first insight which he developed was the memory of past lives. That's the first insight. Second insight was how karma works. Once he could see his previous lives, he could understand why he'd been reborn as he was. Report an error in the passage at 27:11 Highlight the passage at 27:11

27:34 Do you know why you've been reborn as a girl or as a boy? Have you always been a girl? I've had a good fortune. You can see this little mark I've got on my leg here, on my heel, a little blue line. The reason I put that, because I was explaining a story which happened here in Perth. There was a Thai couple and the first time that she became pregnant, One or two days before birth, she had an ultrasound. She had a boy, and the boy was perfectly healthy, just, you know, but still in the womb. Report an error in the passage at 27:34 Highlight the passage at 27:34

28:23 And so she was so excited, in a couple of days, she gave birth to the first child, a nice boy. When the waters broke and the birth process started, Report an error in the passage at 28:23 Highlight the passage at 28:23

28:40 They realized that the being inside had died. The being was stillborn. It had turned around, the umbilical cord was blocked, and there was not enough blood going through that kid. So when it was born, he was already dead. I was there. I did the funeral service for them. Report an error in the passage at 28:40 Highlight the passage at 28:40

29:12 And I still remember this. This little kid, the first child who almost made it, but not quite, they had a family picture. They tipped up the coffin, just with no lid, so you could just see the kid. They dressed him up as a young boy. Report an error in the passage at 29:12 Highlight the passage at 29:12

29:34 And they had all the family members, including me as their monk, in the photo. That's why I remember that so easily. What I never noticed at the time, what they told me afterwards, was once no one was looking, they got a pen and they put a mark on the heel. Can you see that? On my heel? Anyway, I was just doing this to say the size and what they did. Report an error in the passage at 29:34 Highlight the passage at 29:34

30:09 Just like I've got on here. I wasn't that kid. I was born over in London. But I said, this is what they did. It was an old... Thai tradition, I'm sure it's in many other countries as well. A kid was stillborn, and they put the mark on it. She was a healthy lady, it was just a bit of bad luck. But anyway, she soon became pregnant again. And this time, because doctors, our health system is not that bad. Report an error in the passage at 30:09 Highlight the passage at 30:09

30:47 They try their very best. So they gave this woman extra special care. To make sure that she's going to have a successful pregnancy. They don't want to have the same accident happen again. And so she did have a successful birth. Report an error in the passage at 30:47 Highlight the passage at 30:47

31:05 The first kid was called Charlie. Second kid was called Annie. It was a girl. Report an error in the passage at 31:05 Highlight the passage at 31:05

31:18 Were they different beings? No way. Annie had a birthmark on her heel. Exactly like The mark they put on the babies, or the dead babies, her heel. She has that mark. Because they were Buddhists, they would always bring Annie here on a Saturday to offer dharma. And you saw Annie grow up. And when Annie was young, as a kid, I'm being honest with you, she was a tomboy. Report an error in the passage at 31:18 Highlight the passage at 31:18

32:01 See what happens. Yes, she was a girl, but her character was very male. She would fight the other girls and want to hang out with the boys because she was a boy before. Report an error in the passage at 32:01 Highlight the passage at 32:01

32:15 She still carried some of those character traits from her past until she became seven or eight and then she started exhibiting more female qualities. That's one of those lovely true stories. One of the things I asked you, you know what happens when kind of bad karma happens, and it's unfortunate karma, and it's not really worth losing your life for this? Report an error in the passage at 32:15 Highlight the passage at 32:15

32:47 I said it's like when you go to airport. You go to the airport, you get bumped off the plane, bit of bad luck. What happens if you get bumped off the flight? No fault of yourself. Report an error in the passage at 32:47 Highlight the passage at 32:47

33:06 Do you get an upgrade for the next flight? So I thought that's what Annie did. She didn't make it as a male, so she got upgraded in her next birth. Report an error in the passage at 33:06 Highlight the passage at 33:06

33:21 Do you understand what I mean? Report an error in the passage at 33:21 Highlight the passage at 33:21

33:27 So she became a healthy young lady. But when you see things like that, it gives life more meaning. Instead of always getting sort of negative or, you know, I'm just a man, I'm a woman. Honestly, what is the difference? Sometimes zero. I often notice that now at my age as a monk, that when a girl is 16, 17, 18, they start acting like a girl. Report an error in the passage at 33:27 Highlight the passage at 33:27

34:00 When you get to about 30, their feminine qualities, a lot of them just disappear. 35, 40. Same with guys. After a while, Then masculinity becomes almost unseen. Just almost that separation which we have is only for 10 or 20 years. Especially if we stop having female hairstyles or female clothes. How we tend to look the same, that differentiation kind of stops. Report an error in the passage at 34:00 Highlight the passage at 34:00

34:40 I don't know if you agree with that, but I've often noticed that you're not involved so much in male-female stuff. As a monk. But more than that, you know, of all the different races in this world, sometimes when you see old people, they kind of lose those characteristics which distinguish you from being a Bangladeshi or a Malaysian or a Singaporean. Report an error in the passage at 34:40 Highlight the passage at 34:40

35:10 What is a Singaporean, for goodness sake? You know, a lot of times, you just can't... Remember, or can't even see, you know, who's the... I already mentioned to you, I think, last week, that, you know, what is my race? Report an error in the passage at 35:10 Highlight the passage at 35:10

35:30 I'm an Asian. Did you realize that? I told you last week, I'm Asian. Caucasian. Report an error in the passage at 35:30 Highlight the passage at 35:30

35:42 It was a big deal anyway. I spent nine years in the northeast Thailand living with other... Northeastern Thais, call them like Isan people. I love them, got to know their culture, got to live their culture, even eat their food, and some of their characteristics, which I loved. You know the main characteristic with Northeast Thai people, they said, if it is not sunuk, it's not worth doing. Report an error in the passage at 35:42 Highlight the passage at 35:42

36:28 If it's not sunuk, don't do it. You know what sunuk means? Fun. Report an error in the passage at 36:28 Highlight the passage at 36:28

36:38 And honestly, that's what they kept on saying. I even remind some of the Thai people here. Any Thais or North Easterners here today? Report an error in the passage at 36:38 Highlight the passage at 36:38

36:51 If they're not here today, it's because it's not sunuk. Report an error in the passage at 36:51 Highlight the passage at 36:51

36:59 That's why you always have a lot of fun with them. And that's such an important part of their life. Oh yeah, they don't have very much. Such a poor people, but they still know how to enjoy themselves. And that's why sometimes you crack some of their jokes. You know, some of their jokes. You know, one of the things I had to eat when I was young? Frog soup. Report an error in the passage at 36:59 Highlight the passage at 36:59

37:31 Honestly. You'd only eat one meal a day when I was in the northeast Thailand. And sometimes, you know, you had a bowl of soup. So you had to eat with the sticky rice and you looked in the bowl what you had to eat that day and little frogs floating in there. Report an error in the passage at 37:31 Highlight the passage at 37:31

37:53 They're just big enough for your spoon. You didn't have any vegetables in there. There's no salt, no chili, no garlic, nothing else. Just little frogs like they just jumped in there themselves and there's no seasoning at all. No bread. just sticky rice and frogs. I'm honest with you. I remember as Report an error in the passage at 37:53 Highlight the passage at 37:53

38:42 a kid, I used to have a show, I think Monty Python. Any of you remember that comedy show? And they said, what's on the menu tonight, today? They said, crunchy frog. Report an error in the passage at 38:42 Highlight the passage at 38:42

39:00 Do you remember that? I did, especially, now I have to eat it. It's gross. It was Sanuk. So you just did it any old way. So a lot of that, you kind of got the idea of the different cultures. And that's one of the things I learned from that culture. It's not fun. If I don't have the opportunity to tell a couple of jokes during my talks, I won't do it. Why? Because it's not sunukh. Report an error in the passage at 39:00 Highlight the passage at 39:00

39:39 Anyway, that's one of the reasons also, I think, why so many people come here. Because they find it is sunukh. So, I don't know that... I had a visitor the other day, came to monastery. He was to see one of our monks. He was one of the monk's bosses earlier on. He was the CEO of the Australian Stock Exchange. Report an error in the passage at 39:39 Highlight the passage at 39:39

40:11 And I told him a couple of those silly stories. But he really loved it. He was laughing all over. I told him the story, like many of my stories, of ghosts. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:26 Many of you have heard this before, but it's a classic. I don't know, whenever your favorite music... Don't you always hear it many times before you get bored? This is the one about the mind who took the shortcut through the cemetery at night to get home. Report an error in the passage at 40:26 Highlight the passage at 40:26

40:52 And as he was going through the cemetery, he wasn't scared, he didn't believe in ghosts. But then after getting halfway through the cemetery, he kind of heard this sound behind him. Bump. Bump, bump. I'm just imagining, maybe I'm scared. Bump, bump. It was real. He made a big mistake. His mistake was looking around. What was making that noise? Report an error in the passage at 40:52 Highlight the passage at 40:52

41:32 When he looked around, what he saw was just horrendous. What he saw was a coffin. Vertical coffin. Still with the dirt falling off it and the cobwebs all over it. Bump, bump, bump, following him. Report an error in the passage at 41:32 Highlight the passage at 41:32

42:00 And of course, what would you do? He stopped walking. He started running as fast as he could. Doesn't matter how fast he ran. Bump, bump, bump, bump. The coffin was running after him. Imagine being chased by a coffin which was vertical. Report an error in the passage at 42:00 Highlight the passage at 42:00

42:22 The gate to the cemetery was not that far away. He kind of thought, assumed, if he gets out of the cemetery, then the coffin won't be able to chase him anymore. Because coffins belong in cemeteries. So he ran as fast as he could and just got out the gate, just when the coffin was a few meters behind him. Report an error in the passage at 42:22 Highlight the passage at 42:22

42:47 And he was panting for breath. He turned around. Did that coffin stop? No way. The coffin carried on chasing him down the street. Fortunately, his house was not that far away. Bump, bump, bump, bump. Chasing was catching up with him now. Report an error in the passage at 42:47 Highlight the passage at 42:47

43:15 So he was so desperate, he jumped over the garden gate. He didn't open it, just jumped right over it. And carried on running towards his front door. The coffin, he couldn't jump. Instead he went, bang! Bang! Against the garden gate. Bang! And the coffin was so strong, it broke down the garden gate. Report an error in the passage at 43:15 Highlight the passage at 43:15

43:50 And so he reached into his pocket to get his house keys. What do you do when you're not mindful? Report an error in the passage at 43:50 Highlight the passage at 43:50

44:00 You drop the keys. Bump, bump, bump, bump. Came the coffin down the garden path and he picked up any old key, the first key he had, put it in the lock of his front door. He was so fortunate. Report an error in the passage at 44:00 Highlight the passage at 44:00

44:22 It was the correct key. He turned the key, opened the door and jumped in and banged the door shut as soon as he could and locked it all. Just as the coffin, vertical coffin, came right in front of his front door. He could see it through the glass in the front door. Report an error in the passage at 44:22 Highlight the passage at 44:22

44:42 He'd only just made it. How lucky he was. Bang! As the coffin slammed into the front door. Bang! Really loud. So he thought, oh my goodness, that coffin is so supernaturally strong. It's going to break down the door. What can I do now? He had a good idea. The only other room in the house which had a lock was a washroom. Report an error in the passage at 44:42 Highlight the passage at 44:42

45:18 So he went up the stairs. And as he went up the stairs, as he got to the top of the stairs, and that's when the coffin broke down the front door. That's how strong that coffin was. Report an error in the passage at 45:18 Highlight the passage at 45:18

45:37 And it came into his house and the coffin looked to the right, looked to the left, couldn't see him because he was on top of the stairs. Then the coffin looked up. Oh no! The coffin saw him and started bump, bump, bump, climbing the stairs. Report an error in the passage at 45:37 Highlight the passage at 45:37

46:03 This was really scary. So he jumped into the washroom. Knocked the door. If that coffin could break down his front door, he realized just locking the door of his washroom was not going to work. What else could you do? So he leaned against the wall of the washroom. Bang! Bang! Bang! Came the coffin breaking down the washroom door, which all splintered and all the hinges went all over the place. Report an error in the passage at 46:03 Highlight the passage at 46:03

46:41 And now there was nothing between the coffin and this man. This was like the end of his life. But what he did, because his hands were spread out, whatever he could reach, he didn't even look at what he was throwing, threw it at the coffin. Report an error in the passage at 46:41 Highlight the passage at 46:41

47:04 It was a bottle of medicine on the shelf. The bottle, the glass bottle, cracked and broke over the coffin. And the coffin never moved again. Report an error in the passage at 47:04 Highlight the passage at 47:04

47:20 It was cough medicine. Guaranteed to stop the coffin. Report an error in the passage at 47:20 Highlight the passage at 47:20

47:33 Doesn't know what the pharmacist says? You drink the cough medicine, it stops the coffin. Report an error in the passage at 47:33 Highlight the passage at 47:33

47:44 So the head, the former head, Australian Stock Exchange, he appreciated that. He laughed his head off. Report an error in the passage at 47:44 Highlight the passage at 47:44

47:55 So that's why Sanuk. Even though he was English, But it doesn't matter what race or religion. If it's funny, you can't help but laughing. So that's how we create harmony in this world. Whatever we do, make it sanuk. Report an error in the passage at 47:55 Highlight the passage at 47:55

48:17 Thank you for listening. Now, any questions? Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. I Report an error in the passage at 48:17 Highlight the passage at 48:17

48:39 once told that story to this young kid. She's American. She was the daughter. of this publisher of my books in the United States. His name is David Kittelstrom, and this was his daughter. And David said, you know, thanks for all those books of yours which I've published, but my daughter just hates going to the temple. Report an error in the passage at 48:39 Highlight the passage at 48:39

49:06 It's not enjoyable. It's boring. Have any of your kids or friends or children said that? I don't want to go to the temple. It's boring. Report an error in the passage at 49:06 Highlight the passage at 49:06

49:18 So he asked me, can you tell one of those stories to my kid? And I told her that joke. And she was sitting on the dad's lap all the time, getting more and more scared. Report an error in the passage at 49:18 Highlight the passage at 49:18

49:35 And then when I came to the punchline, phoned the cough medicine, and she burst out laughing. Yeah, great, thank you, please tell me another one. Report an error in the passage at 49:35 Highlight the passage at 49:35

49:47 To her it was Sanuk. It even shows as American as you can be and the meaning behind it. That's why what we do, we do and have some joy. Can you tell us a joke please, Eddie? Report an error in the passage at 49:47 Highlight the passage at 49:47

50:12 Ajahn. Is it a good joke or a bad joke? Can I have a question, Ajahn? Sorry? Question? Where? Hi Ajahn, thank you so much. OK, yeah. Can I have a question? Oh yes. Hi Ajahn, thank you very much for your insightful talk on rebirth today. I would like to ask a question about rebirth and spirituality. Yes, good. Well, I knew a person who claimed himself as a spiritual person. One day I mentioned rebirth in our conversation and how the best in this life in order to reduce suffering in the next life. Report an error in the passage at 50:12 Highlight the passage at 50:12

50:56 He denied rebirth and claimed that he did not believe in it. So my question today is, is rebirth a concept of spirituality and not related to religion? And if it is, is a spiritual person without belief in rebirth is a fake one, isn't it? Yeah, indeed. It's not religious. It's not spiritual. It's provable. You can find out the truth of it. So don't see why people can't accept the fact of rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 50:56 Highlight the passage at 50:56

51:39 And it means no matter what race you think you are, that's only this lifetime. It's not your whole existence. It's your Australian or your English or your Bangladeshi or your Sri Lankan. You don't actually hold that. You know, this is this life. You happen to be a Sri Lankan, not a Sri Lankan, Eddie. Report an error in the passage at 51:39 Highlight the passage at 51:39

52:06 You were from Malaysia. So you're not Malaysian. You're not Asian. Just this life. You know, you were born there, but you've come and lived in Australia for such a long time. Your whole idea of identity. Report an error in the passage at 52:06 Highlight the passage at 52:06

52:25 And hurting people because of their identity doesn't make any sense anymore. And so anyone who thinks like that, all the problems of the world are because of somebody else, you don't think like that. You may be a Muslim this life and be somebody else the next life. Who are you? Report an error in the passage at 52:25 Highlight the passage at 52:25

52:49 You may be a girl this life, a boy last life. You may be non-binary next life. Who are you really? None of those. You're learning from the experience of being so many different races, so many different genders, so many different people. And the more you can remember those cases, then the more you don't see there's really anything which divides us. Report an error in the passage at 52:49 Highlight the passage at 52:49

53:21 Imagine when we're not divided, when we trust each other, we can love each other. And it's wonderful when I see, People marrying each other from totally different sort of races. Why not? We have many more, you know, who are you? No one really knows. Hi. Hi. You were just coming to visit. You're a Buddhist teacher from Bangladesh. Report an error in the passage at 53:21 Highlight the passage at 53:21

54:00 Who has a microphone. Okay, yes, working, apparently. Yes. You've got to speak into it. No, it's not working. Go on. Report an error in the passage at 54:00 Highlight the passage at 54:00

54:18 Yeah, there we go. Okay. My name is Nantu Borua from Bangladesh. I'm sorry, actually, my English is not good. But I will try to explain to you. We're calling you Ajahn Brahm. We know a long time in Bangladesh. Report an error in the passage at 54:18 Highlight the passage at 54:18

54:47 I like you like my idol. I follow you long time, very long time. I know you reading books and from the YouTube, etc. And I listen a lot of your speech. I follow you all the time. One way I hear from you, meditation, wisdom, Report an error in the passage at 54:47 Highlight the passage at 54:47

55:18 Meditation, wisdom and solution. Can you explain to me how is that? Meditation, wisdom and solution. Many things in your life are problems. How can we overcome those problems? Like just this evening, I was very fortunate to do a wedding blessing. Is he still here, Conrad? And Magda? OK, now. Report an error in the passage at 55:18 Highlight the passage at 55:18

55:49 It's okay to do like some blessings and do some chanting, but I wanted to give much more than that. He'd known Conrad for ages. Report an error in the passage at 55:49 Highlight the passage at 55:49

56:00 And so I said to him, make sure you also make this promise to your wife and your wife to you, which they did, to say to her, Magda, my wife, Report an error in the passage at 56:00 Highlight the passage at 56:00

56:16 The door of my heart will always be open to you, no matter what you do. You're my wife. I may argue with you, but I will always make up with you. Always. And I said to him also, make sure you say that, or you hear that from your wife. You say, the door of my heart is open to you. The kind of forgiveness. Report an error in the passage at 56:16 Highlight the passage at 56:16

56:49 I might not agree with what you do, what you say, but I will never close my heart off to you. Ever. Because that's what my father told me. It meant so much. Son, whether you turn out to be a good boy or a bad boy, the door of my heart will always be open to you. Report an error in the passage at 56:49 Highlight the passage at 56:49

57:13 And that kind of was his expression of unconditional love. If you give unconditional love to someone, it's amazing how many problems get solved. So from meditation, you can get that wisdom. And from the wisdom you put into practice, it's amazing how those solutions happen. And it's not just that, it's your health as well. Report an error in the passage at 57:13 Highlight the passage at 57:13

57:46 You know, one of the nuns said, Ajahn Brahm, you should look after your health. I said, I am. He said, no you're not. And I said, yes, I am. I use a lot of meditation to understand the health of my body and if there's any need for a solution. It's amazing just how the meditation can work and give me solutions which basically other people don't have, just through the powers of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 57:46 Highlight the passage at 57:46

58:20 I use that as a cure for almost everything. Report an error in the passage at 58:20 Highlight the passage at 58:20

58:28 I know other people say, oh, come on. go and take some medication or something. I said, no, not medication, meditation. Report an error in the passage at 58:28 Highlight the passage at 58:28

58:43 Ajahn Brahm, tonight's talk you ended with a powerful saying which all create harmony in our life. Ajahn Brahm don't you think the problem in our life enters us from our sixth sense doors? From our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, our thoughts, and contact the thing. If you don't let them come in this thing, it doesn't hurt us. Report an error in the passage at 58:43 Highlight the passage at 58:43

59:17 So I just give an example. For example, the current problem we have here in Australia, the Pauline Hanson thing, actually it's nothing at all. Report an error in the passage at 59:17 Highlight the passage at 59:17

59:28 So what I did was, I see in the news, Oh, you know, like all these pros and cons. It's all nonsense. It's nothing at all. No problem. It's just created the thing, you know. So what I did was I decided the six sandals, I closed, first thing is, my eye, you know, the seeing, you know, from the TV, I don't see it, okay? Report an error in the passage at 59:28 Highlight the passage at 59:28

59:50 Hearing, I don't hear it, this thing, okay? I don't, the thoughts, I don't think about it, you know. And it comes me, it brings me harmony. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 59:50 Highlight the passage at 59:50

1:00:00 Because it's all nonsense going on and she's taking advantage of to create fear without this fear and division. She's nothing. She created that and the people believe it. The problem is that people like to be afraid. That's why many people are very interested in that coffin story. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00:00

1:00:26 But the difference was it had a very good ending. story. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:26 Highlight the passage at 1:00:26

1:00:37 I have a question. Thank you for the talk. It's a wonderful talk. I had a personal experience with... I'm a musician. I play many instruments which have taken me many years to learn. But one instrument I instantly knew how to play. And people would always say that must be from some past life experience. I have no idea, but that was just a personal experience I had. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:37 Highlight the passage at 1:00:37

1:01:08 But my question is in relation to the division that seems to be getting exacerbated in the community globally with politics, what do you think is the best way to communicate with people who are getting fooled by this divide and rule technique that the oligarchs use? To help them to understand that all of us in the same economic bracket, regardless of our color of skin or sexuality or whatever, we're not each other's enemy. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:08 Highlight the passage at 1:01:08

1:01:47 Our only enemy is the people that are running off with all the money and all the power and oppressing us. How's the best way to communicate that to people? Help them to understand that. Have more videos of BSWA talks and the audience who comes and just... Even recently I was told that even Ajahn Mudito was on the TV in Poland giving a talk. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:47 Highlight the passage at 1:01:47

1:02:15 It's wonderful that when we can actually share our wisdom together. They didn't say how it went yet. You know, to share our wisdom together and how wonderful it is to have friends from so many different backgrounds. Do you just like one type of food? Or you'd like to go and eat some Polish food. When was the last time you had a Polish diet? Or what about a German diet? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:15 Highlight the passage at 1:02:15

1:02:50 What did you say you like? Potatoes with their skins on them. Yeah? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:50 Highlight the passage at 1:02:50

1:03:03 It's wonderful where we can share our cultures together, how we were brought up, and just have the best of all cultures. And then we can enjoy life much more. Makes sense. And even music. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03:03

1:03:24 The different types of music we have in the world. Just last week or just a week and a bit ago, a member of Parliament House, who was actually performing? It was the Bhutanese. And they were, yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:03:24 Highlight the passage at 1:03:24

1:03:49 the Bhutanese were incredibly skillful. and they were playing this guitar, not really a guitar, but it's one of their traditional instruments. They played it so well, it was so sweet. It's lovely when you can actually, instead of sending people home, stay to listen to them, and they're amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:49 Highlight the passage at 1:03:49

1:04:23 Ajahn Brahm, my late father passed away two years ago, so my niece Actually see his spirit in the house where he used to live for all his life. So my question is, I mean, if we believe in rebirth, so what can we do to help him to get into reincarnation, to rebirth, so that he's not in that state? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:23 Highlight the passage at 1:04:23

1:04:52 You've seen him? My niece saw him a couple of times. Was he healthy or happy? If he's happy, he's having a good time there, let him stay. But later on, you know, he gets to the point, okay, I've been here long enough now, and then he can leave. So my question would be, if we believe in rebirth, is rebirth an instantaneous thing, somebody pass away, the next moment he moves on? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:52 Highlight the passage at 1:04:52

1:05:25 No, sometimes you stick around for a while. Remember... Many of the traditions say 49 days. And that happened. I remember this lady, you know, I knew her family. The head of the family, he was the accountant, the treasurer of the Buddhist Society of Western... I don't know, the treasurer of the Wat Bananachat. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:25 Highlight the passage at 1:05:25

1:05:53 I remember him coming to monastery early one morning. Way early he should have been coming. And I said, what happened? And he said, that morning that one of his daughters said, oh, I had a really weird dream last night. My deceased sister came to see me and said, I've been here long enough now, I'm taking my leave. And everybody stopped eating. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:53 Highlight the passage at 1:05:53

1:06:17 And everybody in that family, there's a family of uncles and aunties and cousins and stuff, were about 20 or 30. They all had the same dream that night. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:17 Highlight the passage at 1:06:17

1:06:30 Exactly the same dream. And he said, what's going on? And I said, well, I knew when she died, did the funeral for them, and I'm good enough at mass to be able to count the days, exactly 49 days. I said, she's been there 49 days. Everything is good now, so she can leave. So sometimes people stay for a while before they vanish. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:30 Highlight the passage at 1:06:30

1:07:00 And that was a clear case of 49 days. Sometimes they stay longer. If they stay longer, they don't stay forever. And sometimes you just ask them, you've been here long enough now, so now's the time to go, go for your next life. Sometimes to be able to help them, you just share your merits. You've been to a talk this evening, that's a huge amount of good karma you have got. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:00 Highlight the passage at 1:07:00

1:07:29 You go back to their house, they're dead. All this merit which I made by coming to the temple today, I give to you. And he'll get so happy that he goes into much higher rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:07:47 That's how it happens. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:47 Highlight the passage at 1:07:47

1:07:53 I got some ones on the internet. Okay, come on. I try not to be too long. Oh, wow. My father passed away a year ago. My wife and I found out we were expecting our first child. Are there any ways to know it? about anything about my child's past life. If that is your deceased father, crikey, sometimes you'll be able to tell. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:53 Highlight the passage at 1:07:53

1:08:25 Sometimes get a picture of your father or the things which you loved and just show it to your baby and see how the baby reacts once you do give birth. Later on, when the child is growing up, Sometimes it says these things automatically, naturally, not forced. So they will tell you if he was the father. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:25 Highlight the passage at 1:08:25

1:08:52 Question from India. When we realize we are under delusion and feel confused about what to do, how can we take right action? One great thing to do is to meditate first. When you meditate, after you've meditated, you get a nice deep meditation. You have these moments of clarity where the doubts and confusion disappears for a while. You can make decisions confident that they're good ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:52 Highlight the passage at 1:08:52

1:09:25 That's how you can take right action. Question from New England. How to get into flow state within minutes of being emotionally triggered by my thoughts and perceptions of environment around me? We would appreciate your insight. How to get into a flow state within minutes. That is realizing how important that flow state, that peaceful state is. After a while you can stop the difficult state so quickly. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:25 Highlight the passage at 1:09:25

1:10:01 Why not? You say, no, I'm not playing that game. I'm not getting into those thoughts. I'm not going to get emotionally triggered. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:01 Highlight the passage at 1:10:01

1:10:12 You do have that power. You need to exercise it and train it. So that way you don't get emotionally caught up. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:12 Highlight the passage at 1:10:12

1:10:26 Can you be honest, venerable? Do I get triggered by my thoughts and perceptions of the environment around me? Am I triggered by the emotions around me? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:26 Highlight the passage at 1:10:26

1:10:48 Very. Thank you. So I'm saying that because it is possible. You know it is possible. You don't have to just give in to them. So I'm going to make a more peaceful life for myself and for all the other ones who live with me. From Bolivia, What is sīla and how to be perfect? Previously Ajahn Brahm said the answer was forgiveness. But what about refraining from wrongdoing, acknowledging mistakes and learning from mistakes? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:48 Highlight the passage at 1:10:48

1:11:26 Which one is the most important? The most important one is both of them. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:26 Highlight the passage at 1:11:26

1:11:33 I can never sort of negate or lessen the idea of forgiveness. It's giving forgiveness and if you have done something wrong, asking for forgiveness. But it's also, that's one of the best ways of acknowledging mistakes and learning from mistakes. If we don't have forgiveness, we tend to hide mistakes. Oh, I didn't do that. Oh, I never said that. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:33 Highlight the passage at 1:11:33

1:12:02 And that means you're not learning, you're not growing. One of the most important things is actually to know how to be perfect. Don't try and be perfect. Try to be better. Perfect is just too high. Be a better human being. And lastly, from one of my favorite cities, Medan in Indonesia. How can one reduce overthinking in order to communicate with total listening? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:02 Highlight the passage at 1:12:02

1:12:37 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:37 Highlight the passage at 1:12:37

1:12:49 That's how. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:49 Highlight the passage at 1:12:49

1:12:54 How to be, how to stop overthinking. Were you thinking then? Why is Ajahn Brahm being quiet? So what? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:54 Highlight the passage at 1:12:54

1:13:08 You don't have to overthink. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:08 Highlight the passage at 1:13:08

1:13:14 Only one, promise only one? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:14 Highlight the passage at 1:13:14

1:13:21 Right, I'll shout it, yeah. I got it. Sorry Ajahn Brahm, just now you said that we have power in ourselves, innit? Of course. Yeah, power, the thing, okay now. So, for example, this thing like the lady was saying, he see the sister, what, sees the deceased person in the house, you know. Sometimes these deceased people, they need help, you know. So, maybe what you do is you can do some good marriage dedicated to them, you know, for me too, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:21 Highlight the passage at 1:13:21

1:13:55 If I have, like, sometimes I dream of deceased people too. Yeah. Yeah. See what state all these things. And I said, oh, maybe it's like they need certain things. So I go to the temple and I do dana. Yeah. I dedicate to them all these things, you know. And also our well-being too, Ajahn Brahm, you know. Even though if we are well, you know, okay, if we think you're going to be sick, if you're sick, this thing, okay, you think you're going to be well, all these things, okay, with all the sickness is the fear that kills you, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:55 Highlight the passage at 1:13:55

1:14:29 it harms you. If you can be at ease with all these things, you know, it will heal. Thank you, Ajahn Brahm. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:29 Highlight the passage at 1:14:29

1:14:55 Okay, no trouble. Okay, I think we better finish off now. Is that okay? better, you do get better. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Bram. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:55 Highlight the passage at 1:14:55

1:15:04 So I'm going to bow three times now, so those of you who want to join me to make that last bit of extra merit, please do so. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:04 Highlight the passage at 1:15:04