A Path Without Groaning!

0:00 Thank you all for coming and thank you for the saṅgha here for making the temple available so that I can give a dharma talk. Please, I apologize that the dharma talk will be given in English. I only know a very little amount of Sinhala. But I think that most of the people here have known me for a while and they can understand my English. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:27 And it also means that when I speak in English, it means I can take the dharma more deep in ways which some of you may not have heard before. Even the title of this talk, A Path Without Groaning, that was a translation which I remember seeing in a book about the Eightfold Path and describing it as a path. Report an error in the passage at 0:27 Highlight the passage at 0:27

0:57 which is a simple, easy, beautiful, joyful path, without having to groan. Those of you, I'm afraid I started a little bit early, but I always go over time, so I'll make up for it afterwards. Are you okay with it? Excellent. So anyway, it's a joy to come and give a talk at this centre again, and it's also a member of a joy, When I go to the London Buddha Suihara over in Chiswick, I was just mentioning that earlier simply because that was where I grew up. Report an error in the passage at 0:57 Highlight the passage at 0:57

1:41 That's where I went to school. That's where I played soccer. That's where I went to high school. And that's the area where I used to be. And one thing which I noticed about that area in Chiswick, the same as here, is that often you never saw a monk or a nun, a bhikkhuni. And I first became a Buddhist when I was only 16 years of age. Report an error in the passage at 1:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41

2:10 That was the time I got my first school prize. And when I got my first school prize for doing A-levels, and then I was, I never had a school prize before. And so I asked the teacher, what should I get? He said, well, you got a school prize in maths, so why don't you get a book on maths? And I see there's a couple of young people here, probably still going to school. Report an error in the passage at 2:10 Highlight the passage at 2:10

2:42 So I always want to engage with everybody in the audience, not just those who are out and out bullets for a long time. I used to ask people the question when they were at school, little test, are you good at maths? Report an error in the passage at 2:42 Highlight the passage at 2:42

2:58 Little kid over there. Report an error in the passage at 2:58 Highlight the passage at 2:58

3:04 Is he good at math? Report an error in the passage at 3:04 Highlight the passage at 3:04

3:08 No. Report an error in the passage at 3:08 Highlight the passage at 3:08

3:12 Yes, great. Okay, a little test for you. Simple test. It's a subtraction. Do you know how to do subtraction? Yeah. Okay. 26 sheep in a field. Listen. 26 sheep in a field. 10 die. How many survive? 16. Report an error in the passage at 3:12 Highlight the passage at 3:12

3:39 Is that right? Does everyone agree? Yes. That's wrong. Report an error in the passage at 3:39 Highlight the passage at 3:39

3:46 I'll say it again. I'll say it slowly this time. Listen carefully. We have to listen carefully when we're Buddhists. It's called mindfulness. It's actually how, when the Alhambra Mahinda first landed in Sri Lanka, that he gave a riddle to the king Devanampiyatis. Fortunately, the king solved that riddle, and that's why he thought the people in Sri Lanka... Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:10 They're capable of understanding dharma. I'll tell the riddle again. Listen really carefully. 26 sheep in a field. 10 die. How many survive? The answer's not 16. Okay, I can't tell you very, very slowly. Report an error in the passage at 4:10 Highlight the passage at 4:10

4:33 26 sheep in a field. That's why they die. They were sick. But how many survive? Report an error in the passage at 4:33 Highlight the passage at 4:33

4:46 10, yeah, 10 is the right answer. Tomorrow when you go to school, are you still going to school? Is it still school days? The school is out now. Report an error in the passage at 4:46 Highlight the passage at 4:46

4:59 Anyone? Report an error in the passage at 4:59 Highlight the passage at 4:59

5:03 That was a kid on the back. But anyway, you can tell that to your school teacher. See how smart your school teacher is. 26 sheep. People always hear 26. But anyhow, this is where... Whenever I give a talk, hopefully you can always hear a few funny stories. So that actually gets children engaged in whatever you're talking about. Report an error in the passage at 5:03 Highlight the passage at 5:03

5:35 That also gets the audience engaged in what's listening, in listening. This is actually how you deliver a dharma talk, to make it interesting, entertaining, without any groaning. Report an error in the passage at 5:35 Highlight the passage at 5:35

5:52 This is how you teach. But it's also other things. Over in Australia, of course, as many Sinhalese come to the talks and also Thais, but a lot of you need to know some more about Buddhism. One of the problems people have with Buddhism in Australia is why is it that you always have to bow to a Buddha statue when you first come in, like I did? Report an error in the passage at 5:52 Highlight the passage at 5:52

6:22 First thing I did before I sat down, to bow three times to the Buddha statue. And Australians want to know why. Even on this one occasion, because it's important to create the friendly relations between all types of Buddhism and all other types of religions, so there's peace in this world and some understanding and some sense of harmony together, even where you go to work. Report an error in the passage at 6:22 Highlight the passage at 6:22

6:51 Do you always only go to work with other Buddhists? There's all sorts of people from all sorts of religions. So I remember just making a point of trying to give talks about Buddhism in so many different venues on this particular occasion because of the work which I was doing healing cancers. Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

7:15 Meditation is great to actually solve problems with cancer. Because of that, I was befriended by an Anglican pastor at a top Christian school in Perth called Christ Church Grammar School. And he said, I want to get you into our school to teach some common sense. Never ever thinking that you are the best school, but how we can join in creating harmony. Report an error in the passage at 7:15 Highlight the passage at 7:15

7:49 And so at that school, I agreed to give a talk at the morning assembly. When I came to give the talk at the morning assembly, that I had to wait outside with the principal and with the pastor. And they said that when we go inside the hall, there's a little statue of Jesus. And because I'm the principal and a very devout Christian, and this is the pastor, who's actually been ordained, that we make a little bow to the statue of Jesus. And that's when he told me, you're a Buddhist, you don't have to do that. Report an error in the passage at 7:49 Highlight the passage at 7:49

8:34 And I said, no, I am demanding my right to bow to your statue of Jesus. I remember the way that the principal looked at the pastor, who are you inviting to give a talk to our kids? He didn't understand that response, but the pastor understood. So he said, just wait and see. And that gave me the subject for the talk. I said, when I bow to a Buddha statue, I demand my right to bow to your statue of Jesus. Report an error in the passage at 8:34 Highlight the passage at 8:34

9:08 I'm going to bow to something in that which I respect. And that's why when I bow to, even when I bow to a Buddha statue, I bow to what I respect in that Buddha statue. Report an error in the passage at 9:08 Highlight the passage at 9:08

9:22 And I said, what I respect, first of all, is virtue. Goodness. The sīla which we keep. I don't know how many of you know the five precepts. How many of you keep the five precepts? Or why you keep the five precepts? Because to me it makes life so much more happy and peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 9:22 Highlight the passage at 9:22

9:50 For years I was keeping those five precepts. Then one day I went to the temple and they said, you've been coming here a long time. It's about time you took those five precepts. And I asked him, took them? What do you mean? Well, you know, just do the chanting. I said, why do I need to chant them? I've been keeping them without breaking them for quite a few years now. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:23 And they couldn't understand me. And then that's when I said that each one of those precepts, I'd seen the purpose of them. Report an error in the passage at 10:23 Highlight the passage at 10:23

10:34 You know, one of the last times I killed a living being, just after my father passed away, died, and there was a mouse in my mother's apartment. Report an error in the passage at 10:34 Highlight the passage at 10:34

10:46 And my mother was terrified of mice. I don't know why. But then I decided, because I was a son, I should catch that mouse so that my mother was not disturbed anymore. And so I put a trap out. And I was a very smart young man. And I caught that mouse and I heard the trap spring and the metal bar crushed or broke that mouse's neck. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:17 And I saw it and I thought, well, yeah, I've done it. I've helped my mother. But then I picked up that trap. The mouse was still warm. It was dead. And I felt so sad. I felt so guilty even. I've killed a living being. Report an error in the passage at 11:17 Highlight the passage at 11:17

11:37 And I stroked it, and it was so beautifully clean. It was like a cat who'd been groomed. It was so nice. And I took it to the waste bin outside, and that became the last animal I killed. When I saw it and saw the consequences, why are people scared of these beautiful little mice? They're not dirty. That's maybe what you've been told. But why don't you have a look next time? Report an error in the passage at 11:37 Highlight the passage at 11:37

12:10 Be kind to little mouse. And they're just little beings scurrying around, just looking for some food. That's all. I don't know why people think they're a health hazard. To me, they clean up after you if you miss something when you're sweeping the floor. Report an error in the passage at 12:10 Highlight the passage at 12:10

12:29 So because of things like that, they're Report an error in the passage at 12:29 Highlight the passage at 12:29

12:38 nice. So I... Because of things like that, you know that, so I gave up. Any form of killing. And the next thing about stealing. I used to, I was a kid from a poor home. And sometimes when you went to school, sometimes the conductor of the bus wouldn't take any, you know, forgot to ask for your fare. So I thought, if he didn't ask, I didn't need to pay. Report an error in the passage at 12:38 Highlight the passage at 12:38

13:15 I felt guilty about that afterwards. I thought that driver has a job to do and he has to get money to pay for his salary. Report an error in the passage at 13:15 Highlight the passage at 13:15

13:26 And I thought that's not right. So I too started to volunteer to pay. Now when you finish the journey, I went up to the conductor, he forgot to take my fare. And he kind of looked at me very strange because not many kids, school kids would do that. I thought, I wanted to do that. I felt so much happier doing that. It was only a few pence. And it's the same with... I wouldn't take what's not given. Report an error in the passage at 13:26 Highlight the passage at 13:26

13:56 I wouldn't sort of... the committing adultery. I was old enough to have a girlfriend then. But I soon figured out the one girlfriend was expensive enough. Having two, I just could not afford. Well, not just that. It was because, you know, that... It broke the trust. So and also, even lying out became very truthful. Why say a lie? Report an error in the passage at 13:56 Highlight the passage at 13:56

14:26 You're deceiving people, and it's not fair. And alcohol on drugs. I mention the alcohol because today on the train, I went past the Thames River, over the Thames River, from Oxford, where Anukampa Monastery was, as well as coming from, into Paddington Station. And I think I must have got the place wrong, but on the Thames River, when I was only 14 years of old age, that's where I had my first glass of beer. Report an error in the passage at 14:26 Highlight the passage at 14:26

14:58 Totally illegal, like peer pressure. And I remember just how disgusting it tasted. But nevertheless, I started to like it because of peer pressure. Report an error in the passage at 14:58 Highlight the passage at 14:58

15:13 And then later on, when I became a student at Cambridge, They had what was called scholars' dinner. The only way I could get into a university like that was getting scholarships all the way. No way that my mother, a single woman living in a council flat, could afford it. No any fees. There were scholarships all the way, and one thing they used to do was have a scholars' dinner every year. Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:43 I'm going to describe it now, just so you know how stupid that university was. But apparently I did read in the internet today that Oxford has now been beaten by Cambridge, which is the best university in the UK. Report an error in the passage at 15:43 Highlight the passage at 15:43

16:10 But this is what the best university in the UK was like when I was there. I can't respect this at all. It started off with Sherry in the old library. Report an error in the passage at 16:10 Highlight the passage at 16:10

16:33 and this alcohol was served by butlers in tails you know just just a real thing very high class and i was studying math at the time and i did work out with my friend that The butlers were going around the table in a clockwise direction. So if I and my friend walked around in an anti-clockwise direction, we'd meet the butlers twice in a circuit instead of just once. Report an error in the passage at 16:33 Highlight the passage at 16:33

17:07 So we'd get some more alcohol. That's the peer pressure. How stupid I was. And then after the sherry, then we went to a nine-course meal. Again with butlers. A different wine. Report an error in the passage at 17:07 Highlight the passage at 17:07

17:24 And then, after nine courses, and we repaired to the old library, and that's where we had three glasses, three wine glasses, of claret, madeira, and sherry. Report an error in the passage at 17:24 Highlight the passage at 17:24

17:45 And then, anyhow, and that was an all. Then it had this big silver goblet. I mean, really big. Ha, ha, ha. Report an error in the passage at 17:45 Highlight the passage at 17:45

17:54 That was filled up with something. I didn't really care what then. And it was filled up and each one of us had to drink it, drain it, the whole lot, and then say a toast in Latin. Report an error in the passage at 17:54 Highlight the passage at 17:54

18:08 And that was the smartest people in that college, including the master of that college at the time, who was a Nobel laureate in chemistry. Report an error in the passage at 18:08 Highlight the passage at 18:08

18:19 And when I did that, and afterwards people said, what a wonderful day that was. It was a wonderful day. I don't know why people would be so stupid in such a great university to celebrate getting drunk. And that was the last time I ever took any alcohol. It never made any sense to me. And so because of that, I was keeping those five precepts, not because I had to, not because I was trying to achieve something. Report an error in the passage at 18:19 Highlight the passage at 18:19

18:51 It was just natural. That's how to be good and have a good time. That's one of the reasons why... I respect virtue, and I can bow to it very easily. Thank you for being there to guide me in how to have a happy life. I was groaning a lot the following morning after getting drunk, but that was the last time I ever did that. I just could not do that again. And so a lot of times, where we understand why, I bow to virtue, honesty, and if I ever say that I'm coming back to the Thames Buddha's Bihara, I have to come back. I keep my word. That's a vow. That's honesty. And so I bow to my precepts and I remember their importance in my life. Report an error in the passage at 18:51 Highlight the passage at 18:51

19:45 And the second thing which I bow to is peace. Okay, sīla, samādhi. That's the first two. Peace. Because, you know, my meditation is just so easy, so joyful, so much happiness. You have such a wonderful time with it, and not just with myself, with teaching others. I think I can tell this story. Just recently, about a month ago, six weeks ago, I had this email saying that one of the, I think I can say, Rahul Gandhi over in India, he wanted to organise a Zoom meeting with me. Report an error in the passage at 19:45 Highlight the passage at 19:45

20:37 And then Rahul Gandhi, he's the leader of the Congress Party in India. And he wanted to organize this meeting mostly because of his cousin in the United States had cancer. And when she had cancer, she had to have chemotherapy. And the chemotherapy was very hard to take. So she was getting very sick and nauseous every time she took that. Report an error in the passage at 20:37 Highlight the passage at 20:37

21:04 And she tried all sorts of medicines and other... Psychotherapy and counseling to overcome that nausea. And the only thing which worked were these talks on YouTube by this Australian Buddhist monk called Ajahn Brahm. And so she binge-watched all of these talks. And that's when she told her cousin Rahul and Rahul's sister, Priyanka, said, you better listen to these. Report an error in the passage at 21:04 Highlight the passage at 21:04

21:40 I had a private little Q &A with them. This stuff works. It's powerful. And so many people who have had bad cancers, they can meditate and it basically overcomes those cancers. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

21:59 Why? The only explanation which I can give you is obviously the power of the mind is immense, much more than any of you realize. Report an error in the passage at 21:59 Highlight the passage at 21:59

22:09 And to be able to... I argue that, to explain that, there was one little experiment which was done at Cambridge when I was there, not a science experiment. This was done at the Cambridge University Society of Psychic Research. It was experiments on hypnotism. And to give this experiment credence for you, one of the fellows, one of my best friends, who was there at the time, also a theoretical physicist, called Bernard Carr. Report an error in the passage at 22:09 Highlight the passage at 22:09

22:41 He was a professor of theoretical physics, now emeritus, at Queen Mary College in London University. And he was also, again, one of the chief assistants of Stephen Hawkins and also the president of the London Psychic Research Society. So we were friends. We grew up together. Report an error in the passage at 22:41 Highlight the passage at 22:41

23:11 Cambridge. He was a year or two senior than me. But nevertheless, he described this experiment which was done at Imperial College in London here called the flower pot experiment. Report an error in the passage at 23:11 Highlight the passage at 23:11

23:26 And flower pot experiment was demonstrating levitation. Do you think levitation works? Report an error in the passage at 23:26 Highlight the passage at 23:26

23:38 Well, just believe it's not good enough. How can you actually prove it? So this was Imperial College here in London. And one of his friends, one of these scientists, claimed to be able to prove and demonstrate levitation. So a lot of his friends and colleagues, senior scientists, experimental scientists, mostly physicists, came to observe what this well-known other professor said was levitation. Report an error in the passage at 23:38 Highlight the passage at 23:38

24:14 And so... He had every type of camera available, infrared, ultraviolet, whatever was available. These universities have that equipment. I had it ready. Anyone could actually check, make sure it was legitimate. And then this scientist brought in a flower pot, holding it, no strings or anything, and he put the flower pot on the table. Report an error in the passage at 24:14 Highlight the passage at 24:14

24:43 Then he said, I'm now going to demonstrate in front of you all that I can levitate this flower pot. This is one of the top scientists in London. And so he said, I need your help. I need everyone in this room to start doing some chanting. You know the power of chanting? Buddhist chanting. This one was very simple. Hindu chanting. Om. Can you all please chant Om? Report an error in the passage at 24:43 Highlight the passage at 24:43

25:18 Okay. You know, this is just what he said. You don't have to do this. Report an error in the passage at 25:18 Highlight the passage at 25:18

25:25 So all these crusty old scientists with beards and spectacles and whatever, you know, well-known lecturers, and I don't know how many PhDs, if there were any there, they all started chanting Aum. And when they started chanting Aum, they turned on the cameras and the videos, and this flower pot lifted up in the air. Report an error in the passage at 25:25 Highlight the passage at 25:25

25:52 And all the machines photographed it, videoed it. It was real. He lifted it up in the air. And then he asked them to stop the chanting, and the flowerpot sort of slowly went to the ground. It was incredible. Really incredible. In front of well-established scientists, it shows how levitation works. Report an error in the passage at 25:52 Highlight the passage at 25:52

26:26 And all the videos and the photographs. And then afterwards, he asked all these professors and doctors, what did you think of that? Report an error in the passage at 26:26 Highlight the passage at 26:26

26:41 And a couple of those physicists said, that flowerpot never levitated at all. It stayed on the table throughout. He said, but the others saw it. Is that correct? He said, yeah, we saw it. We got videos, we got photos, and they could show the photographs and the videos. It levitated. And these two physicists said, no, it didn't. Report an error in the passage at 26:41 Highlight the passage at 26:41

27:07 This is a trick, a fake photography. You probably prepared that beforehand. We were there, we were looking. It stayed on the table all the time. Report an error in the passage at 27:07 Highlight the passage at 27:07

27:19 And that was the purpose of the experiment. That flowerpot did lift up above the table. It did levitate. But for those two scientists, that was incredible, unbelievable, impossible. So they blotted it out of their consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 27:19 Highlight the passage at 27:19

27:42 To them, even though it lifted up, their brain could not accept that. And they deleted that. That was the power of belief. You create reality more than you ever notice. If you believe something is impossible, You don't even see it. The Report an error in the passage at 27:42 Highlight the passage at 27:42

28:08 truth of the matter was they had to have everybody start chanting Aum, Aum, Aum because once they started chanting they turned on a huge electric current which made a big electromagnet start working underneath the table and the power of the electromagnet was what lifted the flower pot above the table. Report an error in the passage at 28:08 Highlight the passage at 28:08

28:34 That's the only reason why they chanted Aum to actually disguise and hide the fact that a big electric current was turned on. You know, if you turn on a big electric current, it's the hub. Was it over here, 240 cycles per second? It goes... And the Aum made people couldn't hear that. That was the trick. But the purpose was just to convince people that even though, you know, that that levitated, For a good reason, because of electromagnetism, nevertheless, people could not see it. They could not see it because it was impossible. Report an error in the passage at 28:34 Highlight the passage at 28:34

29:16 And that's one of the reasons why, in order to see truth, bare awareness is not enough. Bare awareness. You haven't overcome what distorts the truth, which in Buddhism is the five hindrances. Report an error in the passage at 29:16 Highlight the passage at 29:16

29:37 So you're not seeing what you want to see. You're not seeing what's impossible. You're seeing what's really there. Truth. And that's only when you're very peaceful. There was an old saying over in Asia, the best way to see the full moon at night time. It's the full moon of Poson day a few days ago. I don't know what the full moon was like here in London. Report an error in the passage at 29:37 Highlight the passage at 29:37

30:08 But over in Perth there's a beautiful night sky, no clouds, so you can see the post on full moon clearly in the midnight sky. They said this was in Asia the best way to see a full moon is see it reflected in the still mountain lake. Report an error in the passage at 30:08 Highlight the passage at 30:08

30:30 If the mountain lake has got no waves on the surface, no disturbance, It's a beautiful reflection, like seeing it in a glass mirror. That's the best way. The best way of seeing the truth is only when the mind is so still. You see what you never thought was possible. You see much deeper truths. And a good example of that was once, when I grew up as a monk, as I was saying, it's wonderful if, please excuse me, if you do walk, Even if it's on arms, just go walk on the street so people can see you, so they can ask questions from you. Report an error in the passage at 30:30 Highlight the passage at 30:30

31:17 A lot of people are so inspired by the robe of a Buddhist monk. A lot of people just want to find out more. They don't know where to go. So that's why I always loved, you know, encouraging. How did I get here today from Oxford? Report an error in the passage at 31:17 Highlight the passage at 31:17

31:40 Did I come in a car? Report an error in the passage at 31:40 Highlight the passage at 31:40

31:45 Public transport, especially the tubes. I know my way around London on the tube. I used to live here and just go everywhere on the tube. And so it's wonderful being able to let people see you. Okay, I'm just going to go back to seeing the full moon directly and how that helps with things like cancer. Report an error in the passage at 31:45 Highlight the passage at 31:45

32:10 I remember just a previous retreat which I did in Perth. There was... The Italian guy was on my retreat. And it's lovely to see just how Buddhism is international now. So many people find joy and peace and fulfillment in Buddhism. But at this particular time, an Italian man came up to me during the retreat. And he told me these weird experiences he had in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 32:10 Highlight the passage at 32:10

32:43 He might be that Italian man. And anyhow... That when I was on the underground train somewhere, just sitting on the seat, minding my own business, this lady came and sat next to me. I remember her conversation. She said, are you a monk? I said, yeah. A real monk? Yes. She said, I always wanted to ask some questions about Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 32:43 Highlight the passage at 32:43

33:12 There's one example of, you know, when you get out there and make yourself available, there's so many people hungry for experience and knowledge. But it was quite a full railway carriage, or rather underground carriage. What's it? Yeah, true carriage, just that little section. Report an error in the passage at 33:12 Highlight the passage at 33:12

33:34 Carriage, okay, carriage. And so I was amazed at how everybody was listening to what I was saying. Because my experience before, when you're on an underground carriage, no one looks at you, no one talks to you. They always put your head down and act like, you know... carriage Report an error in the passage at 33:34 Highlight the passage at 33:34

33:50 Just like the only person on the train, looking at their iPhones or reading the newspapers in the old days. And so when I was saying about this gentleman, I said, this shows what reincarnation is. Report an error in the passage at 33:50 Highlight the passage at 33:50

34:03 And then I told the lady, I said, it's weird experiences. First of all, he had this kind of vision that he was... Any Italian people here today? Oh, great. He said he had this vision. No, that he was a piece of spaghetti. Report an error in the passage at 34:03 Highlight the passage at 34:03

34:31 He actually was a piece of spaghetti. And then I couldn't understand exactly what this really meant. Then the next time, he thought he was, he saw himself as a piece of macaroni. Report an error in the passage at 34:31 Highlight the passage at 34:31

34:47 Is this weird? What actually is it? And if you contemplate it, it's very easy to see the solution. He was recollecting his past lives. knives Report an error in the passage at 34:47 Highlight the passage at 34:47

35:04 And when I said that, if you ever experienced this on an underground carriage, half the people who were looking at their iPhones looked up and smiled. The other half looked up and groaned. Report an error in the passage at 35:04 Highlight the passage at 35:04

35:20 But at least they saw that Buddhism was a path, you know, with joy and fun. And that was one of my main achievements there. To make a... carriage in an underground train in London actually pay attention And so that's one of the reasons why I really enjoy some of the stories where you can make it sort of fun and interesting to listen to. Report an error in the passage at 35:20 Highlight the passage at 35:20

35:52 And also just how it can, the power of the meditation can see things which other people can't see. And just also, just how, you know, in this particular experiment, which was done over in Cambridge, in hypnotism, we hypnotized one of our fellow students, and once he was under hypnosis, we got out this stick with a four-inch nail at the end, and we convinced this gentleman, this young student, that this nail is red hot that had been heated up and we touched it on his skin to see what his reaction would be he screamed in pain but Report an error in the passage at 35:52 Highlight the passage at 35:52

36:45 then i could understand that if you believed it was hot you would feel pain what i could never really understand at the time i was only 19 or 20 a blister came up a blister emerged in the spot Where he was touched with a nail at room temperature. He was hypnotized to thinking it was going to be red hot. That was actually weird. Report an error in the passage at 36:45 Highlight the passage at 36:45

37:12 When you saw it with your own eyes, then you could never dismiss that. Unless you were one of those physicists who saw a flower pot rise into the air when it can't happen. To me this can't happen, but it did happen. And the truth was more important than my beliefs. Report an error in the passage at 37:12 Highlight the passage at 37:12

37:33 And so because of that, I can never forget that experience. And also, when you started seeing people's tumours vanish, like this one guy. Report an error in the passage at 37:33 Highlight the passage at 37:33

37:46 This one guy, he was on one of my retreats in Sydney. If you've heard these stories before, please let me say them again, because every time you hear more than you heard last time. This guy in Sydney, when he came on one of my retreats, he wasn't even a Buddhist. Report an error in the passage at 37:46 Highlight the passage at 37:46

38:05 He was a cancer sufferer who had been given up by his doctors who said there's nothing more we can do. So because of that he had heard that sometimes through meditation it can cure or alleviate cancers. Why not give it a try? And the first day everybody learnt about this guy because when he was breathing he was making a really loud noise and people in their Questions asked me, can you please tell people to breathe quietly? We're trying to meditate here. It was about him. Report an error in the passage at 38:05 Highlight the passage at 38:05

38:44 And then I said, it's my mistake. I should have let you know. That gentleman is dying of a big tumor in his sinus. He can't breathe through his nose. He hasn't been able to breathe through his nose in months. But nothing is working to get rid of that tumor. Report an error in the passage at 38:44 Highlight the passage at 38:44

39:04 And so that's the only way you can do it. And for nine days, that man breathed really loudly. Report an error in the passage at 39:04 Highlight the passage at 39:04

39:16 Would you be disturbed if someone did that? Even just this, you know, one hour talk and questions? Would that disturb you? Report an error in the passage at 39:16 Highlight the passage at 39:16

39:27 But most of you say yes. But those meditators, and these were compassionate and kind. When I said that guy's dying, he probably won't even survive. They all were so kind, they let him... Conflicts. Report an error in the passage at 39:27 Highlight the passage at 39:27

39:40 uh uh breathe around me but the best part of this was the very end the last day of the retreat actually just at the end of the last day of the retreat when i was already in a car about to be taken to sydney airport to come back to perth that's when he came running towards me and as he was running towards me he said stop stop stop please Report an error in the passage at 39:40 Highlight the passage at 39:40

40:10 Obviously he was very excited. What had happened? He said, the very last meditation, it's always the last meditation, he said, I heard a popping sound. Report an error in the passage at 40:10 Highlight the passage at 40:10

40:22 He could breathe through his nose. Only for one minute. But for him, that was stunning. He could actually breathe through his nose. What happened to that tumour? But then it closed up again. And I had no time to give him much instructions except, carry on. Report an error in the passage at 40:22 Highlight the passage at 40:22

40:44 Six months later when I visited Sydney, another venue, another talk, that's when this gentleman came up to me and said, do you remember me? Report an error in the passage at 40:44 Highlight the passage at 40:44

40:56 I know I've seen some of you before, but please don't try that on me. Do you remember me? Usually these days I tell the response, because I have to be honest, I say, you're the lady whose name I keep forgetting. Report an error in the passage at 40:56 Highlight the passage at 40:56

41:12 I remember everybody. And so I was honest to him. I said, no, I don't know who you are. And that's when he grinned. He said, I was that guy. Many pops later, the cancer totally went. Report an error in the passage at 41:12 Highlight the passage at 41:12

41:31 We're full remission now. And it's obvious when someone is dying of something like cancer, you see their body looks like death. They're all thin, no muscles in their body, and a bit depressed. But for him, That cancer had gone because of those teachings on meditation. And I asked, what is he doing now? And he said, I'm spending the rest of my life, however long I've got, teaching other people how to do that. Report an error in the passage at 41:31 Highlight the passage at 41:31

42:03 So that's the way you say thank you. Not by just giving donations or coming up and saying thank you, thank you, thank you. By sharing that experience and that knowledge further afield. And so that's one of the reasons why the peace, the stillness, Allows you to see things clearly. What the Buddha said, samādhi pachayam yathabuddhyanadasana. And samādhi does not mean concentration. Report an error in the passage at 42:03 Highlight the passage at 42:03

42:33 Samādhi means stillness. Stillness, please stop using that word concentration. Stillness is what works. Otherwise, every meditation retreat will become a concentration camp. Report an error in the passage at 42:33 Highlight the passage at 42:33

42:54 And sometimes it's like that. First time I was invited over to Malaysia. Any Malaysians here? Oh, great. The first... What part of Malaysia? Don't just say KL. What's that, PJ? Or Malacca? Report an error in the passage at 42:54 Highlight the passage at 42:54

43:14 Okay, yeah. Excellent, Subhan. That's marvelous because they say KL. KL's a big place. And anyhow, that when I first went to Malaysia, that... People were complaining about something they called samādhi headache. And that was crazy. I couldn't understand what on earth they were talking about. Samādhi means meditation, stillness. Stillness, headache? Meditation is what I do to get rid of headaches. Report an error in the passage at 43:14 Highlight the passage at 43:14

43:49 They disappear, bye-bye. And then I found out what they were up to. There was a type of instructions in meditation which is not helpful. Report an error in the passage at 43:49 Highlight the passage at 43:49

44:02 And that is when they... They decided to do meditation, to force that concentration, to make it work. Too much effort. I'm now going to describe to you what they were doing. I'm going to take my glasses off. I'm now going to describe this meditation with my eyes open. They were told to look at the tip of their nose and watch their breath go in and go out. Report an error in the passage at 44:02 Highlight the passage at 44:02

44:30 And if you try that, you will find But even though you're only supposed to feel the breath at the tip of the nose, if you've got your eyes closed, you tend to, eyes start to look at the tip of your nose. Report an error in the passage at 44:30 Highlight the passage at 44:30

44:46 You're going to see my eyes, what are they doing? Mathias, what were they doing? They were going cross-eyed. Even though you're not supposed to look, but you're supposed to feel the breath at the tip of the nose. When you start looking like that, if I kept my eyes like that for 10 minutes, I'd have a headache too. Report an error in the passage at 44:46 Highlight the passage at 44:46

45:07 It was the wrong instructions. Meditation is never supposed to make you tense. It's supposed to make you relaxed. Meditation is not supposed to create pains, but to alleviate pains. And I've used that, even personally, and also taught it, so people in enormous pain, it can disappear. Report an error in the passage at 45:07 Highlight the passage at 45:07

45:34 And that was that lady who was the cousin of Rahul Gandhi. When she learned this meditation, the pains of having chemotherapy, they vanished. Report an error in the passage at 45:34 Highlight the passage at 45:34

45:52 It's amazing just what that can do. I remember once having what's called food poisoning. Marks, have you ever had food poisoning? Sauce tummy? Not yet. I always call it an occupational hazard for a mark and a nut. The reason is because we don't know what people have given to us. Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

46:19 Sometimes we expect it to be something. I still remember over in the United States once, one of my monks told people what I can eat, what I can't eat. And one day, instead of giving me Sri Lankan food, they gave me shepherd's pie. You all know what shepherd's pie is? It's like an English, London food. You can eat that. But then I thought, oh wow. So I took a big lot of it and put it in my bowl. Report an error in the passage at 46:19 Highlight the passage at 46:19

46:50 And only then, once I put it in my bowl and started eating it, I found out it was potato on the top, and underneath was Sri Lankan curry, very hot. Report an error in the passage at 46:50 Highlight the passage at 46:50

47:03 Oh, you can understand, it looked the same, but then sort of did the same. So sometimes as a monk, you have to eat it, so you get food poisoning. I remember this time having food poisoning, this was over in Australia. And when I had the food poisoning, I went to my room and my room is a cave. I live in a cave, honestly. Some of you have seen that cave. Hey, Randy, you've seen that cave, haven't you? Report an error in the passage at 47:03 Highlight the passage at 47:03

47:35 Yeah. So it's dark, no windows. And I go in there because it's so quiet and silent in there. And only when I went inside my cave, only then did the food poisoning really start to hurt. And every now and again with food poisoning, it's not just stomachache. Your stomach cramps up, has spasms of pain. Report an error in the passage at 47:35 Highlight the passage at 47:35

48:03 That's all it is. I usually like giving this talk towards the end of a talk when people start falling asleep. That's how it felt. And I usually scream louder than that. And not just because you wanted to, it was just automatic. And then after... Report an error in the passage at 48:03 Highlight the passage at 48:03

48:27 Doing that for a while, I thought I should do something about this. So the telephone was a long way away. I don't have a mobile phone. I have to use the landline, which was a long crawl away from my cave. So now that doesn't make any sense. So instead, I decided, what do I do? Report an error in the passage at 48:27 Highlight the passage at 48:27

48:48 Meditate. So I had food poisoning. Then I started to be mindful of the food poisoning and relax to the max. That's one of these descriptions of meditation which I remember first teaching over in South Korea when I was doing this little meditation day and chanting at the border between North Korea and South Korea, just to the south of the Demilitarized Zone. Report an error in the passage at 48:48 Highlight the passage at 48:48

49:22 Then we went into the DMZ. The DMZ between South Korea and North Korea. It's a very dangerous thing to do, but I went in there, and honestly, I can't lie to you, I was shot many times. Report an error in the passage at 49:22 Highlight the passage at 49:22

49:40 Honestly, I was shot by a video camera. I didn't lie, but I must admit I was a bit deceptive. But then afterwards, going inside with a couple of thousand others, and we had actually permission to go inside, so it was quite safe. You could feel the pain. These were relations of people they hadn't been able to see for 30 or 40 years. Report an error in the passage at 49:40 Highlight the passage at 49:40

50:16 You could feel their pain as they looked a couple of kilometers to the other border where the other family members lived. That separation, that's when I really realized how painful that is. Report an error in the passage at 50:16 Highlight the passage at 50:16

50:31 And anyway, at the very end, I was asked, can you please leave a message for the Buddhist in South Korea? I noticed how to deal with these things and how to meditate. I couldn't stay very long. And so my message was, please relax to the max. Report an error in the passage at 50:31 Highlight the passage at 50:31

50:55 And they all repeated after me, relax. Report an error in the passage at 50:55 Highlight the passage at 50:55

51:05 Now sometimes you laugh at the end of that. It's not a laughing. It's a beautiful little mantra for meditation. Relax the body, relax the mind. If you start relaxing the body first of all, then you don't tense up with the contractions of food poisoning. To the max, you relax it more and more and more and more, and the mind as well, more and more and more and more. You get so peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 51:05 Highlight the passage at 51:05

51:39 That's when my experience with that food poisoning You always got this feedback from mindfulness, what's happening, is it working? The pain got less and less and less and less. It took roughly about half an hour. I didn't take any medication, no water, just sitting meditation. And then that was the last spasm. Report an error in the passage at 51:39 Highlight the passage at 51:39

52:05 And then the food poisoning disappeared. I often tell people, what happened? How come there's food poisoning? That's a bacteria or some virus or something. That's a real thing. How come that that's not causing me any irritations anymore? And then I started remembering when I did science at school or university. Sometimes you saw a little bacteria through a microscope, a little blob with little tentacles on it, like a miniature. Report an error in the passage at 52:05 Highlight the passage at 52:05

52:43 Octopus or something. And then I thought, what's happening? Because I was meditating and making peace, and all those little viruses or bacteria, they were blobs with the tentacles, but the tentacles were all cross-legged in meditation, a full lotus, meditating instead of causing trouble in my intestines. Report an error in the passage at 52:43 Highlight the passage at 52:43

53:08 I don't know if that's possible, but nevertheless, it was an interesting... visualization but that's actually how even things like food poisoning And so much of my life, because you live in the forest, away from things, that's why you stay really healthy. Report an error in the passage at 53:08 Highlight the passage at 53:08

53:32 I never had COVID. Sometimes I wish I did have COVID. The only reason I say that is because I didn't know what it felt like. And number two, because... I was working so hard, I thought, at least I'll have nine days of retreat when I'm not allowed to do anything. But it's kind of amazing just the benefits of peace. Report an error in the passage at 53:32 Highlight the passage at 53:32

53:54 And that is just, you know, in meditation. That's when I do my second bow. I remember the importance of peace. Even, you know, one of the first times I taught kids was when I was at school. Meditation was when I was at school, a school teacher. That was in 1970. Report an error in the passage at 53:54 Highlight the passage at 53:54

54:17 71? 72? 72. So, you know, I had to take the assembly. This was in Devon. I got a job at a king's school in Devon. It was called Ottery St. Mary. Anyone from Devon? No. But anyway, that was just a good school. So I had to teach the assembly in the morning. So I asked the principal, is it okay if I teach meditation to the kids? Report an error in the passage at 54:17 Highlight the passage at 54:17

54:45 He gave it a try. And so I had 650 kids, children, in the assembly hall. They didn't know anything about meditation. So I said, okay, now sit on the ground, cross your legs. And the amazing thing was, they all did that. They all crossed their legs. Now, straighten up your back. And they all straightened up their backs. Report an error in the passage at 54:45 Highlight the passage at 54:45

55:09 I had 650 kids sitting on the stage, watching all these kids suddenly become straight. And now close your eyes. And they close their eyes. Put your right hand over your left hand. Have I got that right? Yeah, that's good enough. And then thumb slightly touching. Now watch your breathing. Breathe in, breathe out. Report an error in the passage at 55:09 Highlight the passage at 55:09

55:33 They all cooperated. If one of those kids, they were from 11 years old, or 12 to 18. If one of those kids had burst out laughing, Or giggled. That would be the end of it. But I never thought of that. This was some of those experiences I got with how lack of fear protects you. Report an error in the passage at 55:33 Highlight the passage at 55:33

55:58 And so everyone was sitting up straight for about five or ten minutes. And they said, OK, now time to come out of the meditation. And I was in 72, the first time any of those kids had ever done anything like meditation. Report an error in the passage at 55:58 Highlight the passage at 55:58

56:13 And that's when one of the other teachers who was there at the time told me, What would you have done if even one of those children had giggled? And I'd realize that if one child had giggled, everyone would start giggling. And that would be the end of that little experiment. But instead of giggling, I'm not exaggerating this. My memory on this is very accurate. Report an error in the passage at 56:13 Highlight the passage at 56:13

56:34 At the end, the meditation, all the children, those 650 kids, clapped. They gave me an ovation. And that was kind of weird. It never happened to any other teacher I'd ever seen. And that's how even children could feel about the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 56:34 Highlight the passage at 56:34

56:58 Later on, I remember this friend over in one of the high schools in a very strong Christian area. And then when she started teaching meditation, many of the parents of the children there complained. They said, are you introducing Buddhism? Report an error in the passage at 56:58 Highlight the passage at 56:58

57:22 smart teacher she was Caucasian and she said no I'm teaching quiet time that's what she called it and she started it with five minutes of quiet time and the first time of the year in the one year school term and then got it up to 10 minutes and then 15 minutes later on towards the end of the year but the strange thing was us. Report an error in the passage at 57:22 Highlight the passage at 57:22

57:47 The kids actually loved this. And whenever there was about to be a fight, this was year six, so that was 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds. Report an error in the passage at 57:47 Highlight the passage at 57:47

57:59 Whenever there was about to be a fight in the school or an argument, one of the kids, not just boys, girls, both, they would put their hand up. Can we have quiet time now, miss? And of course, all the kids knew what was happening and they all consented, even the two antagonists. They consented to have quiet time and they closed their eyes for five minutes. And after those five minutes, the disturbance was over. Report an error in the passage at 57:59 Highlight the passage at 57:59

58:29 And when the teachers complained, this is Buddhism, you should not be teaching a religion to our kids, the principal, who was a very devout Christian, said, no, I'm not going to stop this. I've seen the results. I don't care what religion it came from. But it works. The kids result in this class. Their achievements in the exams are so much better. And I've seen them being so harmonious together once they spend time being quiet rather than arguing. Report an error in the passage at 58:29 Highlight the passage at 58:29

59:06 I support this to the max. And that's what he said. I know for a lot of you, any teachers here? Are you a principal? Are you retired? Okay. Why do you retire? Because the older you are as a principal, obviously the more respect you should have and the more wisdom you have. People get to know you. That's why this case in Australia, someone told me, is it hard for you to get your kids up in the morning to go to school? Do you have trouble doing that? Report an error in the passage at 59:06 Highlight the passage at 59:06

59:45 Well, this mother over in Australia, she had so much difficulty getting her son to get up in the morning to go to school. Report an error in the passage at 59:45 Highlight the passage at 59:45

59:52 Try and get the son out of bed. And the son, no, I don't want to go to school, mummy. But you have to go to school, son. But I don't want to, mummy. But you must, son. He said, well, I don't want to go to school. Why should I go to school? No one likes me at school. The teachers don't like me at school. Report an error in the passage at 59:52 Highlight the passage at 59:52

1:00:09 The other kids don't like me at school. Give me one good reason why I should go to school, mummy. And mummy replied, because you are the principal. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:09 Highlight the passage at 1:00:09

1:00:20 Did I tell that last year? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20 Highlight the passage at 1:00:20

1:00:25 Anyway, so anyway, it was amazing because I'm just saying my own personal experience, not to blow my own trumpet, as they say, because that's what I know actually happened and was real. And that's just what peace does in a classroom, what peace can do sort of in a parliament. I would love to introduce that. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:25 Highlight the passage at 1:00:25

1:00:53 In the houses of Panama, when people start arguing with each other, quiet time, please. We'll get more done and have much more harmony, I would think. So anyway, that's just peace. But the third bow when I bow to a Buddha statue is kindness. And that's also an important part of Buddhism, an important part of any philosophy, any religion, any practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:53 Highlight the passage at 1:00:53

1:01:25 Do you know what kindness is? Good example. When I was coming to UK, I came actually via Singapore. And so when I was leaving Singapore, what was that, on Sunday night, a couple of days ago, and then I just met this couple. They recognized me. Ajahn Brahm, because they see me on YouTube. I said, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:25 Highlight the passage at 1:01:25

1:01:57 And then they said, we've seen you so often on YouTube. It's the first time they've met me live. So can we have a photograph? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:57 Highlight the passage at 1:01:57

1:02:08 But then after the photograph, they said, you know, are you married? You could actually see that, you know, they were obviously very close. They say, you know, who is the most important person in your marriage? It's amazing that even as a Buddhist monk, I've been... I've ordained for over 50 years, 51 years this year. And so still, I know all about marriage. So I looked at them and told them, said, who's the most important person in a marriage? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:08 Highlight the passage at 1:02:08

1:02:44 This is where kindness comes from. I said, when you do get married, when you do commit to somebody, please make sure that from the time you put those rings on, you never think of yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:03:00 Do you think that's a good thing? Don't think of yourself. And once you get married, have those rings on. You should never think of your partner. That make sense? Really? Be honest. Does that make sense? That's so stupid. When you're married, you should never think of your partner. You should never think of yourself. You should only think of us. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:00 Highlight the passage at 1:03:00

1:03:25 And this couple, they've heard me for such a long time. Oh, yeah, thank you. That's much more important than having another photograph taken. Because that keeps you together. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:25 Highlight the passage at 1:03:25

1:03:37 What's most important in Houses of Parliament? About your party? The other party? No, it's us. Giving it together. It's all about we. Not me. Not them. That's wonderful when that happens. That's the same with like a saṅgha. Who's the most important member of the saṅgha? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37 Highlight the passage at 1:03:37

1:04:10 We are. It's all about us. And I don't discriminate whether you're Sinhalese, or what particular Nikkai you are from, or whether you are Bhikkhuni or Bhikkhu. We are sons and daughters of the Buddha. Therefore we are family. And often I tell you, you are my brothers. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:10 Highlight the passage at 1:04:10

1:04:39 You are my sister. You've got the same parent, the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:39 Highlight the passage at 1:04:39

1:04:47 Wasn't it Father's Day? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:47 Highlight the passage at 1:04:47

1:04:55 The Buddha is our father. And because of that, I think it's wonderful. We just put aside all discrimination between being man, woman, LGBTQIA +, human beings. And if you take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and the Saṅgha, your family. And last few words before I open for discussions. At my age now, you know how old I am now? Since birth? I was born in 1951, so in a couple of months time I'll be 74 years since birth, but that's not interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:55 Highlight the passage at 1:04:55

1:05:44 I like making things more interesting. So I count my age now in months, not years. And so this year... On 7th of August 1951, that's not a long time to go, six weeks or something, I will be 888 months old. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:44 Highlight the passage at 1:05:44

1:06:10 I count my age in months. I don't know, already a couple of Malaysians here. Anybody from Singapore? Taiwan? Hong Kong? You know, the number eight is the most auspicious number. In places like Singapore. And sometimes, sometimes, if you get a car number plate, 888, you have to pay thousands of dollars for that number plate. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:10 Highlight the passage at 1:06:10

1:06:43 Because everybody wants 888 because it's very lucky. So I'll soon be 888. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:43 Highlight the passage at 1:06:43

1:06:53 And I'm very happy to spend all these years as a Buddhist monk helping. And show a path without groaning. Those of you who have seen me, even been on the retreats, how many times have you seen me groaning, even when I'm sick? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:53 Highlight the passage at 1:06:53

1:07:14 Isn't that a wonderful sort of advertisement for what it's like to be a Buddhist monk or Buddhist nun? You don't need to groan. If you're practicing properly, it's happiness upon happiness upon happiness. And even, these are the sort of things which really make me, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:14 Highlight the passage at 1:07:14

1:07:38 Goosebumps again. I get goosebumps whenever what people say, is it really a path without groaning or isn't it just peace? It's much more than peace. That's why if any of you want to know what happens when you get to deep meditations, this is how the Buddha described what it feels like to get into even just the first jhāna. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:38 Highlight the passage at 1:07:38

1:08:07 I teach jhānas a lot. To get into the first genre, the Buddha said it's the experience of sambodhisukha. How many of you know enough Pāli to know what sambodhisukha means? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:07 Highlight the passage at 1:08:07

1:08:25 Enlightenment happiness. That's what it feels like. You've got a taste of enlightenment, a real taste of enlightenment. That's what it feels like. And from that, I go back to the first teaching which the Arahant Mahinda gave. In Sri Lanka, what teaching was that? What sutta was that? The Elephant's Footprint simile. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:25 Highlight the passage at 1:08:25

1:08:55 Correct. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:55 Highlight the passage at 1:08:55

1:08:59 In that sutta, have you ever thought why did the Arahant Mahinda give that sutta, first of all? This is how you can find a Buddha, know the Buddha. How many of you have been to the places where the Buddha lived? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:59 Highlight the passage at 1:08:59

1:09:21 Be careful. Correct. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:21 Highlight the passage at 1:09:21

1:09:23 I always say trick questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:23 Highlight the passage at 1:09:23

1:09:27 Marks over in Perth know this so well. I say that you don't need to get an air ticket to go and see the places where the Buddha lived. You don't need visas. You don't need to travel. If you want to find out where the Buddha lived, in the Jhulhatta Padma Sutta, the way you find the Buddha is the first jhāna, second jhāna. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:27 Highlight the passage at 1:09:27

1:09:56 Third jhāna, fourth jhāna. That's where your mind is so close to a Buddha's mind. You understand what the Buddha felt like. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:56 Highlight the passage at 1:09:56

1:10:06 You understand what the Buddha spent most of his time. His body spent time in other places in India. Things like Wedawana, the bamboo grove, or the Vulture's Peak. This is where the Buddha lived. So if any of you want to go on pilgrimage to where the Buddha lived, you don't need to get on an aircraft. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:06 Highlight the passage at 1:10:06

1:10:28 Just go deep inside in the meditation. Relax to the max and see everything vanish. And at the end of that, you know why the path is a path without gravity and a path of just happiness more than you can ever expect. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:28 Highlight the passage at 1:10:28

1:10:51 I think I'd better stop there. What are you going to do with time? Did that sound like a long talk? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:51 Highlight the passage at 1:10:51

1:11:02 Okay, so let's get some Q &A now. Is that a good idea? I've got another 50 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:02 Highlight the passage at 1:11:02

1:11:15 Questions in brief? Yeah, we've got a mic, yeah. Who's going to ask the first question? Hi, that's me. I would like to get some advice regarding my daughter here. She is a very high achiever, always working very hard, studying very hard, getting her lectures amazing. And she is now... I'm starting internship next week for working for Top Investment Bank and suddenly a few months ago, all that she'd been working for, like for years. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:15 Highlight the passage at 1:11:15

1:11:55 Excellent. What kind of advice can you give me and for my daughter who knew that she always wanted to make loads of money, be very successful, and suddenly none of this anymore matters? Excellent. What a great insight. I know I shouldn't say this, but once you actually see, getting lots of money, I remember some of these really wealthy people, which I've got to know. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:55 Highlight the passage at 1:11:55

1:12:27 One of the people over in KL, he was the owner of, oh no, just trying to think of the company, but he was a multi-billionaire, and I went to visit him once. And when I went into his house, good idea that, you know, the guards knew I was coming. Because they had guards at the gate of his mansion with machine guns. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:27 Highlight the passage at 1:12:27

1:12:57 And I couldn't believe that. It was like going in a prison. And the only reason he had guards around with machine guns, he was really afraid. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:57 Highlight the passage at 1:12:57

1:13:09 And when I saw how afraid he was, I wondered, we're not Fortuna Company. Oh, anyway, I'm trying to remember the name of his company as well. And I thought, is that whatever I would love to be? So wealthy you have to have guards with machine guns at your gate? Another lady I met who was extremely wealthy, she was living in Perth, in this huge house by the river. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:09 Highlight the passage at 1:13:09

1:13:37 And when I went inside, you know, this is true, I'm not exaggerating, I needed to go to the toilet. So I said, where's the toilet? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:37 Highlight the passage at 1:13:37

1:13:47 And she said, I have to draw you a map. It was that big a house. It was not just over there. It was turned left over here, right over there, up the stairs, and this way and that way. Crikey. Big mansions these days, they come with GPS. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:47 Highlight the passage at 1:13:47

1:14:06 And this particular lady, afterwards, I asked her, how many people live in here? She said, just me. And that kind of made me feel so sad. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:06 Highlight the passage at 1:14:06

1:14:19 Why? Because she was so afraid. That all her friends, relations, no matter how distant relations they were, would come and visit her and ask for some money. She'd gone through that so often she was afraid of others. What's more important? Having your friends and not being afraid of others. That's the real wealth in this life, not money. Honestly. How much money does Ajahn Brahm have? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:19 Highlight the passage at 1:14:19

1:14:56 It is zero. And look, it's... Strange. I've got no money, no bank account, no credit card. But nevertheless, I came from Australia to London and back again. Business class. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:56 Highlight the passage at 1:14:56

1:15:19 What on earth is going on? Are you lying, Ajahn Brahm? No. What happened was, as usual, I just try and get economy class. But there's too many of my... a disciple Disciples who own big companies say, well, at least we can do with some of our money, do something good. We'll upgrade you. So I am the poorest person in this room, but I can still travel business class. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:19 Highlight the passage at 1:15:19

1:15:49 The only thing I'm really concerned about is that sometimes when I land in an airport, sometimes you have to declare how much money you have. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:49 Highlight the passage at 1:15:49

1:16:00 Nothing. But people know me now, so they let me get away with that. I'm fortunate because I've got British passport and Australian passport. So that helps me. But going into Singapore, I haven't got a Singapore passport and I've got no money. You're supposed to have at least enough money to look after yourself. But when people say, have you got enough money to look after yourself? I usually pat my belly. Look. I must. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:00 Highlight the passage at 1:16:00

1:16:29 And getting into Sri Lanka, sometimes that's a bit of a problem. It is. Because... The last time, not this time, but the time before when I was in Sri Lanka, you know, they respected me so much that they put me in the VIP lounge. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:29 Highlight the passage at 1:16:29

1:16:49 I mean, not the ordinary sort of, because you fly a lot on a particular airline in the VIP lounge. That's, you know, where the prime ministers and other dignitaries go. So I went in the VIP lounge. I was in plenty of time. And it's really nice checking in in the VIP lounge. You just sit down there and they say, can I have you see your passport, please? I give them my passport and they come with a cup of tea in return. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:49 Highlight the passage at 1:16:49

1:17:16 So you sit down and when someone checks in for you, they check you in and then you drink tea. Then they come back with the boarding passes afterwards. And you just have as much tea as you'd like. And honestly, because I've been to Sri Lanka a long time, many times, I can take a lot of tea. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:16 Highlight the passage at 1:17:16

1:17:36 Is that true? Actually, no. I can take more. Really? Not with the real tea, right, with tin kiwi. You know what tin kiwi is? Condensed milk. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:36 Highlight the passage at 1:17:36

1:17:54 That's the traditional Sri Lankan tea. It's condensed milk and strong tea. But this tea you give in Sri Lanka, it's got flavour to it. It's much better than anything they have in England. So, honestly, it actually really looks after me. So the last, not this time, but the last time I was in that lounge, they were giving me more and more tea. But then, I know there's the flights, you have to get to the gate in time, even though you've got your boarding pass. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:54 Highlight the passage at 1:17:54

1:18:26 And this was on Singapore Airlines, and they're really strict. I said, I'd better get to the gate. And they said, no, no, you don't. You're VIP. We make sure you get into the lounge. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:26 Highlight the passage at 1:18:26

1:18:37 And they said to me, don't worry, Ajahn Brahm. And that kind of shook me. I tell others not to worry. Now someone tells me not to worry. And I don't like to worry too because by the time they got me to the gate, I missed a flight. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:37 Highlight the passage at 1:18:37

1:18:55 That was really good fun, missing a flight. I remember getting to the gate and you saw the air bridge separate from the aircraft. Oh goodness. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:55 Highlight the passage at 1:18:55

1:19:05 We don't worry about things. You get home anyway sooner or later. So this last time, a couple of weeks ago, I was told by my disciples, whatever you do, Ajahn Brahm. Don't go to the VIP lounge. Well, I didn't. I just went to the ordinary lounge and just sat down and meditated. That was fine. Nice and peaceful. So that's, you know, why some of the wealthiest people in the world, those who have no money. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:05 Highlight the passage at 1:19:05

1:19:36 So please join the elite wealthy. Get enough money just to pay your bills. But don't worry about it too much. Worry about your health and happiness more. Having some good friends. Are you married already? You have a good partner in life. And that's more important than the money. Money is dangerous. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:36 Highlight the passage at 1:19:36

1:20:03 You know, one of our monks, don't mind saying this, his father, was he this, you know, in, Anand Krishnan? The one from KL? You know him? He was the wealthiest, I think, or second wealthiest person in Malaysia. You know those twin towers? He owned one of them, and his son is a monk. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:03 Highlight the passage at 1:20:03

1:20:35 Basically, he has enough. If he wanted to disrobe, he'd have enough money to be a playboy for the rest of his life. And his father died recently. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:35 Highlight the passage at 1:20:35

1:20:47 He was the only son. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:47 Highlight the passage at 1:20:47

1:20:52 Sri Panya. He's still a monk. He refuses. No, they won't let him do the money. Imagine that. He had billions. I don't know what the inheritance would have been. No, I don't want it. He experienced that he prefers being a monk. Isn't that telling you something? Wise people would prefer happiness instead of wealth. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:52 Highlight the passage at 1:20:52

1:21:21 So, sadhu, sadhu, sadhu to your daughter. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks, sir. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21:21

1:21:31 Thank you very much. Before you ask my question, I would like to be extremely competent. That in your very busy schedule, you've managed to squeeze us in to pay a visit to our little temple here. And we very much appreciate your coming here and always making it a point to, you know, come and tell us something. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:31 Highlight the passage at 1:21:31

1:22:06 Now my question. I have been thinking about human life for the last 25 years. I have written books. I have done so many good things in life. And in fact, this is my creation, this temple. Having said that, that is my, you know, the perspective that I am coming from. Can you please describe the human life and what are we doing here? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:06 Highlight the passage at 1:22:06

1:22:40 We don't know where we came from. We don't know what we are doing here. We don't know how we were born a human being and where we are going in the end. So there are so many questions now. And my definition of myself is if there is anything in the world that is completely meaningless, completely useless, and a complete waste of time, it's me. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:40 Highlight the passage at 1:22:40

1:23:11 I would like your comments, please. Okay, first of all, I would disagree with you. Sometimes we look at who we are. We have amazing how many people think they're not good enough, even though they're amazing beings. I remember the previous, not the previous, the previous to that one, the first lady of Michelle Obama. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:11 Highlight the passage at 1:23:11

1:23:41 She wrote this amazing book. So describing how it feels to be a first lady, even though she did amazing things. She's really respected by anybody who ever knew her. But nevertheless, she thought she was not good enough. And how many people who are amazing people, do so much good for the world, they always tend to look at their faults. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:41 Highlight the passage at 1:23:41

1:24:10 And the solution to that... There's that little simile which is in one of my first books, the Opening the Door of the Heart book. That was actually printed years ago, and the newest edition is now being printed in Uzbekistan. I don't even know where that is. The translation is in Uzbekistan. Anyway, one of the stories in there was the story of when it started building. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:10 Highlight the passage at 1:24:10

1:24:44 Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth. At that time, we were very poor monks, and our Buddhist society just didn't have much funds. And so when we managed to buy a piece of land, we didn't have enough money to build, and there was nothing on the land at all. And so I had to learn from being a theoretical physicist to being a bricklayer. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:44 Highlight the passage at 1:24:44

1:25:15 So the first wall which I built, I had lots of time and I was just learning. That trade was on the job, laying bricks. And the first wall which I built, and then after it was finished, I stood back and looked. I'd made mistakes. Two of those bricks were crooked. They were so crooked that they spoiled the whole wall. And I had nightmares about that wall. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:15 Highlight the passage at 1:25:15

1:25:46 Not just nightmares, but I thought, how can I destroy that wall so I can start again? We had another monk and asked, can we ask our committee, can we get some dynamite so I can blow it up and start it all again? Or get a bulldozer and push it over? I was embarrassed that my mistakes, my faults could be seen by everybody. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:46 Highlight the passage at 1:25:46

1:26:10 But we couldn't afford a bulldozer or dynamite. I was stuck with that wall. There's two bad bricks. And the next thing I thought of doing, which I did for a couple of months, I would always volunteer to show people around the places we were building so they could see something else other than my mistakes. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

1:26:33 I'm sure you remember some mistakes in this temple here. You wish you'd done differently. But I won't go there yet. In a few moments I will. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:33 Highlight the passage at 1:26:33

1:26:45 But even though... I tried to make sure no one saw my mistakes. Soon, this one gentleman saw that wall which I'd made, and he said, that's a beautiful wall. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:45 Highlight the passage at 1:26:45

1:27:01 And I thought, are you blind? Well, in those days, we said, are you visually impaired? And he said, no. He said, can't you see those two bad bricks? And this gentleman said, yes. I can see those two crooked bricks, but I can also see the 9,998 perfect bricks. And that just really struck me. For three months, all I'd ever seen is my mistakes. I never ever saw the beautiful bricks which I'd laid, the perfect bricks. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:01 Highlight the passage at 1:27:01

1:27:44 And that taught me so much dharma. You can look at yourself and think you've been a waste of time. But look what you've done here. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. In this beautiful temple, which has been a refuge and a resource for so many people. That's why I come here. It's a very good temple. So well done. Do you think this is a good temple? Yes. So we are voting, sir. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:44 Highlight the passage at 1:27:44

1:28:15 I thought you were the best person to think out of the box. You know that's what a monk is supposed to do, think out of the box? That's called insight. That's right. Can you describe a human being? What exactly are we doing in here? So what we're really doing in here, we are learning. What are you learning? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:15 Highlight the passage at 1:28:15

1:28:48 You go to a school, you learn one thing. But a lot of the people in this school are not enlightened in the sense of knowing about the nature of the human mind. They know about what other people have written in books. They are not original enough. Every now and again we read about someone who has seen things in a totally different way that other people have never seen before. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:48 Highlight the passage at 1:28:48

1:29:18 This is one of the reasons why I learnt And I was so surprised to find how close Pāli and Latin are. You know, the structure is the same. It's an Indo-Aryan language. And that made it so much easier to learn Pāli. When I learned Pāli, I followed the advice of, well, sorry, A.K. Ward, yes. I followed his advice simply because he was also at Cambridge. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:18 Highlight the passage at 1:29:18

1:29:55 bridge. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:55 Highlight the passage at 1:29:55

1:29:58 I went to what we call in Cambridge the other place this morning. Oxford, yeah. I also, because the colours of Cambridge, the light blue, I would say Oxford is the dark side. I'm joking. I respect everybody so much. But anyway, what was I saying? A.K. Waters book. A.K. Waters book, yeah, in Pāli. Oxford, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:58 Highlight the passage at 1:29:58

1:30:28 And that was amazing, giving some advice on how to learn Pāli. I learned Pāli afresh, carrying no baggage. I started reading the suttas. When you read the suttas, wow, so many obvious insights which people have missed. One of those insights was just satipaṭṭhāna. You know what that means? Yeah, do you really? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:28 Highlight the passage at 1:30:28

1:31:00 Because when I read this first book on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, there was an accurate translation. Anybody who practices Satipaṭṭhāna for seven days, according to how the Buddha instructed you, will either become a non-returner or fully enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:00 Highlight the passage at 1:31:00

1:31:18 And I know many people who have done Satipaṭṭhāna retreats. Do they become non-returners or arhats? Not at all. What's going on? What part of the Buddha's instructions have they not completed? And then what they haven't completed was that they started to talk on a prerequisite before you start doing Satipaṭṭhāna. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:18 Highlight the passage at 1:31:18

1:31:44 And the translation which most people give is having a train or lesson diminished. Grief and covetousness for the world. And straight away, what does that mean? Grief and covetousness for the world? Makes no sense at all. Then reading through the Anguttara Nikaya in Pāli, then you realize that those words, loke abhija and doma nasa, refer to the first two of the five hindrances. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:44 Highlight the passage at 1:31:44

1:32:24 They're synonyms. And then I looked at the commentaries. which hadn't been translated to English yet. Look at the commentaries and it said they referred to the first two of the five inferences. And by extension, the way that Pāli works, if you mention the first two of a usual group, a common group, it's meant to include the other factors of that group. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:24 Highlight the passage at 1:32:24

1:32:55 And the two commentaries of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta in the Majjhima Nikāya and the Dīkha Nikāya both explain that this is meant to be understood as having Vinaya trained less and diminished each one of the five hindrances. And that made so much sense to me. Now I understood those instructions. If the five hindrances, you see what you want to see, you deny what's actually there, like not seeing the flowerpot rice, If you think it's impossible, then of course you don't see the truth. The idea of bare awareness, just be aware, and then everything is what you see is true, is wrong. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:55 Highlight the passage at 1:32:55

1:33:42 It has to be free of the five hindrances. And that's where the jhāna practice comes in. You have an eightfold path, never a sevenfold path. One says, Five Hindrances Have Been Diminished Greatly. And Nalaka Pana Sutta, that's what it says. The only way to diminish those five hindrances is to do the jhāna first. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:42 Highlight the passage at 1:33:42

1:34:08 And for some reason or other, I always find this almost like one of my core celebs, you know, what I was maybe here for, to teach people how to experience jhānas and just their importance. That's part of the Eightfold Path. But for some reason, for many times, even like in South Korea, sorry, not South Korea, Vietnam. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:08 Highlight the passage at 1:34:08

1:34:37 Any Vietnamese here? Vietnamese are great Buddhists. In Vietnam, they made a government rule to ban the teaching of jhānas to lay people. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:37 Highlight the passage at 1:34:37

1:34:51 I thought, that's ridiculous. That's an enormous part of Buddhism, a valuable part, which, you know, you weren't supposed to teach the laity. That law has been rescinded a long time ago. But why they made that law in the first place? And these days, we teach jhāna, other monks teach jhāna, and nuns teach jhāna, and achieve jhānas. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:51 Highlight the passage at 1:34:51

1:35:18 It's wonderful to see the results. It really strengthens Buddhism. That's why I was in Weligama a couple of weeks ago, teaching a retreat for monks. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:18 Highlight the passage at 1:35:18

1:35:34 Bhikkhunis, lots of laity, but mostly for the Saṅgha on Jhānas. Make sure that people can achieve those and experience them. See what they are and what their place is. And if you get into any of those, you will find that's really what a path without groaning is. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:34 Highlight the passage at 1:35:34

1:35:56 It pushes you out. I had been a meditator for a long, long time, and I was trying to purify my mind. Eating rid of all the bad thoughts. But still, I feel that there's no salvation at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:56 Highlight the passage at 1:35:56

1:36:17 What meditation you're doing, if you do experience the jhānas, that's where... Emptiness, yeah. I've experienced emptiness, complete emptiness. Nothing else. No bliss? Bliss is, yeah. Really deep bliss? When emptiness is seen, it is bliss. Can you feel your body? Yes. Body is absent. Absent, that's much better. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:17 Highlight the passage at 1:36:17

1:36:46 Because this is what happens in even the first jhāna. That is when the five senses disappear. You cannot hear anything. You cannot smell anything. You cannot experience touch of your body. You've got that last sense, the mind, alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:46 Highlight the passage at 1:36:46

1:37:09 And that is always a feeling of so free from hindrances. And that is blissful. And very light as well. Light. All the problems have disappeared for that moment in time. It's usually more than a moment. Usually some hours. That's usually why. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:09 Highlight the passage at 1:37:09

1:37:30 Just thinking of an example. There was this lady from Hong Kong on a retreat in Perth about a year ago. I think she's coming again in another month or so. It was just the day we were celebrating the entry to the rains retreat, the wasps period. So I taught a little retreat for these people beforehand. And I'd warned them about what happens when you get into these deep meditations. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:30 Highlight the passage at 1:37:30

1:38:03 It's always the last day. She hardly slept that night. Instead, she was by this stupa we have there, this chedia. And it was chedia which was donated by the people in Indonesia, in Java, like Borobudur. And when she was out in the open, it was cold. It was actually raining a little bit. And she just kept on sitting there. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:03 Highlight the passage at 1:38:03

1:38:33 And then when it came time to come over to Bodhinyana Monastery, where I live, from the... retreat center for breakfast. She just carried on sitting. People tried to tell me, we've got to come over now. She didn't respond. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:33 Highlight the passage at 1:38:33

1:38:48 And this was fascinating. People said, what should we do? And the usual way of coming out of a deep meditation is to talk softly to a person, not to shout, and to use some authority. So I said, go there. I was receiving so many guests, the big occasion of Bodhinyana Monastery. And I told her, one of the people, to go over there and tell her, soft, kind, with much compassion as you possibly can, please, Ajahn Brahm asked you to come over to monastery. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:48 Highlight the passage at 1:38:48

1:39:27 And those kind voices from someone she respected drew her out of her deep meditation. And she walked over to Bodhinyana Monastery. And even though she'd been out in the cold all night, she had no sickness at all. That's what happens in these deep meditations. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:27 Highlight the passage at 1:39:27

1:39:50 And even the other story I like to say, in this Vietnamese monk, he kind of broke some rules. That makes people interesting, they like to hear this. But not really Vinaya rules. He's a very good monk. On a nine-day retreat, He started off by doing half an hour meditation, then he would give the opening talk. And after half an hour, he never came out of his meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:50 Highlight the passage at 1:39:50

1:40:22 He carried on sitting there. They didn't know what was happening, the guests of the retreat. And so after waiting for about another hour, they all went to bed and left him there. When they got up in the morning, he hadn't moved. He didn't move, go to the toilet, eat or talk. For eight days. When I said breaking the rules, you're only supposed to be able to do that for seven days. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:22 Highlight the passage at 1:40:22

1:40:53 And after eight days, he was just sitting there, not talking, not eating, not drinking any liquids. And after eight days he came out and the first thing he said was, I'm sorry. No, I was meditating too long. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:53 Highlight the passage at 1:40:53

1:41:15 He's a humble monk. And then they told him, no, that was really inspiring to see you. We checked them to make sure that your water in your glass was always the same, never went to the toilet, never ate, smoked or anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:15 Highlight the passage at 1:41:15

1:41:31 This is what happens in those deep meditations. That's how long they can last. And they're blissful. And once you get those, then you just ask, what am I here for? Report an error in the passage at 1:41:31 Highlight the passage at 1:41:31

1:41:44 One of the things I would have asked you to do, When you get that deep and you come out, then ask, what's your earliest memory? Report an error in the passage at 1:41:44 Highlight the passage at 1:41:44

1:41:57 And then when you have those earliest memories, you get past lives. And when you get your past lives, it puts things in perspective. You get the big picture. Then you understand why you're here. Why this was one of those resolutions you made and now fulfilled. You built a temple, but now just build the temple inside to go with the temple outside. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:57 Highlight the passage at 1:41:57

1:42:24 The beautiful peace, respect for your five candas, and the ability to see these things which define you as a human being get so refined they eventually vanish and disappear. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:24 Highlight the passage at 1:42:24

1:42:41 I see emptiness and bliss. Emptiness and bliss. And it doesn't last long. It actually goes deeper until it vanishes. The whole lot. the whole caboodle gone. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:41 Highlight the passage at 1:42:41

1:42:59 And I have been doing this for many, many years. If you've totally vanished for many, many years, then we should be bowing to you. 90? Report an error in the passage at 1:42:59 Highlight the passage at 1:42:59

1:43:16 Excellent! Sada, sada, sada. And the purpose is to disappear and vanish. 19 years now. Yeah, it would be 90, yeah. 90? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:16 Highlight the passage at 1:43:16

1:43:26 meditation has helped me a lot. Oh, yeah. It's an eightfold... Exactly, eightfold path. Not a sevenfold, not a sixfold. You know, people always want to find the shortcut. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:26 Highlight the passage at 1:43:26

1:43:41 You may appreciate this. One of the Sri Lankans who invited me to give a talk in Kandy many years ago, he said he was going to drive me back to Colombo. He knows the shortcut. So I went in his car. And all the other people accompanying me, they got back to Colombo about two or three hours before we got back. In shortcut, he ended up on the gold road somewhere about Kalutara. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:41 Highlight the passage at 1:43:41

1:44:15 And I'm all the way south of Colombo. And he was a local. But he taught me a great lesson. Never go to shortcut. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:15 Highlight the passage at 1:44:15

1:44:29 Sorry? Another question? Okay, yeah, come on. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:29 Highlight the passage at 1:44:29

1:44:38 Ajahn Brahm, you've spoken a lot about opening the door of your heart to life's difficulties. Could you talk about how one would open the door of their heart to depression? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:38 Highlight the passage at 1:44:38

1:44:54 Yeah. First of all, when you open the door of your heart, you fully open it. And this is... Please excuse me for saying this story. It's not quite answering your question, but it gives you... An inspiration on how this actually works. That this was a group over in Perth called ASFETS, Australian Society of Survivors of Torture and Trauma. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:54 Highlight the passage at 1:44:54

1:45:27 There are some countries like UK which allows people who have been through hell and worse to come into their country and get safety and protection. It's a wonderful thing that you do. What do you do with that trauma? How can you let go of that? And they have this beautiful organization over in Perth. And they came up to me and said, look, we got our permission to form this organization and to practice because we went to university. But all the important stuff, he said, he got from you. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:27 Highlight the passage at 1:45:27

1:46:10 And that made me kind of interested. And they said, can you please come to our center? To see what we're up to. And when I went there, they were teaching people who had been, please excuse the language, multiply raped, beaten, tortured. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:10 Highlight the passage at 1:46:10

1:46:28 And that's something which I've never experienced. And it's hard to try and figure out how that must feel. And how do you ever get out of that? And they said the story which I taught them, the meditation which I taught them, which really helped. Was it opening the door of your heart story? And so what they do, first of all, their clients have to feel safe and confident with them. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:28 Highlight the passage at 1:46:28

1:47:00 If you don't feel safe in a meditation hall, it gets very difficult because you let go of all your defenses to allow things to leave you. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:00 Highlight the passage at 1:47:00

1:47:12 And so I remember this one lady. Telling me that she'd been tortured. I mean, the real things. And, you know, for no reason except she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so the people there made her feel sort of comfortable and safe. Nothing's going to hurt you here. And then eventually, just to learn how to close her eyes and feel confidence, then she would imagine. Use imagination, which is powerful. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:12 Highlight the passage at 1:47:12

1:47:48 To imagine your heart area. And imagine your heart area's got these two big doors. Just use imagination and open them up. And see what's inside your heart. Inside your heart was this little girl. You know, who'd done nothing wrong. Who's having a happy young life. And who got tortured, beaten and raped and almost killed. She couldn't understand why. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:48 Highlight the passage at 1:47:48

1:48:17 But that's not the person in her heart. The person in her heart... It's a nice one. The person who wasn't just beaten and raped. But then you look outside, outside your heart. There is this young woman who trusted, who was abused, and hurt so badly. They're outside, acting cold concrete. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:17 Highlight the passage at 1:48:17

1:48:44 It's been so tough to face that person for such a long time. They've done nothing wrong. They're not guilty. It's just what happened to them. And even just acknowledging that is just really tough. And then you say to that being as part of you, please, the door of my heart is open to you. You're part of me. Please come in. And it takes a lot of encouragement. Eventually, that little girl or young woman is encouraged to walk up those steps. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:44 Highlight the passage at 1:48:44

1:49:23 When they get to the top step, you embrace. I'll never keep you out from this day on. So the kindness, embracing, opening the door of your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:23 Highlight the passage at 1:49:23

1:49:39 You've got many other parts of you which also need to come in first of all. So even with things like depression, I don't know whatever happened to you, be kind to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:39 Highlight the passage at 1:49:39

1:49:53 See its value, its purpose. A lot of time the pain we've experienced in life feels like purposeless to us. Why? And for this story about this lady over in, again, KL, the group which I look after in Guadalupe is a Buddhist gem fellowship. And one of them once asked me, he said, look, there's this lady, you know, she was raped and no one's been able to help her. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:53 Highlight the passage at 1:49:53

1:50:29 I just said, can you give it a try? And so, you know, I talked with her. And straight away, because no one had been able to help her, you always try to think outside the box. I'm not going to just do what other people say. And then I ask her, can you please describe that to me? Report an error in the passage at 1:50:29 Highlight the passage at 1:50:29

1:50:51 And that's... Anyway, I don't know if any of you have ever heard someone who can express those details and the pain and the disgust, how much that's done to their heart. And it's... It's disgusting. There are so many other words you can say. I'm so fortunate that my parents were really kind to me. What you went through, the fact you survived, is beyond me. But anyway, she told how she was violently raped. And I'm a monk, I don't know anything about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:51 Highlight the passage at 1:50:51

1:51:31 I've never had experience anything close to that. And then, all the time I was listening, I was listening silently. Not judging, not thinking how I'm going to respond. But just listening. And then when it was time for me to speak, what I said shocked me. I told her, looking in her face, you're very lucky to have been raped like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:31 Highlight the passage at 1:51:31

1:52:00 Even when I tell you that. Oh, no, Ajahn Brahm, can you say that? That's disgusting. But then I stopped myself. I said, no, that's what came out of my mouth. There's some meaning to that. And then I explained that meaning. You're very lucky to have been raped like that, I said. And what I mean is that I don't know how you feel. I can never know how you feel. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:00 Highlight the passage at 1:52:00

1:52:29 But your meaning of that experience, you'll be able to get past it totally. I've got confidence in you. And when you do, you'll be able to do something which I will never be able to do. You'll be able to put your arm around a girl or a boy who's been treated like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:29 Highlight the passage at 1:52:29

1:52:50 And say, I know. I really know how you feel. And I can take you out of that very dark pit. And you do. That's your meaning, your purpose. I wish you could have that purpose without that pain you endured. But now I just want to... What a jewel of a person you are to help so many other people in life. So whatever you've been through, that's his purpose. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:50 Highlight the passage at 1:52:50

1:53:24 To go and help others. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:24 Highlight the passage at 1:53:24

1:53:28 Imagine what that would be like when someone, not me, someone else can actually put their arm around you and say, I really understand how it feels. And they do. And also they know the way out. And they take you. If that works for you, it's your duty now. What they call pay it forward. Find somebody else who's suffering what you've suffered and take them out. That's its meaning. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:28 Highlight the passage at 1:53:28

1:54:03 Same with depression. I don't know why you're depressed. You know, honestly, I've had such a happy life, fortunate life. Even though my own father died when I was only 16, I loved that man greatly. But you know, I never felt, I never felt depression. I never felt grief. I never cried at my father's funeral. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:03 Highlight the passage at 1:54:03

1:54:27 I've never cried since, even though I loved him so much. And to me, Appearsly, you may have heard this simile before, that for years, because he died when I was only 16, I was not emotionally coherent. I didn't know just what was happening. I only knew his importance. Later on as a monk, you had time to explore your emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:27 Highlight the passage at 1:54:27

1:54:55 And I noticed the emotion I felt at my father's funeral, and every time I thought of him, at the time even after he died, The 16-year-old. I thought that I loved my father so much. Those 16 years I shared with him were so important, so valuable. I was content with them. I valued them so much. I'd rather have him much longer. I'd rather... I don't know what he'd say. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:55 Highlight the passage at 1:54:55

1:55:27 He saw me as a monk 50 years. But nevertheless, as a young man in London, oh, here in London, I used to love music. I remember just, okay, I went to the first concert of Led Zeppelin. That's your favorite band. And I was, the very first concert, the Marquis Club in Water Street in Soho. And I also saw this, one of the other famous musicians. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:27 Highlight the passage at 1:55:27

1:55:58 I went to this club in north of London. And there was a band playing there. And the lead singer, You know, he was a nobody when I saw him. There was only six people turned up to watch. I was one of those six who turned up to watch him. His name was Rod Stewart. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:58 Highlight the passage at 1:55:58

1:56:16 He got a private concert with Sir Rod, but no one knew him then. So that's in London. You can imagine what it was like in those days. And I thought, this is just like listening to a great musician. I was listening to the finale of my father, 16 years. And honestly, I felt like not crying, just getting up and clapping. Well done, Dad. You did an amazing job. 16 years was not enough, but it was wonderful. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:16 Highlight the passage at 1:56:16

1:56:47 I can't be sad at that. And that's the same with what I felt after a great concert. It can't go on forever. But you cherish what you've heard, what you've seen. So lucky to have seen the first performance of Led Zeppelin. They're all so static. I still remember them saying how nervous they were at their first conference. They had no real confidence yet. It was their first coming together. And at that time they called themselves the New Yardbirds. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:47 Highlight the passage at 1:56:47

1:57:22 They haven't got their new name yet. The same band. Or you go to see a great performance, you know, in art, in drama, or in ballet or something. You see the very first performance of people who are unknown. And you see them. Wow. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:22 Highlight the passage at 1:57:22

1:57:44 That's amazing. Of course you'd like it to happen again, but you know that that's destroying what you've already seen or heard. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:44 Highlight the passage at 1:57:44

1:57:57 Okay, anyway, that's how to overcome all of these things. If you had really, really bad depression, then learn from it and let other people know. Number one, it doesn't last. And number two, can I tell a silly joke? Can I? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57:57

1:58:22 I was going to say, I was going to say that anyway. There was this artist in London. He was a portrait painter. He's brilliant. But then one day when he was going home, his motorbike crashed. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in hospital with bandages over his right hand. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:22 Highlight the passage at 1:58:22

1:58:46 Apparently it had been so badly destroyed. They had to amputate it. And so when they told him the news, he was devastated. Painting was his love, not just a job. It was how he could express himself. And now he'd lost his hand. He could never paint again. So as soon as he could, when he got released from hospital, he decided to commit suicide. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:46 Highlight the passage at 1:58:46

1:59:18 He thought, just jump off a building. So he went into one of these office buildings. In London, found an empty office, and he went out onto the balcony, and he looked down, prepared to jump, certain death. But as he was looking down on the street, he saw an incredible sight. There was a man there with no arms at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:18 Highlight the passage at 1:59:18

1:59:46 He didn't know why he'd lost both his arms, and he was dancing happily along the street. And he thought, here am I. I've only just lost one hand, no matter how important it was. But this guy has lost not both hands, but both arms as well. And look how happy he is, dancing along. So he forgot all ideas of committing suicide. And he ran to the elevator, the lift, and got down as soon as he possibly could, ran after that guy with no arms, and hugged him. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:46 Highlight the passage at 1:59:46

2:00:18 You saved my life. He told the story of how he was a painter. And he lost his hand and he got so depressed he wanted to commit suicide. Now he saw this guy, he had no arms at all. He was dancing along out of joy. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:18 Highlight the passage at 2:00:18

2:00:35 And the guy listened to him with no arms and said, Sir, I'm not dancing along the street for joy. I've just got an itchy bum. And that's the only way I could scratch it. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:35 Highlight the passage at 2:00:35

2:00:57 Are you going to throw something at me? I thought it was going to be the carrot joke. Okay, now this Report an error in the passage at 2:00:57 Highlight the passage at 2:00:57

2:01:22 is for this temple, the Thames Buddhist Vihara, because I've used it so many times, I should help it as well. So once upon a time, there was a spider, and the spider... The suicidal spider. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:22 Highlight the passage at 2:01:22

2:01:37 You know, once it was born, it had to find a home. It decided to build a home in some beautiful house, you know, in Selston. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:37 Highlight the passage at 2:01:37

2:01:50 It was in Selston area, Selston, in Selston, and found this beautiful house and spent so much effort and time making this spider's web in the corner of the house. And once it was finished, it was actually a work of art. that? Report an error in the passage at 2:01:50 Highlight the passage at 2:01:50

2:02:08 This spider had this incredible talent in architecture. And it worked so hard and was so proud of its web. Now was the time to sit in the middle of the web and wait for lunch to arrive. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:08 Highlight the passage at 2:02:08

2:02:21 But before any fly found that web, the owner of the house saw it's a spider web and got the broom and smashed it to bits. And that poor spider had to run for her life. She managed to escape the broom. But then what could she do? She hadn't even eaten yet. So she had no choice but go to the next house and build another web. This time not as beautiful as the first web because she was tired. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:21 Highlight the passage at 2:02:21

2:02:49 And then when it was finished she sat in the middle waiting for lunch and then somebody else in that house saw that spider's web and with another stick smashed that one to bits. And for the second time the spider just managed to escape with its life only just A third house, a fourth house, a fifth house, they all got destroyed. And after the sixth house, that spider thought, I can't do this any longer. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:49 Highlight the passage at 2:02:49

2:03:21 It started to develop what's called PTSD, post-traumatic stress. PTSD? PTSD, okay, I'm not a good speller. No, post-traumatic spider distress. stress. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:21 Highlight the passage at 2:03:21

2:03:38 But anyway, even the thought of going to somebody's house and going to the corner make it shake. And so the spider decided it can't build any more webs for itself. What could it do? It started getting depressed. Why don't people love spiders? What harm do spiders do? They just make a web in your house and they catch all these bugs for you. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:38 Highlight the passage at 2:03:38

2:04:02 Which actually protects you, but, you know, protects you from the mosquitoes. They catch the mosquitoes so you don't get the, what's it called, chicken, dengue, whatever. Yeah, I was worried about that in Sri Lanka. But anyhow, so they don't do you any harm. They clean up the mess for you. So the spider said, no one loves spiders. We don't mean any harm. We don't hurt people. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:02 Highlight the passage at 2:04:02

2:04:30 We just clean things up for people. Life is so unfair. What can I do? I'm hungry. I'm homeless. I have no love. So the spider's got to getting more and more depressed. And of course, when you think like that, you get suicidal. So a suicidal spider decided to deliberately, on purpose, crawl under somebody else's feet when they're walking. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:30 Highlight the passage at 2:04:30

2:04:58 They always got that place between the sole of the foot and the heel of the foot, the safe space. And so he thought, no, it's not going to work being squashed by a person. So he decided to cross the road and get under the wheels of a truck. But always managed to get just between the wheels. They were actually under them. So suicidal spider started thinking, when you're depressed, you can't do anything right, not even suicide. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:58 Highlight the passage at 2:04:58

2:05:26 So poor suicidal spider was struggling down the road like a drunken person. And have you ever thought, I felt that someone's watching you. Suddenly this suicidal spider thought, someone is looking at me, and turned around and saw the fattest, joliest, happiest spider you've ever seen in the world just sliding itself in the afternoon sunshine. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:26 Highlight the passage at 2:05:26

2:05:54 And then the big, fat, happy spider said to suicidal spider, I said, what's wrong with you? And then suicidal spider started telling the sad, short story of her life. And at that, oh yes I have. At that, the big fat spider gave a tissue to the suicidal spider. So suicidal spider wiped away her tears. And then suicidal spider thought this is a very kind spider talking to me. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:54 Highlight the passage at 2:05:54

2:06:26 But it's also a fat spider. And said, how come you're so fat? Didn't you ever build a web and it got destroyed? And the fat jolly spider said, no, I only built one web in my whole life. And it's still there. And you get lots of spiders and lots of food in there. In fact, there's so much food. You can see how fat I am. There's so much food in my web. Why don't you come and live with me? Enough food for both of us. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:26 Highlight the passage at 2:06:26

2:07:01 And so suicidal spider was kind of interested, but then thought, hey, how can you build? A spider's web in a house and no one ever, ever, ever tries to disturb it. And suicidal spider, and a big fat happy spider said, oh, that was easy. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:01 Highlight the passage at 2:07:01

2:07:22 I just build my web in the donation box of the Thames Buddhist we hire. No one ever disturbs you in there. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:22 Highlight the passage at 2:07:22

2:07:33 Yeah, there it is. So spiders, spiders. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:33 Highlight the passage at 2:07:33

2:07:40 So spiders in here don't mind being disturbed. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:40 Highlight the passage at 2:07:40

2:07:47 So please look after the place where we just sat for two hours. Okay. I've been told to finish on time. I haven't done bad. Five minutes past time. Is that okay? Sorry? Oh, Anukampa. Yes. It's also as well as the other organization which has been looking after me is Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project. And that's why they've got people over there. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:47 Highlight the passage at 2:07:47

2:08:18 They're very well positioned close to the door, so you can't get out. So the Anakama Bhikkhuni Pojja, that's being run by Venerable Chanda. And they've still got some debts to pay off. Please don't say more. But they still have some to pay off. So anyone who likes to support the Bhikkhunis. It's a wonderful thing we're actually doing. I spent five minutes on this. After so many hundreds of years, we managed to revive the Bhikkhuni Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:18 Highlight the passage at 2:08:18

2:08:52 And this comes straight from the advice of the Buddha. The Buddha, after he was fully enlightened, the Māra, this tempter, came up to him and said, OK, you're fully enlightened, I agree. Now's the time to extend to Parinirvana, disappear. And the Buddha replied, I will not disappear yet until I've established a flourishing saṅgha of monks, which we have. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:52 Highlight the passage at 2:08:52

2:09:22 And secondly, a flourishing... Saṅgha of Bhikkhunis, which we haven't had until now. And also a flourishing community of laymen, a flourishing community of laywomen. And I would even say a flourishing community of people who don't even fit into those four categories. The gender non-binary. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:22 Highlight the passage at 2:09:22

2:09:53 May all beings be happy in one. I mean all beings. So anyway, that's what we've re-established recently, Saṅgha Bhikkhunis. And how many Bhikkhunis, fully ordained Bhikkhunis, in Theravāda are there in UK right now? Report an error in the passage at 2:09:53 Highlight the passage at 2:09:53

2:10:20 How many? A hundred? Only one! Report an error in the passage at 2:10:20 Highlight the passage at 2:10:20

2:10:28 That's true. This one over here. That's why I try and support her to the max. We've got how many? Who entered the first possibility, the first stage of becoming a fully ordained bhikkhuni. One. Where's the other one? Chai. Over there. Chi. It's late. I'll get your time. Chi. And so these two will be becoming seminaries. When? November, Report an error in the passage at 2:10:28 Highlight the passage at 2:10:28

2:11:04 yeah. Yeah. Uppanchala will be seminary in November. November, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:04 Highlight the passage at 2:11:04

2:11:08 It's happening. And that is absolutely historic. And that's why I also ask you to support Anukampa Bhikkhuni project as well. Get all the details over there. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:08 Highlight the passage at 2:11:08

2:11:24 Sorry? Oh, yeah. Have you been to any Bhikkhuni monastery? How many years did it take to build this monastery here? The builder? It was built 42 years ago. It was a community center. Okay. With a liquor license. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:24 Highlight the passage at 2:11:24

2:11:50 We've got the change of planning. Good. Excellent. Excellent. Place of religious worship. Excellent. Great. It takes time. But how long have you been building a monastery? Nine years. Yeah. To get a place. To get a place, yeah. But it's wonderful to go and see it. License. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:50 Highlight the passage at 2:11:50

2:12:13 I mean, see, now we have it. It's owned by us, not by me, by the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Trust. It's inspirational. It's actually beautiful. The only thing I could find fault with, you know what, don't you? Yeah, it's in Oxford rather than Cambridge. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:13 Highlight the passage at 2:12:13

2:12:36 No. It's very beautiful. It's amazing. It's in walking distance. It's about an hour and a quarter, but you can walk from there to Oxford, central Oxford, along the river. But it's also secluded. Is that the case, Matthias? Beautiful place. Inspiring managed to get that place. Ooh. But it still needs some more funding. So any of you who get inspired, don't just listen to a talk and just let it happen by somebody else. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:36 Highlight the passage at 2:12:36

2:13:07 It evolved. Was it really worthwhile, all that effort you put into building this temple? I think so. Yes. I mean, there were objections when we raised a huge mortgage to buy the next house and combine together. And I was blamed for all that. And I said, you are a fool. All your money is going down the drain because there are no Buddhists coming to this country. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:07 Highlight the passage at 2:13:07

2:13:34 country, country. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:34 Highlight the passage at 2:13:34

2:13:37 Buddhism is not just Sri Lanka. Buddhism is from the whole world. People came from Italy. Ah, excellent. And even I expect some people coming here from Uzbekistan as well. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:37 Highlight the passage at 2:13:37

2:13:50 My books are over there. You don't actually see any difference between human beings, no matter where they're from. That's one of the reasons why even the schools which I went to as a kid, you had people from all different parts of the world. So that's why you say you've become karma blind. I always used to say, even as a kid, if somebody could play soccer, I don't care what place they were from, they're in my team. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:50 Highlight the passage at 2:13:50

2:14:19 That's a beautiful thing to say. Excellent. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:19 Highlight the passage at 2:14:19

2:14:27 Excellent. So there we go. So anybody who wishes to... Sorry? seems meditation to find it. Excellent. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:27 Highlight the passage at 2:14:27

2:14:35 Sorry? I'll be right back. Okay, anyone wants to come and visit, they can always ask. Either Ven. Wuchanda or the good people over there. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:35 Highlight the passage at 2:14:35

2:14:48 Okay, I took this off before. Okay, so I better finish off now, otherwise I'll get in trouble. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. Excellent. Very good. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:48 Highlight the passage at 2:14:48

2:15:06 Only one. Okay, two or three. I just want to say, Ajahn, thank you for being here. And correct something you said, which was that I was supporting you, but actually you were supporting me and the whole saṅgha, the bhikkhu and the bhikkhuni saṅgha, for many, many years. And it's very moving that you're willing to support people who have less support. Before this talk, we were talking to a gender non-binary person with sincere wish to ordain, and it was just deeply moving to hear your commitment to... Report an error in the passage at 2:15:06 Highlight the passage at 2:15:06

2:15:41 Making those opportunities possible. So I want to thank everybody here, the saṅgha here and all the people who support the saṅgha and everybody for your practice and for trying to create beautiful, inclusive communities that are safe. safe for everybody and where everybody feels they belong. So it's really wonderful to be here today, to be here with everybody and I just want to thank you Ajahn for being here and being who you are and being such a wonderful example of the Dhamma because that is who you are actually, it's the qualities of the Dhamma that you bring to everybody in an embodied way. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:41 Highlight the passage at 2:15:41

2:16:22 Thank you for sharing that the dharma is completely inclusive. Oh yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:22 Highlight the passage at 2:16:22

2:16:29 [chanting]

2:16:32 Okay. Thank you to the saṅgha over there, the four monks. That's what we're wondering. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:32 Highlight the passage at 2:16:32

2:16:49 Let us thank the Most Venerable Ajahn Brahm, he gave a wonderful talk, made the blessings of Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha. May you be well, happy, and may these blessings help you to gain the ultimate happiness of everyone. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:49 Highlight the passage at 2:16:49

2:17:17 And also, thank you for everyone joining this evening. We all were not dhamma here today. Those are very practical. practical way to use and practice Ajahn Brahm did a very wonderful and very useful dharma so you can practice those dharma to gain real happiness in your life. May these tracings help you to have good health, happiness and peace. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:17 Highlight the passage at 2:17:17

2:17:58 peace. Thank you very much. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:58 Highlight the passage at 2:17:58