A Worm and A Pile of Dung

0:00 Excellent. It's okay. You can wiggle your feet at me. I don't ever get offended. And it's always nice that people feel free to be able to go to toilet or just to go out and stretch your legs a little bit or to... I don't know what else you're going to do. Maybe I shouldn't think. Report an error in the passage at 0:00

0:32 But anyhow, as you all know, I've just returned. From teaching a meditation retreat in Cambodia. And for me it was especially beautiful because I had some wonderful experiences there. Report an error in the passage at 0:32

0:52 It's only a meditation retreat, but instead of actually holding it in a monastery, monasteries were a little bit too busy, so they held it in a hotel. Report an error in the passage at 0:52

1:06 It's not the first time I've stayed in a hotel. In Cambodia, one of the first times I went to Cambodia for a... It was a visit organized by Australian government. Report an error in the passage at 1:06

1:24 And I do remember they put me up in a posh hotel. But you should know that I'm a monk. And for years I never slept in a bed. Honestly, you always sleep on the floor. I always prefer sleeping on the floor, honestly. You know why? Because then you can roll and roll. You never feel afraid of falling off the edge of the bed. Report an error in the passage at 1:24

1:52 I haven't done that yet, but I was scared of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:52

1:57 So anyhow, and it's not like you can cocoon yourself in so many duvets and other stuff to keep you actually in the bed, because it's so warm over in Cambodia. It's very easy. Just put one little sheet on top of it. That keeps you more than warm enough. And so if you keep rolling and rolling and rolling, you're going to fall off. Report an error in the passage at 1:57

2:24 I prefer the fall. But anyway, I remember just after the first day of staying in this hotel in Cambodia, doing some service for the Aussie government, and then afterwards, the housekeeper came in. Report an error in the passage at 2:24

2:42 When the housekeeper came in, She took one look at the room. Nothing was dirty. Not even the bed had been slept on. And she looked at me and just, who is this guy in this room? I like it when you bamboozle people like housekeepers. But because it's a retreat I was on, after a while, all of those housekeepers in Cambodia, they... Report an error in the passage at 2:42

3:15 They gave me a gift. You know what the gift they gave me? Honestly, this was the highlight of my recent trip over to Cambodia. They gave me the gift of allowing them to give them a blessing. A lot of them, the one person told me it was actually the cook, the cook in this hotel. He used to be a monk for seven years. Report an error in the passage at 3:15

3:46 Then he had to disrobe because it was very difficult times in Cambodia. And he said, would you mind, please, please, please, giving us a blessing? Why not? I really enjoyed that. Just all of the staff in this hotel, they came along to the blessing. And it was with the water. You see me doing that. I haven't got any water for the water blessing here, but you see me do that at lunchtime in the community hall there with the swish and the water. Report an error in the passage at 3:46

4:24 At least they didn't mind it being cold because everything else was really hot in Cambodia. And just the idea of a blessing. Somebody who was looking after them. And I find it... Not really difficult but kind of unusual always to be looked after without me looking after somebody else. I've done a lifetime of service and I prefer that service where you can actually do something which the others first of all thought I would not allow that but I said why not? Report an error in the passage at 4:24

4:54 And so I gave a nice blessing for everybody in that hotel and that was honestly that was the highlight of that trip to be able to give. Report an error in the passage at 4:54

5:06 For us, you know, it was a very quiet time of the year over in that part of Cambodia. And it's such a quiet time. The meditation was really nice and easy. It was one of the nicest little retreats I've had for a long time. And it's also the case that when I go anywhere, people are always asking me questions. Report an error in the passage at 5:06

5:32 And these staff, they just wanted... A blessing, that's all. Kindness, simple. Sometimes you kind of ask yourself, what do people really want? Report an error in the passage at 5:32

5:46 What people really want is just that happiness and kindness. So they can feel at ease, welcome, nothing to gain, nothing to lose. They can have a nice peaceful afternoon. And it's wonderful when you can give that peace to somebody. Sometimes I... I asked myself, after all these years, Ajahn Brahm, you've been teaching for such a long time, why don't you retire? Do you think I can retire? Report an error in the passage at 5:46

6:21 You're nodding your head, why not? That's unfair. You're allowed to retire. Why can't I? This is Australia. You're just exploiting me. Report an error in the passage at 6:21

6:32 But I did remember this one example of this monk who learned how to retire. Report an error in the passage at 6:32

6:42 In a very original way, many, many, many years ago, he became one of my heroes in Thailand, a very famous Thai monk. His name was Chau Khun Taip Siddhimuni, a very senior monk, but very special, very kind, very smart. And because of his kindness, he got himself a nice reputation many, many years ago. He was a good meditator, a good scholar, but also a good organizer. Just like our latest president, Prem, good organizer. Report an error in the passage at 6:42

7:24 I was just trying to tell him his new duties, all those things he has to do as the president of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia. I'm making sure he opens the doors for us in the back on a Friday afternoon. That was not it. In his resume when he first read it. But no, just learning how to be kind is the most important part of the resume of being a president. Report an error in the passage at 7:24

7:54 But being kind is the most important. You're representing the Buddhism. That's what I remember I'm supposed to be doing, representing Buddhism. So this particular monk, he was obviously really, really smart. And so in Thailand they gave him Sort of this responsibility and that responsibility. And soon before he knew it, he was the second monk in the whole of Thailand. Report an error in the passage at 7:54

8:26 You know, with his responsibilities and his duties. And so what happened to him, that because he was number two monk in Thailand, the number three monk, who was really ambitious, This is what happens if you're stupid and want to have, you have a big ego and you want to have more power. So what the number three monk did was he set up the number two monkey. Report an error in the passage at 8:26

8:56 He accused him of being bad. And because of that, there was a court case and the number two monk was convicted. He didn't do anything wrong at all. It was a setup. But he had to go to jail. What happens to a monk if you get convicted in court and get sent to jail? Report an error in the passage at 8:56

9:23 For him, you know, he was totally innocent, but he just, he can't wear the brown robes in the jail, so he just wore the white robes. I think what I would do, I'd just wear the white robes, but not wash them until they got brown enough so I look like a monk. But anyway, because he was sent to jail. Did he complain? I often say this, whatever happens to you in your life, see the wonderful side of it, the beautiful side of it, the advantages in whatever happens to you which you don't expect. Report an error in the passage at 9:23

10:00 And so for him, he was given his own prison cell. He had food brought to the cell in the morning. And for the rest of the day, he had nothing to do. Report an error in the passage at 10:00

10:15 No one could come into his cell to ask him questions. Sometimes I look at that and I kind of crave it. Go to a prison cell and people will leave me alone because they have to. But anyway, this is what this... I read his autobiography. It must be in the library somewhere. It has been translated into English. The autobiography of Chalk and Tape, Siddhi Muni. But anyhow... Report an error in the passage at 10:15

10:42 So he had this great freedom. He didn't have to do any work at all. So he wanted to catch up with some of the reading he's done before and some of the writing and the rest of the time just meditating. Report an error in the passage at 10:42

10:56 He was totally safe. He didn't have anything to do, no work to perform, no cleaning, no nothing. No one to argue with him. That's the problem in the lay world. Report an error in the passage at 10:56

11:12 Do you have a partner in life who doesn't argue with you? Report an error in the passage at 11:12

11:19 That's one of the nice things about being a solitary monk. I don't know how it happened to me that I've got, I'm the head of the monastery now, so lots of people argue with me. Is that true? Report an error in the passage at 11:19

11:35 That's about the time I went to jail. If you won't let me relax and retire, forced retirement in jail. But anyhow, For two or three years, he enjoyed every moment of being in a jail. He didn't feel guilty. That's the other thing which, again, someone asked me this evening. We always blame ourselves no matter what happens, even though you haven't done anything wrong at all. Report an error in the passage at 11:35

12:03 Sometimes it's just what happens in this world. You get put in jail for something you never did. You get accused of things which you didn't do. What are you going to do about that? Why do people feel so guilty? Even when they're totally innocent, when they've done their very, very best. We judge ourselves much more harshly than we'll judge anybody. Report an error in the passage at 12:03

12:27 And that's really unfair. Always treat yourself like you'll treat others. And even though monks like me keep suggesting that to you, would you do that? Would you learn how to forgive yourself very easily? Report an error in the passage at 12:27

12:43 That's one of the reasons why in that first book which I wrote, there was a story at the very end of the worm in the pile of dung. It's one of my favorite stories. I was reminded of it because on the way back from Cambodia, I was flying through Singapore, somebody recognized me there and they said, I really loved your book about the worm in the pile of dung. And they reminded me of it. And, if you don't remember that story, it's a beautiful story. Report an error in the passage at 12:43

13:24 Every time I say it, I always add a few more details to make it more interesting. But the first thing is, when I first wrote that, it was actually being published by some people over in United States. Report an error in the passage at 13:24

13:40 And the original meaning, so the original title of that story was The Worm in the Pile of Shit. But they said there was laws in the United States, you couldn't publish a book with the word S-H-I-T in it. Report an error in the passage at 13:40

14:01 You're supposed to be talking about free speech. Other people say it, so why can't a monk say it? What do you think? Is that fair? Report an error in the passage at 14:01

14:18 Anyway, so I couldn't argue. So eventually they called it Worm and the Pride of Dhamma. But the story is brilliant. The story is about these two monks. It has to be a Buddhist story to get into a Buddhist book. Two monks. And one was a very, very, very, very good monk. Always helping others, looking after people. And that monk got reborn once he died in his beautiful heavenly realm. Report an error in the passage at 14:18

14:48 Everything was just so beautiful and so fragrant and the food so delicious and the scenery was just so gorgeous. It was a heaven realm. But then after a while, you know, you have a friend. So after a while, he's wondered, what happened to my friend? You know, he should be dying soon. So he decided to go and check up on him. He certainly wasn't alive in his former life as a monk. Report an error in the passage at 14:48

15:17 So he went looking for him. Wouldn't you go looking for your friends after many, many years? Even some of the friends which I had, you know, as a young student, I still have that friendship towards them. And I always remember one of those friends, you know, I was surprised actually how over those years we've got closer together, over those many years. Report an error in the passage at 15:17

15:45 And that's that guy, I think I introduced him here, he's been here to Perth before. That was that theoretical physicist, Professor Bernard Carr, who was the collaborator with Stephen Hawking. So he was famous. He finished off as the Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at London University. So he was a high flyer. But he was also one of my friends, but also not just the thing which I liked about him more than anything. Report an error in the passage at 15:45

16:21 Which we're not just friends because of theoretical physics. We want to expand that further. Why not use all of that intelligence and machinery, laboratory equipment, to actually experiment with things really interesting. So the thing really interesting we wanted to experiment with Report an error in the passage at 16:21

16:53 Ghosts and psychic phenomena. And even right now, I think he's still the head, the president of the London Society for Psychic Research. They know how many ghosts there are in London. So we investigate them. We don't go running away from them. We want to find out about them. So we... Report an error in the passage at 16:53

17:26 Here there's a ghost somewhere, and we just go and check it out. And you know, honestly, I think I've told you this many times, but it just fits in here. You know, one of the things which I discovered, and I'll say this in total honesty, that it's not that you're afraid of ghosts. You find that ghosts are afraid of you. Honestly, one of those times, I went looking for ghosts. Report an error in the passage at 17:26

17:57 This was in Thailand, I was a young monk. He went looking for them. Because the monastery where we stayed, that Wat Bananachat, you may have heard of that. Ajahn Chah started that for the Western monks. That place was also a cremation ground. So that's where we'd go and burn the bodies. And often, we had to have, like one monk would volunteer to stay up late there, next to the cremation ground. Report an error in the passage at 17:57

18:30 To make sure that some people, when they died and got cremated, they didn't burn that well. And so we had to be there with a stick. I remember doing this many times, with a stick, and just pushing like a leg which had fallen off the fire, back into the fire. And sometimes with the stick, just trying to scare the dogs away. Because the dogs, that was their food. Report an error in the passage at 18:30

19:02 So many times I did that. So many times, you know, you're in the forest alone looking after the deceased corpse. So do you think you saw some ghosts? Real ones? You bet. And that one time when I said, okay, let's come and really check them out. I went walking after them, looking for them. And eventually, you know, in the forest, eventually saw one. Report an error in the passage at 19:02

19:30 And these ghosts are real. That's why I'm just going to tangent that when I was doing a cremation for one of the Buddhists here, absolutely true story, as I cross my heart and hope to die, but I can't actually say that anymore, cross my heart and hope to die, because I'm just anticipating that on one of the... Report an error in the passage at 19:30

20:02 Matters we're going to discuss at our AGM on Sunday is about arranging a subcommittee to decide on how Ajahn Brahm's going to die on my funeral. Report an error in the passage at 20:02

20:17 I think that our committee members, the BSWA, they're going to be discussing Ajahn Brahm's... I'm perfectly healthy, okay? I'm not hiding anything from you. We're going to discuss... About my funeral arrangements. Is that true? Mr. President? Yeah, yeah, you see. Report an error in the passage at 20:17

20:44 Please understand, Buddhist monks have a totally different understanding about death and funerals and stuff. So anyhow, I went looking for... That's because, you know, you're based on evidence. I went looking for ghosts. And just like looking for evidence of ghosts. And that time, when I was doing a funeral for one of the Buddhists here, And it was a burial. And if you do burials over here, they always, I don't know why, they give the Buddhists the burial sites so far away from the gates. Report an error in the passage at 20:44

21:17 A long walk, you know, when you're doing the procession. You know, the hearse is going behind you. And I was walking at the front with this lady. She was from, I don't mind saying, from Baro No Dei. Report an error in the passage at 21:17

21:35 You know that funeral director here? When I first saw that name, I actually mispronounced it, Bower and Odia. I think Odia was a much better name for funeral services. But anyway, I asked him, have you got any ghost stories? I was interested. I wasn't trying to tease her. He said, oh yeah. She'd been in the business for such a long time. She was one of the senior... Report an error in the passage at 21:35

22:04 Funeral directors, and she told me that often she's in the office at night alone, and sometimes she has the door open. It's like a hot day or something. It was a hot day. And she sees, you know, the ghost walk past the door. She recognized it because she has to, you know, put it in the box and take the photos and make sure it's well cleaned. Report an error in the passage at 22:04

22:31 She recognizes it. And the ghost walks past the door. I said, what do you do? Are you afraid? She said, no, no, I've seen it too many times to be afraid. What do you do? And I'll never forget what she said. She said, I tell it, get back in your box. Report an error in the passage at 22:31

22:53 And she was being honest with me. She does that so often. Report an error in the passage at 22:53

23:01 Get back in your box. So anyhow, so I'm looking for those ghosts. And you found one. And so... As soon as I saw one at the Thai coast, I went walking after it, getting as close as you possibly could. And as soon as it saw me walking towards it, it was scared. And it shouted out to me, What? You can see us? Oh yeah. And that was really scary for that ghost. But I wanted to find out why. Report an error in the passage at 23:01

23:44 So when I went up to the ghost, And I asked any more of you around and they had quite a few more around. And we had a conversation. I'm not crazy. Report an error in the passage at 23:44

23:57 And the conversation which we had is, how does it feel to be a ghost? Why are you scared of monks? Report an error in the passage at 23:57

24:06 Wouldn't you like to do an interview? If people would believe me, I'd have put that in a magazine. And just said, a personal interview with real ghosts. Report an error in the passage at 24:06

24:18 And so, but the evidence is, The real ghosts, first of all, you can speak to them, even though I had a basic understanding of northeast language, and they were northeasterners. Report an error in the passage at 24:18

24:31 It's also, you don't worry about, you're not speaking with your mouth, you're doing with your mind. So you can understand them perfectly, and they can understand you. And number two is that you heard that they were so confused, people who just died. What do we do? What was supposed to happen? So as a monk, you could literally give them a dharma talk, just a few words, and they were very happy. Report an error in the passage at 24:31

25:03 And the other thing is to try and make them happier by doing this old tradition of sharing merits with them. When you share merits with them, it's actually your merits, the goodness which I had done, basically giving to them. You've heard that tradition before. That really works. That inspires them. And many of those ghosts can take a rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 25:03

25:32 And those who don't take the rebirth, you know, I said, what else do you want? And I was quite surprised that they asked me for some Thai chili paste. Report an error in the passage at 25:32

25:49 It's what they like to eat. So I promised them I did do it. I put some chili paste out in that spot for them the next morning. Because I was a monk, you know, for lunch they had this and I never ate it. I couldn't take it. But I put some out for them. That's just an act of kindness. It's a beautiful thing to do. And that's why, you know, some of the kindness which we emphasize, you know, in the dharma is so important. Report an error in the passage at 25:49

26:20 And, you know, that's... Kind of just carry on what I was doing at university. Doing the experiments, finding out and not being scared of these things. Finding out what truth really is. Not by what you read in books, because too many people are scared to investigate those things. And because they're scared, they don't actually believe anything. Report an error in the passage at 26:20

26:42 They'd rather run than investigate. So one of the things, again, always know. That you'll never be scared. And if someone in your family has died, they may have died in the other side of the world, they can come and visit you so easy. Report an error in the passage at 26:42

27:02 I don't know, people sometimes call it spirit body, but it's just like mind to mind. Isn't that a wonderful thing to do? Your old dad can come and say hello and say, look, thank you for what you did. You've done nothing wrong. Report an error in the passage at 27:02

27:21 Have you ever had that experience? Honestly, most of you, and if we ask you, may even say yes, you have. And it's because that's so reassuring for you to know that somebody you loved is kind of at peace. And it's good for you too. You can make them feel at peace. Both ways, it just really works. And because of that, that's why... Report an error in the passage at 27:21

27:53 It's a simple thing to give to each one of you. The biggest problem is the fear we have. Watching too many movies, and then the movies are there to try and scare you, because that's why people want to watch more. You don't have to be scared by ghosts. They're actually very nice. But anyway, how did I get into this? So those friends which I have had over those years, and we talked together, we... Report an error in the passage at 27:53

28:23 We discuss things together and we still keep in the idea that open mind which is able to explore and find out what's going on, to learn more about life. Report an error in the passage at 28:23

28:35 And of course, in a place like Kampuchea, there are many, many sort of ghosts of the past and they've had a very difficult life. And that's one of the reasons why the first time I went to those killing fields. Report an error in the passage at 28:35

28:51 Have many of you been to those killing fields in Cambodia? You know, it's just huge amounts of energy. It's not dark energy, but very, very... It kind of sucks my energy out. And, of course, I want to give more energy out, as much as I can give, simply because people just... I can feel what they must have felt. How on earth can anybody do this to one another? Report an error in the passage at 28:51

29:22 How can people treat each other so unkindly? Even just some human beings, why on earth can't you get on? Be kind to one another. That's, you know, some of the experience I've had in my life. When you're kind to one another, my goodness, it really is inspiring. Report an error in the passage at 29:22

29:44 In my life, I'm still working, haven't retired yet. One of my memories I have, one of the most... Beautiful experiences, not just in meditation, but just in learning how to build bridges between different societies. I think it was in around 2000, where I did make enough effort to actually to join in multi-faith ceremonies. Report an error in the passage at 29:44

30:21 One of those multi-faith ceremonies was usually held every year in St. George's Cathedral here. It was the Commonwealth Day experience. Commonwealth was like a group of nations who tried to have harmony with one another under the auspices of that time the monarch of England, the Queen. Report an error in the passage at 30:21

30:50 And anyway, because I went to all of those interfaith services, which were those times only ceremonies, one time, thankfully, because of the dean of St. George's Cathedral, he said, you give good talks. He said, why didn't you come to our cathedral and give the Sunday sermon? Report an error in the passage at 30:50

31:20 You know, when I became a monk, that was the last thing I thought I would ever do. To give a Sunday sermon. How many of you went to that Sunday sermon? Prem? Yeah, you did. Were you inspired by that day? Report an error in the passage at 31:20

31:46 Oh, yeah. Without them, it wouldn't have enough, like, power. So there was, apparently, the dean of the cathedral should know this because he's done all the research, apparently. He said that's the first time. In any country of the world, that a Buddhist monk has given a Sunday sermon at a full Eucharist in a cathedral. Report an error in the passage at 31:46

32:20 Yay! And sometimes, you know, okay, I'm not supposed to be proud, but sometimes I like that. He gave the first sermon. What happened, I remember as it started, that once the word got around, A Buddhist monk was going to give a sermon at a cathedral. Then, that's right, the media got hold of it. And it was channel 9 or 7 or something, because I don't watch the TV, I'm not quite sure which channel is which. Report an error in the passage at 32:20

32:55 But anyway, the first problem I had was when they wanted to do an interview for TV with me. And I remember going in to the studio just around the corner here, and they said, Before you actually go in front of the cameras, Ajahn Brahm, you have to do makeup first. That was embarrassing for me. I'm a monk. I'm a man. And then, have I got a choice? They said no. So I remember just going to the makeup. Report an error in the passage at 32:55

33:31 They put some stuff on your face so it looks like normal. And Ajahn Brahmali went with me. And he was teasing me all the time. That didn't help. But actually doing that interview, which meant people found out about it. So there was a demonstration outside by fundamentalists. And then they had some of the workers in that church, sort of managed to get hold of them and throw them out. Report an error in the passage at 33:31

34:10 Many of the Buddhas who were there, they could stay. And I gave a nice talk. Those talks which I gave were very, you know, usual talks. This is why I'm coming back down, back to it. Like the person who got reborn as a worm in a pile of shit. Report an error in the passage at 34:10

34:35 Because what it was doing, it was like ordinary lessons which apply to everybody. And so that, so I really enjoyed that teaching similes such as that. at the cathedral on a Sunday sermon. But the result of that was, honestly, I didn't know which of the people was a Buddhist, which were the Christians, and which were whoever. Report an error in the passage at 34:35

35:03 But they all enjoyed the talk. And it also gave a great deal of harmony afterwards. Now the majority, that's a big church, that cathedral, and it was packed. I don't know if that normally happens on a Sunday sermon, but that day it was really packed. And I enjoyed it immensely. But anyway, back to one of the stories about the... I was very proud of that. Report an error in the passage at 35:03

35:30 Very happy that you could actually make that happen. But the story of the worm in the pile of dung was that that second monk, eventually that monk who went to a heaven realm found him. Report an error in the passage at 35:30

35:47 And he found... My goodness, what did you do you never told me about in your life? You've been reborn because of that bad karma as a worm in a pile of, let's just say it, shit. Report an error in the passage at 35:47

36:02 Now what would you do if you found your friend had such an unfortunate experience, was reborn as a worm in a pile of dung? Report an error in the passage at 36:02

36:13 He said, look, it's a terrible rebirth. But you know, I'm a heavenly being now. Make you escape. I can take you from this stinky, smelly pile of shit you've been reborn into up into a heaven realm. You can come and live with me. What do you think the worm did? The worm said, look, before you take me up to heaven, I want to ask one question. Report an error in the passage at 36:13

36:44 Is there any shit up in heaven? No, of course not. Report an error in the passage at 36:44

36:53 We don't have any of that stinky stuff up in heaven. It's just all beautiful and clean and delicious. And the worm said, look, I like my shit. Report an error in the passage at 36:53

37:06 It's warm. I don't know why you call it smelly. It's fragrant. And it's my food. It's delicious. Do you want to try some? Report an error in the passage at 37:06

37:16 Henry, no, no. If there's no shit, I'm not going. So what would you do next? The heavenly being thought, if I can only show my old friend, now reborn as a worm, what heaven is like, I'm sure he'll be convinced it's a nice place to go. Report an error in the passage at 37:16

37:42 So the heavenly being, with very delicate, clean, soft hands, plunged it into the pile of poo and tried to grab hold of the worm. Report an error in the passage at 37:42

37:57 And the worm didn't want to go. So he started screaming out, help me, help me, I'm being worm-napped. He said, well, okay, not a kid. And because he was covered with this stinky, slimy stuff, he didn't want to go. He kept on escaping. If you don't want to go, it's very hard to actually to grab a worm who's already in a pile of dung. Report an error in the passage at 37:57

38:30 And so he kept on going deeper and deeper and deeper into the pile. And the heavenly being would not give up that easy. Many times, many times he put his hand in that pile of dung, trying to pull the worm out. Many, many times. But because the worm didn't want to go, it always escaped. And I like that story because sometimes that's what I think I'm doing. Report an error in the passage at 38:30

39:00 I'm trying to get you out of your pile of... and take you to where I live. Sometimes I get you quite close to freedom. Sometimes I get you to come to our retreats over in Jhāna Grove, sometimes come visit monastery, and sometimes I get you so close, I don't want to go! Why don't you crawl back into your monastery? Report an error in the passage at 39:00

39:29 And every week you tell me how it is and you're part of shit. Yeah, of course I know. Report an error in the passage at 39:29

39:36 But that's the kind of story which the Christians really loved. Report an error in the passage at 39:36

39:45 It applies to all of you, doesn't it? The Buddhists as well. So what it's doing is learning how to explain like dharma, real life, in ways which people can relate to, even though they laugh and they feel a bit embarrassed. But it's so true, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 39:45

40:06 So we try our very best. I think the problem with that story was it's a bit too extreme, you know, from shit to heaven too quickly. So usually we do it from shit to reasonable food and reasonable food for something a bit better and a bit better too quickly. Ugh, don't want to go. But the wonderful thing is there is like peace and happiness in this world. There really is. Report an error in the passage at 40:06

40:35 When actually you can show it. go. Report an error in the passage at 40:35

40:38 Live it so other people can understand it and experience it. That's what makes it inspiring. That's why you come here on a Friday evening. You hear the same stories week after week after week after week after week. People often say, why do you keep telling the same stories? Because you always have the same problems. Report an error in the passage at 40:38

41:07 So anyhow, I enjoy myself as a monk. And he managed to get to some interesting places. Cambodia. He said, some beautiful people. I don't know, I was told by many Thais. He said, be careful if you go to Cambodia because there was a conflict in Cambodia between Cambodia and Thailand. Only recently, so kind of settled. Report an error in the passage at 41:07

41:37 It's very peaceful there. It's a beautiful country. That's one of the reasons why you have to be a bit adventurous. and to challenge people's perceptions and to see the truth of things. It is how kind everybody was over in Cambodia. They were just so happy to see like a Western monk willing to go over there to teach. And especially they couldn't hardly believe that I've been a monk for, now I've been a monk 52 years. Report an error in the passage at 41:37

42:12 It's a long time being a monk. You still won't let me retire. But at the moment I don't feel like retiring. I have too much fun. Enjoy myself too much. One of the other things I was going to talk about is that whenever you are wanting to retire, it's nice to retire temporarily. Report an error in the passage at 42:12

42:35 You know what I call temporary retirement? Going on retreat. That's why there's so many people on the retreat which I taught over in Cambodia for nine days. They came over there. And he meets some amazing people. You know, one of the amazing people who was there was this nine-year-old, this nine-year-old boy from Hawaii, came with his auntie, auntie you know, and he has amazing meditations. Report an error in the passage at 42:35

43:12 So you meet these kind of like prodigies who inspire you. And these aren't little kids who play around and run around. They're almost there for every meditation. Report an error in the passage at 43:12

43:24 And you see things like that and say, wow, there's such amazing people in this world. And when actually they see, there's a monk who takes them seriously. Report an error in the passage at 43:24

43:36 Do you remember that young girl who used to come here to meditate? Report an error in the passage at 43:36

43:43 Was it Sarah? Remember Sarah? Report an error in the passage at 43:43

43:50 You remember her, yes. She would always come and meditate here with her mum. And she would meditate. She'd never just fall asleep. Report an error in the passage at 43:50

44:03 And that was one day. She was only a small kid. Six, seven, eight, I forget how much. But then I remember one of our members here. Remember Bianca? So Bianca, I saw it happen. It brought tears to my eyes. This poor little Sarah would always wanted to meditate and would meditate. But look at the cushions you have. They're built for grown-ups. Report an error in the passage at 44:03

44:33 And one day, Bianca made her a small cushion, especially for her. And when Bianca presented this young little girl with her own meditation cushion, sewn specifically for her, soft, her size, then she burst out crying. And so did many other people who actually saw that beautiful act of kindness, compassion. Report an error in the passage at 44:33

45:05 To help somebody who really wanted to meditate and so young. She turned out to be a lovely girl. Anyhow, that's one of the reasons why we continue on and we use meditation as a lovely place where we can relax and rest and meditate. It also has some amazing results for any of you who have young kids. I still remember this story of A couple of the members of our Buddhist society years ago, he was a deep sea diver. Report an error in the passage at 45:05

45:46 And so, you know, he would, when he went, I think, to mend pipes in the sea and deep down, he'd often sort of, you know, deep in the oceans, he'd have amazing experience with huge, like, animals. And because this was the animal's realm, not human realm, They would come and just sniff him and just wonder, who is he? They never attack. Violence wasn't, you know, part of the situation there. Report an error in the passage at 45:46

46:19 But once he got to the surface, he had to spend a day or two resting, so he didn't, what's it called, get bends? Decompression, yeah. And anyway, so he spent a lot of time meditating and reading. This is a nice job for him. But then when he got back to home with his wife and a couple of kids, that he would always want to meditate there as well. Report an error in the passage at 46:19

46:49 And I advised him, I said, look, whenever you get a home or build a home, don't just think of, is there enough bedrooms, washrooms, kitchens or whatever. Why not make sure you have... Like a meditation room in your house. Like a spiritual room. And he thought that was a good idea. And this was such a long time ago. Report an error in the passage at 46:49

47:17 The place he chose for his meditation room was the cupboard under the stairs. Now apparently this was a long time before Harry Potter came along. Report an error in the passage at 47:17

47:30 Now you think that's not really original, but in those days it was. So he cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs, put cushions in there, made it very beautiful, and that became his meditation room. So him and his wife would go in there many times a day, especially in the mornings, maybe in the evenings, to meditate. Report an error in the passage at 47:30

47:51 It was private and it was cool under the stairs. But they had a rule that the kids were not allowed to go under the stairs, only the parents. The opposite of Harry Potter. And so when they went under the stairs, the kid had to keep out for the sake of privacy and peace. But then they noticed this one amazing thing happened. And they loved telling me this story. That on one afternoon, you know, there are two kids. Report an error in the passage at 47:51

48:28 There's a boy and a girl. The boy was the elder. The girl was younger. Boy and the girl had a fight. And... It was the boy who hit the girl, his sister. He hit her on the face the first time in her life. Report an error in the passage at 48:28

48:47 You can imagine the emotional distress of this little sister. They were playing, but maybe she was playing a bit too aggressively. But then her older brother sort of hit her. And that was so confusing for her. It was the only thing she did. Report an error in the passage at 48:47

49:10 It was to run into the cupboard under the stairs and sit down to relax. And they found out that the kids were using that meditation cupboard by themselves, naturally, simply because it was a place of peace. Report an error in the passage at 49:10

49:33 What a wonderful thing that is in addition to your house. You can have one place in the house where even kids recognize. It's a wonderful place to just rebalance your emotions whenever there's an emotional disturbance. Report an error in the passage at 49:33

49:55 And the last little story before I ask for questions that I told someone else today because we were talking about just getting the latest building approvals for Jhāna Grove Monastery. Report an error in the passage at 49:55

50:17 It may come up during the meeting, I'm not sure, on Sunday, about a new water tank in the shed at Jhāna Grove. Something simple. But they were just saying that sometimes it's difficult to get building approvals for things. But in those old days, it was so easy to get building approvals for things at Bodhinyana Monastery. Report an error in the passage at 50:17

50:42 And I knew one of the reasons why. When one day... This gentleman came up and he said, I'm retiring tomorrow and this is one thing I wanted to do before my last day at work. I wanted to come up and say thank you, Ajahn Brahm. That's not what he said. Report an error in the passage at 50:42

51:12 I want to say thank you for your car park. It's a car park story at Bodhinyana Monastery. Report an error in the passage at 51:12

51:24 And he said, who are you? I've never seen him before. And he said, I'm your building surveyor, the Shire of Serpentine Javada. And he explained it. He said, at that job, the person who approves the building plans or has to say no to them, said it can be very stressful. And every time I have a stressful day in the Mandi Jong, in the Shire offices, I get in my car. Report an error in the passage at 51:24

51:57 And come to your car park for half an hour. That's all I need. Because somehow the energy, the peace, the kindness, the simplicity of that car park is all I need. Open the windows and just soak in the atmosphere for half an hour. I never told you. But anyway, thank you for all those hours I spent there de-stressing. Report an error in the passage at 51:57

52:29 And that's just like those kids. That's how you can de-stress. That's why I invite you in your house, if you've got some stairs, clean it out underneath. Or some little space, you can just have a little meditation room for yourself. And then you find your kids will go in there. Report an error in the passage at 52:29

52:52 Because they can feel the peace and it's so attractive. It's a place where you can sort of heal any emotional hurt. That you can be more healthy and so can the... The family around you. And also the dogs and cats as well, they love going in there. We used to have a cat years ago, that Kit Kat. Report an error in the passage at 52:52

53:17 And I still remember that sometimes it would run into my hut when I lived in the hut. And it would get into the warmest place in the hut, which was the bottom of my sleeping bag. There's no way in the world I could get that out. The cat got in there and it wouldn't come out. And I like that. You share your room and your life with animals. I'm not calling them pets because I think the Kit Kat thought that I was its pet. Report an error in the passage at 53:17

53:51 I think you know what I mean. You know the story of that Kit Kat, one of those stories? I promised I'd tell it today. And that was when, because it's a cat, it was born in a monastery, lived all its life in the monastery, and it was killing too many birds. Report an error in the passage at 53:51

54:16 And so what do you do? So we had a Saṅgha decision. That's all the monks' decision. We have to find another home for that cat. Report an error in the passage at 54:16

54:28 So our president at that time lived in Watermans. Watermans is about six, seven, eight kilometers from here. So of course it was basically my cat that I called it over. And it trusted me. This is what really hurt. Because I used this trust it had in me and I picked it up and put it in a bag and put that bag in the back seat of a car, actually where your feet go, so you couldn't see out of the window and drove that cat all the way to Watermans. Report an error in the passage at 54:28

55:11 And that cat had never been outside the monastery in its life except on one occasion to go to Byford. To get monasticized so we wouldn't have any kittens. Report an error in the passage at 55:11

55:27 And so apparently the lady kept in her house for about four days trying to make it use to its new home. And the first time after a few days it let that cat out of the house. The cat ran so fast to the garden gate and the lady could not catch it. Report an error in the passage at 55:27

55:53 So I went down the street and the lady got in her car and drove around the suburb of Watermans looking for the cat. Couldn't find it. And after about two hours of looking, she gave me a call. It was a Saturday afternoon. And I was out here getting ready to teach meditation. Report an error in the passage at 55:53

56:16 And she said, I'm terribly sorry, Ajahn Brahm, I've lost your cat. And I replied, you haven't lost my cat. The cat's right with me, right now. Sitting next to me, drinking some milk. It was so thirsty. It had found its way. There's no joke. The real cat had ran from the house in Watermans and made it to Naramara in under two hours. Report an error in the passage at 56:16

56:47 I couldn't do that. Even if I knew the way. And cats, you know, they don't have a GPS. Not in those days. Report an error in the passage at 56:47

56:58 And to this day, how could that cat find me? You may say, oh yeah, it found you over by running to Serpentine. This was a smart cat, not a dumb one. That would take hours. He'd be worn out after he gets to Serpentine from Waterman's. He did a much better job. Just went from Waterman's, must have been an almost straight line, across the freeway and made it to a nice home. That's what I always admire. Report an error in the passage at 56:58

57:29 the psychic abilities of pets, of animals. They're amazingly smart. Anyway, I did promise I would shut up. I do agree I speak too much, but the things need to be said so anyway any questions Report an error in the passage at 57:29

58:13 Ajahn, you mentioned that there was a nine-year-old boy in your retreat. Now, for some reasons actually, we don't allow anyone at Janagraha under 18. We don't have any? We have, based on this safe Buddhism thing, we can't allow any children under 18 or 16, something like that. To do what? To attend retreats. This was over a Singapore held retreat. Yeah, I know. Report an error in the passage at 58:13

58:47 So is it time to reconsider that? Oh yes, certainly, yeah. And not only in our BSWA retreats, actually Janagraha themselves stopped a child from coming to one of the Sri Lankan monks' retreats based on that. And he was turned back, and it was very embarrassing for the whole family. The rest of the family was allowed, not the child. The child was not nine, I think, must have been about 15 or 16, but he was turned back. Report an error in the passage at 58:47

59:17 So is it, I mean, we are going too far into... It could be. It would be wonderful for the teacher there to actually to ask him, interview him, talk with him, get to know him. If somebody really knows... I know that sometimes we really think that our kid is much smarter than he really is. Report an error in the passage at 59:17

59:42 And if he really is a smart kid... And he wants to come, his own will, not his parents, you know, wanting him, then that'd be a different story. Report an error in the passage at 59:42

59:58 Because a lot of times, just, you know, you have to amend some of those things. If it really is safe, we know it's safe for him, then of course, let him come. Report an error in the passage at 59:58

1:00:16 Okay, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:16

1:00:20 When you see... Things like that. You don't want to hinder a person. If they're really getting into the meditation and they're doing well, of course they can come. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20

1:00:37 Okay, yeah? Next question? If there is another question? Where? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:37

1:00:47 Oh, in the back. Oh, yeah. Over there. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:47

1:00:55 Hi, I just wanted to ask about, you mentioned about kindness and recently... I've noticed on social media in particular two subjects that have been quite creating a bit of division in the community. One of them is the rise of the far-right group One Nation. And the other one is the Palestine conflict. And I've personally shared things about this, being concerned about obviously the bombing of families in Palestine and the... Report an error in the passage at 1:00:55

1:01:32 The xenophobia and racism of the far-right group One Nation. And I was just wondering, how is it best to address people when they do comment on those things in the negative? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:32

1:01:50 In the negative, in other words? Like when people are making negative comments and they're supporting One Nation or they're supporting the bombing of families in Palestine. How do we respond in the best way to respond to that? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:50

1:02:03 Sometimes these are questions which I come across and I'm kind of dumbfounded myself. So the wise thing to do is, where did these ideas come from in the first place? Why do people actually support right-wing stuff? It must be that their existence is threatened or they think this is right. It can't be right. I'm very proud of our Buddhist society here. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:03

1:02:42 We have people from all parts of the world, and the more parts of the world, the better. Why can't we... I thought this was so long ago, we judged a person by the color of their skin, or by where they were born, or what their parents were like. That was such a long time ago. So I think leaders of society should actually stand up and say that what you're saying is absolutely wrong. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:15 Mrs. Hansen or whatever it is. It's totally wrong. But why do people support that? They must be so desperate. And also, have you ever met Palestinian people? Of course I've met many Palestinian people. And it's disgusting what's happening to them. People think, oh no, you need to do this for the sake of the future. No way. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:15

1:03:46 So I can't see that having any momentum for the future. Because people are wiser. Please speak up. So many times in the past, you've had like migrant groups. You know, seeing Guru Mukta there in front of me. Bangladeshi. But then the... Report an error in the passage at 1:03:46

1:04:11 The senior vice-chancellor of UWA is Bangladeshi. A great guy. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:11

1:04:26 What's your job now? Where's he gone? Is he still here? The Bangladeshi, who's now a member of our committee, he's already gone back home. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:26

1:04:36 I've gone home, okay. But he's having his 20th... guy and Report an error in the passage at 1:04:36

1:04:42 Marriage anniversary with his wife tonight. Sorry? So it's wonderful to see that. How many Australians are here this evening? Really? You don't look indigenous to me. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:42

1:05:09 I think you got the idea of what I was saying. How can we judge people like that? It makes absolutely no sense to me. Is it something which is growing or is it... Just, how come? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:09

1:05:27 Okay, now, very good. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:27

1:05:33 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:33

1:05:39 I think that's more likely. There's no elections and people feel they have power if they get to be prime minister or... You know, it's usually a burden having any kind of power. That's why, you know, you don't want to be... I'm just talking that a lot with a fellow monk. You don't want to be abbot. You don't want to be the spiritual director. You do that as a service, and you really mean it as a service. Personally, the happiest I could be is to go on another six-month or six-year retreat in my cave, honestly. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:39

1:06:21 You don't want to sort of tell people what to do. You want to encourage people to be kind, just like the six-year or seven-year-old boys. You want to protect them, but not tell them what to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:21

1:06:36 Same with that Safe Buddhism initiative of making sure that there's no violence or there is no coercion or offense between anybody in a Buddhist center, in a Buddhist world. That's really off. And it's not just off, it just makes it very difficult to get... The effects of things like meditation, if you feel you have to protect yourself in a Buddhist temple or meditation retreat or a monastery, how on earth can you feel safe and at ease to close your eyes? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:36

1:07:18 And that's one of the nice things I hope that everybody knows. If you close your eyes at Bodhinyana Monastery or at Dhammaloka Center, you're not going to be robbed. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:18

1:07:32 You're totally safe. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:32

1:07:40 Otherwise, meditation can't work for you. You can't let go unless other people are keeping precepts. That's why those precepts are really important. And they're just hurting or judging another person. Imagine what it must feel like if you're in Palestine, you're just living your life and then somebody bombs you and takes away your house. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:40

1:08:11 What type of religion or philosophy? Actually allows that. Makes absolutely no sense. I don't know how that's promoted in the media. One of the problems which I have, it's a nice problem, you don't watch TV. You haven't got a clue how that message gets disseminated. It's such a stupid message. Don't people go to schools and learn what's right, what's wrong? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:11

1:08:47 Learn from the messages we've... learned through blood over so many years. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:47

1:09:01 Ajahn Brahm, this is not my question. I'll ask question after this, okay? A short comment on what the person asked about Pauline Hanson. When I first came to Australia in 1988, you know what the motto was? Asians go home. And from Pauline Hanson's mouth, Asians, I can't stand them. You know what? How I felt, you know, do you know how I feel? I made a decision to come here and this happens, how it cut me, you know. I just want to make this comment, I'm not going to say anymore, okay, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:01

1:09:36 The question, okay, my question now is, okay, you mentioned about ghosts, you know, earlier, Ajahn Brahm, and the, what I call the heavenly beings, you know, and on psychic powers, you know. I want to ask you, Do you think we have, Ajahn Brahm, like this, what you call the guardian angel in us, the guardian angel in us, or our guardian angel is like devas, or when we, like in the altar here, in the altar here, in the altar, and in the, what you call the, in Sir Bojanana, when we pray, you know, there's all these devas, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:36

1:10:23 Who can come to help us, isn't it? Yes. You see, there's one way, external way. The other way is we do meditation and use the Buddha's teaching from the mind. If you think positive, if you think the mind is foreigner of all states, if you think you are well, you are well. If you think you are sick, you're going to be sick. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:23

1:10:46 Correct. And then what about Ajahn Brahm? Sorry. There's one way to deal with our problem. The other way is there are beings who can help us in it. There are, yes. But a lot of times those beings get more attracted to helping you if you're a good person. Yeah, of course. Yes. Yeah. Anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:46

1:11:16 And also chanting from people like monks, chanting, that helps too, the energy. Yes, certainly, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:16

1:11:29 But anyway, look, sometimes I claim I'm an Asian too. It's true. I'm a Caucasian. yes. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:29

1:11:44 I mean that doesn't really sort of help because it's more like what you look like, not who you are. Thank you. Okay, very good. Question from Poland. Are outbursts of anger, irritation or frustration stored emotions? Report an error in the passage at 1:11:44

1:12:02 No, you're storing the wrong emotions there. Improperly stored emotions. Good emotions, kind emotions which inspire you, which keep you healthy. They're good to store, but anger, irritation or frustration, the emotions which cause them, should be let go of as soon as possible. And why do you keep those things? They're really harmful, they're dangerous. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:02

1:12:31 Question from the USA, how do we come short-sightedness? It's actually being someone who is interested in finding better truths. If it's short-sighted, it always leads to some conflict somewhere, some bad results. If it is long-sightedness, wisdom, it always leads to peace and happiness. It's an, ah, I understand now. That's why we have schools. Schools to train people to be wise. Not just be able to pass maths exams. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:31

1:13:15 Can you tell that old maths joke? Before we finish, the one about the kid who never did well at maths, it was really holding him back for the rest of his studies. They tried everything, private tuition, extra tutors. The one thing which worked was when they sent him to a Catholic school. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:15

1:13:42 And after a couple of weeks in a Catholic school, his grades went up, up, up, up, up. And they asked him, how come? that all these other schools didn't work and when you went to a Catholic school, immediately, you know, your grades went up enormously, very quickly. And he said, Dad, when I first went into that school, Question of Report an error in the passage at 1:13:42

1:14:12 India. How do we overcome defilements? saw that young kid knelt on a cross. I realized they take maths very seriously. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:12

1:14:29 Keeping precepts, meditating and listening to good dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:29

1:14:36 Practicing. This is what Buddhism does. Overcoming defilements. And that's... How do you know that's true? We all say that. Go and see the people who teach the dharma. And if you see they have far few defilements than others, you know that this is the truth. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:36

1:14:58 Okay, can I go now? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:58

1:15:04 That was a good question, a tricky question at the end about the right wingers. Sometimes you see that in passing but because you don't keep your head in front of the TV too much, actually hardly at all, sometimes you don't realize. There's another question. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:04

1:15:34 Go on, quick. Hello, my name is Jessica. Got quite an odd request. Yeah. I'm from the UK and I've recently moved here. I've got a close friend of mine in the UK and she's not very well, but she is a Buddhist. Yes. And she's asked me if I possibly could ask you for your autograph just on a piece of fabric. Of course. That I've got. And then I'll obviously send it to her. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:34

1:16:01 She'd be very, very grateful for that. Excellent. That's something that you would consider. She follows you quite a lot and really likes your work. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:01

1:16:12 very nice. Excellent. Her name's not Pauline Hanson, is it? How did you know? No, her name's Leslie and she's a lovely lady. Okay, great, yeah. Certainly I'll do that. What we'll do, can we do the band first of all? And then I'll do the... Report an error in the passage at 1:16:12

1:16:35 Yeah, no, find a pen somewhere. It's okay, we'll keep the camera on for a few minutes so you can get evidence. I'm signing it. Let's do the bowing first. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:35