Change | Ajahn Brahm | 17 December 2010

so as usual I'd like to respond to questions which I asked of me just before the talk or questions we get on emails and the questions are from emails and people that saw evening give me a sort of a subject to talk about very so strong Buddhist subjects of an eater or change and I'm going to weave a talk about that but with some examples which people just asked me today and the first place where I will start with a question which came on the internet it's a question where they said that there are some things in science which are laws which are given which don't change but then again the Buddha said that everything does change is that a contradiction especially they mentioned the old science paradigm of the conservation of energy and I've mentioned this before I mean to listen to talk I gave in Singapore about ten days ago when I gave a talk on how creation or evolution sort of how do they fit together and it was because I was a scientist before through medical physicists and because I'm a Buddhist now and I understand the nature of the mind it was a question which bothered me for a while in a word did this material of the universe come from and if you conservation of energy means you can't create something out of nothing and the answer was very clear that you get you can have an answer which bridges that contradictions sometimes in life when we see there's a contradiction it's actually because we don't actually see things from the correct angle we just change our perspective and see there's no contradiction there at all and the solution comes from a little bit of science to notice that this thing we call mass energy or the stuff of this universe it's not always at its positive form there's something which we call negative energy and the example which many people know from their high school days is what they call potential energy I'm not going to carry on this is not a science lecture but this just gives an indication of what I'm going to talk about later on that potential energy is where you have like a massive object in some sort of force field like a gravitational field and that has actually a negative component to its energy in other words started to free it from the earth gravitational field it takes energy so being here in the Earth's gravitational field when you have a little bit of negative energy so there is such a concept in physics of negative energy and is also the positive energy and I remember many years ago when I gave a talk with Abbot Placid the former abbot of New Norcia and professor David Blair from UWA and myself when we saw discuss religion and science I mean but turning around to professor Blair professor of physics at UWA and asked him what would he actually be like if the amounts of negative energy in this universe exactly cancelled out the amount of positive energy in this universe in other words is like a zero sum and I remember that point he turned around to me and he said wow you're really up to date ajahn Brahm and he said Omega equals one you remember saying this Omega they always have these letters for physical things in in in science so Armiger apparently is the ratio of negative energy and positive energy in this universe according to what he said and they cycle equal to 1 otherwise it totally balances out so in other words the amount of mass stuff energy in this universe if you bring it all together it totally cancels out into zero so basically this thing which we see with all of the the stuff of this universe if we could bring it together you will come together as nothing zero emptiness famous Buddhist Sunita so he came out of nothing and basically right now we're nothing we'll go back to nothing the zero-sum game totally I really like that I said as a joke I think a few days ago that there's a TV program called The Biggest Loser monks or Buddhist Buddhists are the biggest losers we attach to nothing at all we let go of everything so the biggest losers are Buddhists so welcome to The Biggest Loser Club in other words we lose everything - there's nothing left there's nothing there to begin with so this whole universe comes from nothing it's just a plus or minus totally balancing each other but separated and then eventually comes back together into nothing just like your consciousness where did your consciousness come from people often asked sort of a separation of negative and positive I know that some of you think you've got more negative energy in your consciousness and positive energy you hang around the Buddha Society for a long time and we'll balance that out but eventually it balances out to nothingness and that's the deep peace and stillness in meditation we totally vanish it's all gone so it's actually interesting because it's from nothing that's why it can change and disappear totally so that actually answer the questions it's not a contradiction because you can have change then this can be coming from nothing going back to nothing it's like impermanence in constant not always the same and that to me when you first hear that sometimes I can be quite frightening because it's a native human being always like some stability someplace which you can sit down and have a rest and a lot of times people think that you need something stable to sit on and rest in life which is why we want the stable relationship we want the people we love to always be around or the time you know we want to have some sense of certainty in the economy of the country or the stability of this place so we can have a a community a nation where we can feel safe that we're going to raise our children everything's going to be okay but you know the nature of the world is not like that things are in constant flux and change to the point that when we become aware of this we realize that you know there is a deep instability in this world in this nation in this existence and we really have to come to terms with that as soon as possible and how do we come to terms with the changing nature of our life obviously that when you don't come to terms with the changing nature of our life that is called attachment that's called delusion and that's when we have loved once with us and we don't let them change like you know your partners in life I guarantee that your partner today was not the same as when you married them a few months ago they will always change and you just cannot keep them the same would it be wonderful when you married your beautiful wife if she was always the same no beautiful 21 year old oh I don't know what made you married about unfortunately she grows old and and her hair so starts to turn gray and other things begin to Sag breath you wish your husband was always the same just when you were going out together always attentive and nicely dressed and now he's just no he too is just a bit stinky under the armpits I have been told and just decrepid but this is the nature we got to let this happen and especially we have to let it happen when eventually they disappear from us you know in death that's part of like change and if we don't allow ourselves to understand that and to accept it we always think that the people we love are going to be there forever and that's a problem and one of those great sayings of the Buddha is all that his mind beloved and pleasing will one day become separated from me all of his mind beloved and pleasing will one day become separated from me always try to remember that because well that actually means no is that you know we enjoy the company of the things we love we enjoy them but we know that one day they will go and it's not a frightening feeling when we understand it deeply in fact it's quite a beautiful feeling as I will now demonstrate with one of our John Charles great similes he would actually pick up a cup and this is reason why we have so many glass or cup similes because that's all the visual aids I have sitting next to me where maybe you've got the the Baroness the bong or whatever but we always use what we have next to us and so he said he'd hold up a company said can you see the crack in the cup and I would look carefully to see where it was cracked and I just couldn't see it and I wonder what he was up to and he said it is cracked but it's microscopic you can't really see it but one day he said someone's going to kick that glass or they're going to drop it and the crack is going to open up and it's going to be destroyed because it's a nature of grass to have cracks Falls which opened up when you drop them he said it's fragile he said because it's a glass which has a crack in it and it's fragile it will one day be destroyed he said Brahma Wong so that's why you have to look after him careful it and he made us some observation if this was like a plastic cup then you could throw it around you could drop it you could kick it and it was unbreakable which means you would not have to care for it he said because it's an eater it means it's impermanent it's subject to change he said that's why you must care for it he said just like one another your children your partner your friends your cats your dog you know that they are changing all the time that one day you will become separated from them one day their crack will appear neither they die or you die or they go off to the other side of the world and you're left here or the other way around there's a crack coming so if they're always going to be they're always healthy young fit you would not need to care no more than you need to care for an unbreakable plastic cup but because they're fragile that is why we have to care and to me that opened up not only the reality of change but also the way we deal with change and the wisdom and the compassion which always comes where we understand the nature of change the fact that we're not always going to be here together which means there's not enough time to get angry at each other and say bad things because the day might come when you can't say sorry and they're gone I know that's a terrible thing because I remember that from my own life when my father died at 16 and you know that I told many stories about my father and how much I loved him and how much of an influence he was in my life but I wasn't the perfect son and I did stupid things and one of the things I felt guilty about when my father died which I really thought I should have said sorry for was competition in our taste in music because my father would love Frank Sinatra as for me I loved Jimi Hendrix and sometimes when he put on his Frank Sinatra record I put off my Jimi Hendrix record and as you all know Jimi Hendrix is far louder than Frank Sinatra and so I drowned his music out there's a stupid thing but it's just like no 14 or 15 year old you're in competition with the other males in the house even your father or your brother it's just now that psychology of a male growing up and so many many times I did that stupid young man and then when he died it was too late to say sorry you know the little things like that you feel guilty about if you're okay you can listen to it I want my father to enjoys Frank Sinatra music and whatever but I felt guilty about that and always remembered from that experience look while there is still time always no say sorry because the time comes when you just can't say it anymore so take the opportunity because change happens you cannot rely on people always being around and it's beautiful when you realize that it's changing and situations they come today and they don't sort of come again tomorrow it means that you do grab the opportunity you know to say what's really important in life the old's the story which many sort of monastics you know of all traditions of all religions we often practice you know this when you go to bed at night you know we realize it might not wake up in the morning we all know that the bed is the most dangerous place where most people die so that's why we try and splendors these possible time in bed as monks otherwise now we're listing our childhood die but anyway but anyway that just the you know the knowing that we sort of reflect that maybe would not wake up in the morning maybe this might be our last day so we always try and be ready for that change of you know death or whatever and when you're always ready for it it means actually that you really live life you really right in this life because every day is so precious because you know you don't know how many more days you've got left and I said this in the Singapore as well so quite a while since I said this here though you know because I was physicist it's also a bit of maths involved there I was always very good at a mental to rithmetic so I know there's roughly about 300 people in this room today now is make the calculations with 300 people in this room according to statistics that means about I think about four of you will be dead by this time next year that's according sistex it's true which for is it and don't just look at the old ones may young people die as well and these two I could guarantee though no no three two about four of you will be dead by this time next year maybe more maybe a bit less and that could be you so make sure this next year is a good one now you know when you get closer that it doesn't create any fear a toilet actually makes life more interesting and what alive we don't waste so much time because we know that the glass has got a crack in it image we actually care and it also means when the glass does crack we don't think oh it's gone what a tragedy we realize yes I expected that is part of nature when the cat dies we don't get upset because we always expected that from the very first time we had there was a kitten we knew that this was the destiny had a crack in it old one day break and fall apart but if we've cared for that cat all our life we think wow what a great time we've had together thank you so much when a person dies what a wonderful time we've had together I cherished that wouldn't have missed that experience for the world you know when sort of a relationship finally breaks down why is it that we just get so upset we've had a beautiful time together many weeks months or maybe even years years of love and fun and enjoyment what a wonderful time we've had together thank you so much that's why I think that you know sometimes divorces we should do that much better a divorce you'll be another party oh thank you we are a great time now's the time to move on wonderful time we've had together it's amazing how people look at things in a really weird way I've often wondered just now why in a part of changes also letting things go and that's when we have to let the cup go why do we keep carrying just the pain of the past I often notice I told people again in the talks I gave in Singapore that many of you have photo albums we've always taken these photographs but you know they take photographs of the wrong things they take photographs of the happy times and other marriages so you know the graduations those kids have now finished year 12 what got the university pleased to take all these photographs but why do we take photographs of our divorce and put that on the mantelshelf here's me and my ex-wife at the lawyers why do you always take photographs of now we're in a hole on holiday novum barley or where else you're going to go this holiday what we don't take photographs of here's me in the dentist with all his stuff on me that'd be wonderful take photographs of like down cottesloe beach now why do we take photographs down the morgue I know here's me taking know the rubbish down to the the tip I notice in anybody we actually go down the tip every now and again to taking out the excess rubbish from monastery now we can't put it in the bin so we send it to the recycling place but I never seen anybody at the tip sort of pose in front of the big rubbish pile smile and take a camera put it in the album or put it on front of there I'll be on the under their wall but we always take photographs of beautiful things that way of nice memories that's we report on the photograph albums what we put in the photograph albums of our head of our mind that's where we put all the tip photographs or the divorce photographs all the negative memories of our life is incredible just how in the photo albums we only have beautiful happy memories but in the photograph album between your ears you always keep the ugly photographs how stupid that is so because things change actually that I don't keep photographs people give me all this photographs that I keep them for a while and throw them away or burn them why do you want to keep photographs for life is always changing why do you want always some somehow capture it and put it on ice it's much much better actually to let go of the past and just be with change and let things flow and be with the flow rather always a lingering on the past because when you you keep thinking about the past you're not actually free to be in this moment no again somebody was actually asking me this very nice question they were bit concerned about the wild horses in the Kimberley which are going to be cold you notice these are very beautiful animals free just healthy just in the Kimberley's running wild enjoying their lives free and nature and sometimes you see then you get this feeling of inspirational freedom they're just running in nature without any sort of hindrances not trained by human beings just coordinate their own nature by parents too many of them and so they can send a helicopters in to shoot them to kill them and there's a Buddhist so I just know a Buddhist as a human being I think there's something yucky in there what you're actually doing that for and if you're going to kill anything you might call us there's too many of us in this planet we're the ones causing the problems but you can imagine like a helicopter coming around Perth to cull the population of purse would any government be able to just add that horses okay kangaroos okay rabbits okay but people you know why no IT were the biggest pests on this on this planet and when eating a lot and damage we do but anyhow I told her look that when there's a big problem like that just you have to from compassion think what can you do about that is there something you can really do you know when you're worrying about things which you can have no appreciable effect on you actually neglect in this present moment when there's something you really can do when you're worrying about all the people who are laughing maybe sort of some poor country in in Africa or in hi et say it means you're not actually looking at some of you can really do right now such as that the Bangladesh orphanage so I mean we can make it affect I know there's a monkey know where I was I was idealistic when I became a mugger always remain idealistic and I stand up for my principles you know I was just talking some of the monks this afternoon about all the things I stood up for in my life you know and I always really enjoyed doing this it feels like he got some inner strength I remember standing up for the gay community when as an article appeared in the the newspaper that began the Sunday Telegraph which quoted the Dalai Lama's saying you can't be a Buddhist and a gay at the same time I thought that's wrong I can't allow that so I wrote a letter to the newspaper and it got published and I got some sort of comments you cannot sort of criticize a Delilah but you can criticize anybody criticize me I get it wrong sometimes so there's no person in this world who can't be criticized and that's not being so disrespectful now more important the person is like the truth compassion so they know we don't worship people we worship principles so I stood up for the gay community and I was very happy was I got some comments back which were negative but my reward for that was being invited to the Gay Pride backfist I was very proud of that award you know I was a member there's really good fun rocking up to this Gay Pride breakfast and and saying a few words I remember what I said I said you know in in this whole meeting over here you all gays but I'm more deviant than any one of you I'm celibate are you know being said about having no sex at all is even more weird than being homosexual which is actually very true in fact it's so weird that sometimes people say that you know if you are sort of settled but there must be something very very wrong with you and there's nothing wrong with me at all in fact I want to actually stand up for celibate rights in fact I want one day to actually have my own float on the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras 4 syllabus stand up for celibacy no celibate rights we demand freedom thing has got to change because if we don't actually work for change sometimes is we know the society will always change it's an evolution you know is this is the nature of our existence so we have to go along with that change sometimes we have to nudge it a longer being and just like the bikuni issue it's obvious this is the 21st century this is Australia you can't submit in the past it's impossible why can't we have equity two monks and putting men and women doesn't make any sense to me so we push it forward a little bit and this is what we have to do so things have to change we have to work with that change but you know sometimes that our problem is that sometimes we just like the problem with the the horses in the Kimberley sometimes that we expend as energy on things which we can't really affect a change upon we waste so much of our energy and effort and when there is something to do we just miss it we miss the opportunities and a lot of wisdom is finding out where you can actually make a change where you can't make a change you just have to let things be now one of the stories which I remember which this was one of the monks told me this noise one of the stories had open the door of your heart I don't really mention a lot but it was a great story he was this monk he was from New Zealand and he was trekking over in New Zealand was one of his friends they call it tramping over there it was a hot day just like know the weather today it's been really hot today and he was walking in all day and he managed actually to get to this pristine beach somewhere in the what I was South Ireland I think it was there was one magnificent beaches secluded no one was there they had it to themselves you know as a sort of Beach you know you build a resort on if it was you know in sort of close proximity to civilization but this was totally wild and so there's only him and his mate there and oh very hot and I thought yes go for a swim a very natural decision so they stripped off that idiot nube this is no one around and off he went into the water and did some swimming and that's when he realized that he made big mistake because it was a big rip there this very very strong current and later why he survived obviously to tell the story but later on he told me that though many people had perished on that particular Beach he didn't realize that it was so dangerous but how he survived was a very brilliant strategy and I think that's because he had been a Buddhist before now he's a Buddhist monk obviously but the teachings of Buddhism actually saved his life there because as he was being taken out by the strong currents straightaway he realized it was such a strong sort of rip current the fighting it was useless so he totally relaxed he let go he didn't try to do anything he let that colored take him a long way from the beach knowing that eventually that current will stop it will change it isn't impermanent eventually the force will will wither away and eventually it did and that's where he started swimming that's where he put forth all his effort when he could make a difference that's when he applied himself and he managed to swim back to the shore exhausted but he survived and he told me that if he'd have fought that current he'd have still been taken the same distance away from shore but when he got to that distance he would have been exhausted he would not have been able to swim back he would have died knowing when to let go and when to put forth effort saved his life but more importantly having the courage to let go the courage to let go when you know that you can't do anything we are really scared of what might happen he did let go and that saved his life and it was a very beautiful simile about you know what happens in life that sometimes in life you are being taken away from safety away from security and it's such a strong current if you're wise you realize you can't resist this you have to go with the flow you got no choice even if it's painful if it's scary go with it but then when there's some you can do you preserve to energy you've got strength then you can apply yourself and that's really helped me so often in life because there are situations which are sometimes so difficult and so problematical you wonder what the hell you should do and I remember that story just go with it flow with it it's going to change it will never always be like this so just enjoy don't be afraid it's going to change and once it does change then you can do something about it that's when you put forth your efforts but it's the courage comes from knowing that it's not going to last like this is going to change and so often they're part of my job is counseling you people and you know iti shouldn't really say that because every time I say that people line up afterwards and and they say you know what happens you get telephone calls and people come up to you and now I'm not a professional counsellor we've got no insurance so if we got the wrong advice and our bullets aside has been big trouble so maybe if you go to a professional once but anyhow you know we give sort of kind advice because we're just human beings but a lot of times the kind advice is just remember it will pass this too will pass you know one of the great stories actually I couldn't lie they opened all the heart because somebody else had written it before me and so they were worried about copyright there's a great story of the Emperor's ring I know you've heard it before but please remember this because it actually this is great storing it works in fact one of you if I go here I'm not sure if you're here tonight actually got a ring made with the same words on the outside which this Emperor did because it was a young boy became the Emperor and whenever things went well in the kingdom he just held a party Hill celebrations and he was partying and celebrating so much that of course know the good times never lasted that long and whenever there's a problem in the kingdom he would just go to his room and sulk and get depressed which meant the bad times lasted longer than everybody thought they should he was a very ineffective rule of his kingdom good times party bad times sulk does that remind you of anybody so fortunately he has some very wise advisers but you've got to be very careful if you're advising a king and say the wrong words and you know you're put in jail or killed so that they managed to have his beautiful an idea they decided to get the King oh ring a gold ring which was very simple except the words which were written on the outside engraved on the outside which were this too will pass this too will pass and the King wore that ring whenever there was good times going in the kingdom this too will pass it will change it's subject to change and because of that he knew the good times would change he would have parties but not so often because he realized he had to work hard to make sure those good times lasted long because they were subject to change when the bad times came and he was in really big trouble he didn't get so depressed because he knew yeah it does change this is such a fundamental law of life but when we forget it it meant that no we get depressed we saw colleges party all the time we get the highs and lows well rodney was telling me just another thing just before I went where did I go I think to Thailand the last time I traveled I think the Australian cricket team were in big trouble I think they how many tests have been so far this a third one is it I think what's with the second Test and they sort of were losing and he asked me to do some chanting for them didn't work because they lost so many people no straited we're getting fed up and this time I think they're winning so you asked me if I've been charting for them this time it's not sometimes you win sometimes you lose this too will pass sometimes you win the Cup or the ashes and then you lose them again this is the nature of life so you build as instead of preparing after this in a second I matched many Australians got depressed and they went in their rooms and salt turned off the TV know which the pub and got drunk or whatever and then stupid response to when things go bad in life they all pass and it's passing and this one we might win but probably the next one and when the next one so a lot of times instead of getting depressed and upset remember it will pass just like the Emperor's wing and that just actually shows you a truth of life no matter how bad it gets it won't last and of course I can't resist telling that story of another idea to torts child story from my youth when I was very very sick in hospital I was really sick it was grad typhus in his third world hospital in ubon in tightness of 30 35 years ago and I mean that was just really really basic this was the time the years when they had reusable needles the ones who have now used once and disposed imagine having a needle and you have to keep reusing it again and again McGinn and of course Tyler was a poor country 35 years ago so they'd use it many many times they couldn't afford so many new needles I had to use them as many times they possibly could in Bangkok and then they'd send them out to the provinces a new body they'd use them on the poor farmers in in this province and after using on the farmers then they would use them on the monks because we were the tough people that's what it felt like because now because I was really sick with some fever and I didn't know what it was so they would inject me twice a day of my bum and it wasn't an injection because I always remember that nurse and as she was you know she was built like a pro wrestler it's really tough because you know she never injected me she actually stabbed me oh how I hated that nurse even I was supposed to be a Buddhist I could not give her any loving-kindness at all every time I saw my brother was soso laughter a couple of weeks of that every morning and afternoon so you know you and you got a fever when you got a fever for such a long time you just lose all your energy if you already down and depressed so you can imagine I'll just set the scene and then now your teacher comes in to see you ajahn Chah this great famous schmuck and I was only the only small mugger young monk and I thought what a wonderful thing that somebody so important comes to see me then for a few minutes I felt so happy and so all the aches and pains and sort of feeling of despondency all disappeared until he opened his mouth he taught me Buddhism dumb I wish he hadn't because what he said what he said is Brahma Wong so he said yes you'll either get better or you'll die and then he left he was very wise but his bedside manner was needed some adjustments and the worst thing about that is you can't you can't challenge that that's just so truth you only get better will you die by the way the sickness doesn't last isn't that a great relief if you understand the nature of change it is a great relief it means you don't have to be with that torture of sickness forever so please if you're going to visit a sick relation hospital this period as we can please go up to the woods say darling you're either going to get basic what the I saw what they say nah but it just shows these things change in life and lucky now if you're Buddhist now you know if not Buddhist is the same anyway you know if you do die get reborn again so you know look if you've got a rotten old car and it's really falling apart obviously you trade it in for a new one so if you've got some cancer disease and you're falling apart isn't it much nicer to know to trade it in for a new one get reborn again it's obvious it makes sense so when somebody's actually dying getting old and sick and about to die say wow you know you're going to get a new model suit what one do you want but just like your car you know if you sort of get stolen or if it gets sort of gather crash now the car you get next time depends on your insurance you paid this time if you paid a lot of insurance and kept up the premiums then you get a very good car the next lifetime just the same way in insurance premiums is all your donations you give the Buddha Society of West Australia also Bangladesh orphanage if you clip up your premiums and how to sort of died this afternoon or this evening then of course you get a really good model in your next lifetime the equivalent and body of like a Rolls Royce or Ferrari but if you're really stingy and you don't do good karma in your next life you might get sort of one of those Toyota's they always recalling I still said that I got this a second time I said they're a very bad an old bomb of a car so remember keep up you insurance premiums which is good karma in your life then if your dad to die you always get a good kite and look forward to it so now if you've made a lots and lots of good karma say wow bring it on but anyway you all know that no change happens so one day we'll all have to go but there's another thing you've changed with somebody asked me they said to us many many people I wonder that if you become a Buddhist you have to become a Buddhist forever for life and look even being a Buddhist things change how many of your ideas the way the concepts the way you look at life of change since you were born and I change many many times the way you look at life and how you deal with life and so I was saying that sometimes people maybe they've become so a Christian or Muslim or Buddhists or whatever when they were young and do they always have to be like that and of course you don't always have to be like that when the great understandings of life is that we do flow we do change we will change our ideas in the way we look at things in life and so the idea of that once you sort of join a particular religion you always have to stay in that religion that doesn't make any sense to me at all in fact that's against the article 18 of the human rights fundamental human rights is ability to choose a religion or not to choose of it it's not to change the religion so you can always change as you will always change it's a nature of life and a lot of times the really the truth common sense if you wish to call it wisdom compassion and kindness the sorts of thing which is even more beyond the religions is you know the thing which actually underpins all the the real wisdom and spirituality of our world is actually understanding that know things do change your ideas will change you will grow you will evolve and that talk which I gave about creation and evolution a few weeks ago I said that it's not just evolution of the species its evolution of you you notice that you have evolved you know your mind has involved your wisdom your compassion is involved and over the last few years even let alone since you were born and you can actually see that happening and as you evolve the ideas you have about your life will change as well and again in the relationships you have with your partner if you don't allow that evolution to happen now you are finding out that you're assisting sort of the truth of no relationship the truth of time which is things are always going to change but there's something which is more fundamental there which is that the acceptance of change a lot of times that know that what we all love and compassion is is allowing things to change and allowing things to leave when they sort of the change demands that way like with its death or whether it's a graduation with kids leave your home to go live with somebody us that's why I say that great wisdom and love accepts change and allows letting go and when that sort of party does come we realize we had such a wonderful time together and there's never any sadness there and all sadness and suffering is actually wanting from the world what it could never give you expecting just what's not real and if we actually align now our wants to what the world can really offer when our wisdom is struck such they would never ask what we can't get then all of our suffering and pain that he disappears actually flowing with life and what trying to fight against this cowards in that way that we realize where we are wise people we understand this wonderful thing of change we allow change know that sometimes people ask even as a monk you know your monk forever now once you've become a monk or nun is it such thing as life vows and I was very impressed that the Buddha never allow such thing as life hours and you could leave becoming a market anytime you want I've been a monk now over thirty six years and I could leave this evening if I wanted to is very easy to leave so the only reason you stay as a monk is because you're enjoying it you're getting some benefits and value out of it and that's the same with life you know we have to accept that change and if it's really working it's worthwhile wonderful carry on but you know the one of the reasons we had that is because it'd be a terrible terrible thing it was a person say in a monastery for monks or nuns who just didn't want to be there but had to be there because of some decision they made maybe 20-30 years ago wouldn't it be a rotten thing to be like in a prison that way now you changed life has changed and this is not the right place for you anymore in the same way that you can sometimes change your jobs or places of abode you don't feel you're not comfortable in there anymore so the buddha well actually allowed that in fact you may not know that so you allow actually two to disrobe six times seven times six times an ordained seven times there's all about one mark many many years ago in the time of the Buddha and he became a monk but soon he became a monk he missed his wife so we know longing for his wife and being a bit homesick he disrobed they soon got home and said what I come back for this and then he ordained again and as soon as he got a day and he got homesick again so he did that six or seven times and the very last time sort of you know he got fed up with his wife so he went back to the monastery and about to say not you again make up your mind but on the way to the monastery became enlightened so they'll accepted him in and that was the last time he became a monk for the seventh time and so with that tradition now in many many countries you're only allowed to become a monk seven times it's low six times one more time you can't make up your mind you know no more but it does actually allow that's the acceptance of change if we don't allow that acceptance of change with we're fighting against the truth of things and fighting against the truth of life is called suffering and none of us want that so I'm much happy to have a much more no as a senior mark I'm feel much much more confident and happy to have people to want to be here well you would don't want to be here the same in your life as well allow change to happen so don't fight it all the time if you actually can so not be afraid of change when we're not afraid of change we can be very adaptive we enjoy the time we have together and we find that when that change happens and then is partying or is a moving away we don't feel sad before what a wonderful time we've had together what a great thing this has been yea the cup is now broken but what it was here I love this I cared for it and of course it lasts much longer that way we cared for it rather had many many wonderful cups of water from you glass and that way there's never any sadness is a sense of gratitude and acceptance and love of life so I think it's wonderful actually when we understand that so change is something which now we have to deal with we have to become one with we have to flow with rather than always resisting in our life and again sometimes it's because the people are afraid they're afraid that that if they go to that new place then you position that new whatever it is they think that somehow whether they're going to lose a lot and they're going to suffer more it's a sense of insecurity but the sense of insecurity where we always define ourselves as being with this partner or that job or whatever in my life is a monk I find that just the roles I have to play change so much that sometimes I don't know know who I'm supposed to be so much so you can adapt to being anybody sometimes you have to be very serious when you're sort of taking funeral services except for that funeral service I gave for one of our members a couple of weeks ago Mike Wright many of you if you saw him you'd remember he was a regular here and at the end of his funeral service sort of you know he told his wife this apparently the last song or piece of music at the end of his funeral service was from the life of Brian look on the bright side of life I really recommend that for funeral services for Buddhists it got maybe everybody's of life and happier than variant so you know he could allow that change and we can sort of allow some of even the ceremonies to change so sometimes you have to be serious but sometimes you can actually change and adapt to the situations and circumstances and that's such an important thing to do in life there is times when you so look at a person and you're serious and you empathize with them and sometimes is the time when you adapt those situations which means sometimes you tell the jokes sometimes you just sit there and listen sometimes you speak and be able to change it's so important of probabilities that when we have these ideas and rules of what we should do and how we should do it we find we're so stiff we can never adapt to the time and to the place so in order to affect change it was I've been practicing for years I encourages practice for you always actually put aside all of the rules and the training all the things which you are meant to do and supposed to do put them aside for a little further just for a moment and just be in this moment be kind be compassionate be wise and just adapt to this moment there you find that all the rules especially that mark I'm supposed to keep it kept quite naturally without any force because all those rules for Mark's always about kindness and selflessness simplicity and peace and if you can actually just adapt to this moment you'll find all the rules whether you're psychologists with your nurse or doctor or bricklayer or whatever if you can just change with this moment now you find actually that you can become very skilled adaptive in whatever you do in life whenever you are tied down by this is a way it should be done this is the way it's always been done yeah it works in most situations but sometimes it doesn't work now which is why one needs to have this beautiful ability to adapt to each moment as it appears in your life and to be able to change at a moment's notice without that ability may you find that you miss so much in life and you don't find much success in your life it's a member just when a group of again I get into some interesting situations there was a group of Buddhist military who came to see me in UK a few years ago just like in all parts of life you know even in the British Army there were many Buddhists I thought those Buddhists would be in the ancillary services such as not the dentist or the accountants but some of these Buddhists were frontline soldiers who'd fought in Iraq and Afghanistan there's a good thing for Buddhists to be doing I'm not going to judge but that's that word that's where they were that's what they were doing and so now I had to change many of my attitudes and I'm willing to change those attitudes to to face these people in front of me who are obviously very sincere they weren't bad people I just said straight away they had a very strong inner morality in them and how can that be he was a contradiction and all that was ever told about Buddhism and so one of the things I told them is never allow your knowledge to stand in a way of truth I remember they just was shocked by that say yeah because my knowledge was telling me that what these guys were doing is wrong but the truth of in front of my eyes that these were beautiful people which is the one you're supposed to follow if you follow your knowledge you made so many mistakes you'll be judgmental critical harsh and you'll never be able to connect and appreciate and respect people the truth of the matter was something different those a wonderful experience I still don't understand I still haven't really processed that totally but is another case of many times in your life you've been in situations like that which is totally challenged everything you've known there you have to follow one of the other sayings which I made some years ago the two types of religions in the world the first type of religion is what bends the truth to fit the faith what is your faith your Buddhist Christian whatever how many of times you bend the truth to fit those the faith or the Buddhist it must be this way you bend the facts and the other one is what really should be a religious spiritual person you bend the faith to fit the facts in other words doesn't matter what your beliefs are if the facts the truth in front of you is different you have to bend your faith for those of you who are devout Buddhist as the Kalama suitor in a nutshell bending the faith to fit the truth the other notice of most religious leaders were rebels they always ended up in a cross or in big trouble so the reason why the rebels because actually they saw things in a in a deeper way they challenged nothing is sometimes very useful to challenge to move things forward to have the ability to change and will always be a resistance to change so which is why we have to rebel in their innocence against the preconceived ideas to be overt willing to change to actually to be able to challenge everything so there's not every not one sacred cow willing to bend anything to fit the truth the facts in front of us and we never allow our beliefs to obstruct the truth and this is what we mean about that inner change that in evolution there's many times we see things and it's not really the correct way but we always think we're right and eventually we find we were wrong and soon we see that the better the only way we can do that is to have the willingness to change the willingness to change the way we look at things in life the willingness to change our attitudes the way that we've been trained the way that we've been conditioned to see things in a different way if it is truthful if it is going to create a more peaceful and harmonious life for yourself and for others I don't know how many I always mention relationships because that is one of the greatest sources of happiness and suffering now in the world and sometimes what is the case that we want to change but we can't change why can't we change why we so resistant to change to change ourselves change our behavior a lot of time is because we have fear of change we don't know how to change and it's really important to be someone who is very skilled in the ability to change to develop the the ability to change and the the courage to change because only when you can encourage that change and have the skill to change and allow yourself to change can you have this beautiful sense of freedom the wisdom which you can always change to every moment and adapt to every moment is the compassion to life to open the door of your heart to life an ability to let things go at the pasco so you can be in the boat in the moment and always adapting and changing to life as it happens if you can do that you'll solve a lot of the suffering in life so change whether it's changing a religion changing of you changing a belief when you find something better is really really important there's one of the old Buddhist stories this is a story from the Deccan Akaya where two men went out to an abandoned region where people have migrated to see if they'd left anything of value which they could bring home at for which they could make some money and what they say went out to the abandoned village one person found some old hemp and so told his friends so they made a big bundle of hemp to carry back to the village we were something and on the way that one of them notice that there was some cloth made of hemp so said now this is what the hell is for to make cloth so he threw away his bundle of hemp and took up the cloth the other guy said ah now this is already sort of packed up this is good enough for me you didn't want to change and then later on they found out some some cotton cloth their cotton cloth is more important than Hema cloth so I'm going to throw my my hemp cloth and take the cotton the other guy said I know this hemp is good enough for me and then I found some silk one guy threw away the - got some silk the other guy still with the pieces of hemp on his head said I know this will do for me one person was always willing to change for something better then after they found some silk they found some silver so through a ways is silken took some silver and eventually they found some gold so it's real ways so were to take the gold and when they arrived back home one had a whole pack of gold the other one had some hemp and the one in a beautiful way the Buddha told a story said the one who brought the head back brought no happiness to his family and got scolded by them and the one who bought the gold back was welcomed with a lot of smiles by his family and there's a similar waste of wood a gift I always been willing to change one thing for something better especially in the ideas and views which one has about life so if one does found a better religion then be willing to change there's nothing wrong with you know if you find something which suits you better follow that the great thing about ISM we don't have any fear or trying to control people make people Buddhist if that's what you want to be wonderful fine obviously I think this is very very good and beautiful and wonderful but you have to be in this spiritual path be willing to change willing to grow willing to let the old go so you can actually find something more beautiful to be allowing yourself to change and grow otherwise you'll be in one of these people was so dogmatic who has these old views which have carried around for such a long time unwilling to change only because you're comfortable with the old views and not willing to change for something better but the man who came home with hemp on his head when he had the opportunity to change it for gold we call that attachment to views and ideas not willing to let things go because letting things go is the meaning of change so that's the talk this evening unchanged does anyone go any questions on hopefully a thought-provoking topic on change no no objections no comments no challenges okay you

Channel: Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Views: 141,106

Rating: 4.8029556 out of 5

Keywords: change, impermanence, anicca, Ajahn Brahm, Buddhism, dharma talk, dhamma, Buddha Dhamma, Compassion, Attachment

Id: RgeXSJr9a4E

Length: 59min 46sec (3586 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 18 2010