Uncertainty | Ajahn Brahm | 15-07-2011

okay very good so for the the talk this evening this for many of you as Dennis was saying would know that this is going to be the last talk for me for a while so you will be without all those bad jokes for the next two or three months you'll be free from corny humor as the monks start their retreat and today especially is a very holy day in Buddhism he look up and it's a full moon day today is called the Asaro puja so it's a very very important day and it's a time that we know we monks just go off and have a nice quiet time for ourselves just balancing the work just with the rest which is important and for those of you who were there last Sunday at the ceremony to begin the rains you may have heard me say a request because now I did a lot of work for the community and sometimes I do get very tired and so I was asking people just out of respect and out of kindness to myself and all the other monks I made an announcement last week please don't die during our retreat because if you do I have to come out of the retreat and do your funeral service for you and that breaks my meditation so just out of respect and out of kindness can you please delay your death and to the least know October or or even better November so of course there's a there's always karmic consequences when I say city jokes like that because on Monday I got an email one of my disciples died then he left it for one day and so all my plans of what I was supposed to do on Tuesday and Wednesday were thrown into turmoil as I had to go to Singapore for their funeral so on Tuesday morning at one o'clock in the morning I had to take the flight and I came back on Wednesday afternoon just you know 20 less than 24 hours in Singapore to help with the funeral service which is a nice compassionate thing to do but it also reminds images of the nature of this life you cannot control anything I cannot control my future the most important thing in life which you can believe in with certainty is uncertainty just the fact that this world will always surprise you and in fact it sometimes people ask you know ajahn Brahm what do you believe in what religion are you yeah you can say you're a Buddhist and you believe in a Buddha but what does that actually mean this is the statue behind you but in fact I should mention to you that there's a sense is coming up next month so pleased with you do you don't please write down your Buddhist because if you don't and if the numbers of Buddhas go down in Western Australia I will lose my productivity bonus so the card is good formation for you foot down Buddhist otherwise I might get the sack from the BSW way because you know I don't produce you know it's always there in all organizations you they want to see your sales so how much you produced and so if the numbers go down I'll be in big trouble but but anyway if you all put aside what do you believe in and okay mean there's many things you can't be certain of for the one thing which you can believe in you can even worship at least you can respect his uncertainty and that is at an important part of our life to actually respect and worship it because the problem is most of us we reject and soon because we're afraid of uncertainty we make all these plans of what we're going to do next week or even this evening and you sometimes you have a whole schedule of what you're going to do next week let alone sort of know the week afterwards or next year you have your whole life planned out haha stupid of course you can't plan out your life you don't know what's going to happen next because life is uncertain that's one thing in which we know is a truth yeah people can believe in God they can believe in this but we can't know that for sure but what we can know is that life is uncertain it's always like working progress is things evolving and this evening I wanted to ask you why is it we cannot accept that why can't we worship uncertainty and why do we want to sort of throw it away and try and force this beautiful uncertain evolving of our life into some fixed plan to put nature into a box and when we put it into a box this is what nature must do because I've got a plans for this weekend this is what it has to do and when you put nature into a box like that when you try and control the force of uncertainty what happens to you it's always the same isn't it you get frustrated you get angry you get disappointed someone over in what I was in Singapore it is for the future on Tuesday they were asking me that I have a trouble with rage we're getting angry can you please give me some way of dealing with the anger I feel and this is one ways to understand that a lot of the anger which you get is when all your plans get watered and all of your expectations don't actually come to fruition when the course of your day or your week gets blocked when things don't go the way they should have you ever got into problems like that you shouldn't be like that wife husband you shouldn't say things like that what do you mean shouldn't how long have you been alive that's what wives unlike that's what husbands are like it's like telling a dog you shouldn't bark by telling a cat you shouldn't curl up in the warmest place of the monastery we've only got one fire in a sort of hour monastry and that's the cat's place you know what it's like has been really cold the last few days so you tell okay shouldn't be doing that what do you expect that's what cats do so all of this hopes and expectations so often they're totally unrealistic you know the great a meaning of today the full moon day of July the start of this retreat was when the Buddha gave his Four Noble Truths the essence of Buddhism and the first noble truth was the law of suffering what actually is actually suffering as somebody asked me that a long time ago again I think it was another of the Malaysia or Singapore one of these executives who was in a rush you know what people are like they're busy they can't spend all no even's you spending an hour listening to a talk is amazing most people want to get it quickly I often thought of getting like a driving Buddhist temple you know just go in there you order what talk you want and I give you advice anger depression or whatever and you go and go to the window and it's a few nice wise words thank you very much pay your money and leave I mean that would be a wonderful thing to have a driving Buddhist temple these days but so this person was doing that instead okay this this Buddhist teaching Four Noble Truths suffering what is suffering come on quickly and actually that there's sometimes I'd like it when people put me on the spot like that because when you put on the spot often you rise to the occasion and I was rose to the occasion I said what suffering is asking from the world what it can never give you I was actually credibly profound I was actually quite amazed at myself where do you get that word from but no investigator asking from the world but it can never give you and how much do you suffer because you continue to ask either from your partner from your boss at work you know from your 40 team or even worse from yourself asking from yourself what you will never be able to do that's called suffering now why don't you actually put in a picture of out there you know it's obvious now what the end of suffering is don't ask from the world what it can give you and even like certainty the world can't give you certainty is that against the nature of the world but the against the nature of dogs are get a dog which doesn't bark it's impossible actually probably someone's going to say to me yes they've developed a dog which doesn't bark every time I say things like this someone comes up afterwards with an article from some weird magazine to prove me wrong but you know what I'm talking about asking from the world what it can give you and certainty is one of those things which the world will never give you and so when we look at all of our plans which we have and our expectations expectations are part of plans what we expect of other people are we expect of ourselves what we expect of life even what you expected this talk now all those empties of patience and expectations it won't turn out the way you want it it will always turn out totally different you've experienced that I've experienced that all of the plans which I've made in the past most of them have just disappeared they didn't come true and I've been alive long enough and aware for such a long time to realize the problem is not the world but my expectations all these should it should happen this way it should happen that way and one thing I realized is this life is so uncertain the sooner I can accept that the sooner I won't suffer the soon I won't be asking from this life what will never be able to give me so instead of trying to reject uncertainty of life instead of being afraid of it we embrace it celebrate it we worship it so if anyone asks me what I believe in I'm a great follower of the great god of uncertainty that's what I worship uncertainty I'm an uncertainty East because when you embrace uncertainty well and worship irrespective rather than trying to challenge it number one you never get frustrated in life you never get angry you don't expect things to be different I've done this as a test for a good Buddhist if you really think you're a good Buddhist you enlightened or now you'll need to understand about life the test is this know that somebody rings you from overseas and they say that maybe no a loved one has just died maybe they're only 16 or 17 and you say yes I expected that can you say that how are you shocked what do you mean you expected that they were perfectly healthy I expected that because life and death are uncertain things all you you check your your shares in the stock market and you've lost everything the company is collapsed and you say yes I expected that can you do that because if you can you understand what uncertainty is basically you try your very best but you don't know how this world is going to turn out and you accept and embrace uncertainty but what most people do as soon as you get that news is shot why are you shocked for don't you know that young people die don't you know that the stock market goes up and goes down it's always yo-yo that's the nature of this world what goes up what goes down what goes down goes up the nature of this world so a person who understands and embrace uncertainty is never surprised is never a shocked because what happens when you get surprised and shocked you get sort of angry it debilitates here a lot of times you waste so much time getting shot getting angry getting upset it means you're not being proactive you're not doing something and in life there's always something you can do with whatever you've got which means a person who embraces uncertainty rather the frayed of it or tries to to conquer it and control the person who embraces it is a person who learns how to adapt no matter what situation you find yourself in so instead of arguing about life it shouldn't have worked this way should have happened that way why did this happen to me it's unfair look lady it's happened so it's there now what are you going to do about it that's why sometimes the Buddhist I'm not a very good counselor because when people come up with their problems yeah their husband has run away with their best friend yeah the boss has sacked them yeah there's so much teaching them out of all their money yeah they've got cancer yeah they're about to die very often I say yes what are you going to do about it instead of saying this is unfair why did this happen to me I was just looking at the past some of you can never change instead of getting angry instead of getting upset or instead of denying this is not happening it can't be happening okay has happened it's there now what are we going to do about this now of course you can see that is positive it's not just positive for the sake of being cool and being sort of popular supposed to be positive this is actually being sensible and you'll find no matter what you experience in life there is always something you can do with it so you embrace uncertainty you don't try and reject it I think it hasn't happened you embrace it and even with cancer it is uncertain you don't know what's going to happen next even with death sometimes look sometimes I was just talking with someone I was in over Singapore I did some chanting for them the lady asked me to come even I was supposed to go to a funeral for somebody else say can you please child from my mom she's just come home from hospital and you know I think now may be the last time maybe looks like she's gonna die soon so can I come chant for her so I went to chant for this lady you know I've known a long time and apparently after chanting she got out of bed and started walking around another miracle that's not a miracle is uncertainty I'll get into trouble that way you know that there was some years ago over here in Perth a family asked me to chant for their their father or mother there was a father who was dying so I went to the hospital bed and did some chanting and they started getting better and a family got upset at me it's true they said look you know he's supposed to die no supposed to chance so he died well no they got better could they could they'd prepared themselves for the day you know it says they got an everything sorted out I know psychologically emotional they have prepared and I come along the stupid man comes along changes everything around he starts living again so let's say I never know what's going to happen I've been in many many cases like that I remember also sometimes this life surprises me you just can't predict anything there was this one lady I went to see once at the ICU at Charlie gardeners she was in the ICU she moon I was one of these cases with a flu and no really really bad cases septic all over bloated no honor lasts and a few breaths can you please come in and do some science that isn't charging for this lady and couple weeks ago she looked toward intents and purposes a goner you know the nurses said no I'm not much chance for this lady but you know a bit of chanting a bit of presence of a good mug a bit of spiritual uplift you know would give her a good death couple weeks later got a phone call from her husband can you come round to the house and she was perfectly well total recovery a few things has really surprised me now don't think it's a miracle worker and don't start sort of starting a church of st. brahms church he cures or all beings and don't go along saying hallelujah another miracle please don't do things like that it's not miracles it's nothing other than the fact that all these things in life are totally I'm certain you don't know what's going to happen next and that's one of the reasons why if you know if any doctor says you only got one or two months to live you don't know what's going to happen and how how many people of you none I know of many people the doctors had come up to them and said no your cancer is terminal you know you're not going to survive you're going to die and I was about 20 years ago or 25 years ago first time I saw that was this this very famous monk because his photos in the other Hall called legend Tate he actually came to Perth before I came here was long time ago and he had cancer because he was a famous monk he got the very best care and the hospital said look there's nothing more we can do for you just go back to your monastery you know so this you can die with your friends and in a monastery while in the hospital so he went into the monastery and is about 25 years later he died maybe you've known cases by that I've known heaps of cases like that so sometimes you wonder what's going on there is it a miracle oh is it just a fact that no one can know the future it is totally uncertain so when you understand that in these heaps of cases what does that mean for your life it means that all of your plans can only be tentative our mistake is when we try and predict the future we make these plans forgetting how uncertain life is which means that we do get shot when life doesn't go according to our plan when the aircraft gets delayed when people don't turn up when all of the parts of the jigsaw puzzle of your future don't fit that is one of the main reasons why people get angry it's not sort of something wrong with them emotionally is something wrong with their wisdom you're not really understanding the nature of this world if you understood the nature of the world and embrace that nature that truth of uncertainty then you won't get shocked at what you think is unpleasant news you say I expected that this is life this is what happens you will not get angry when your plans get broken because your plans aren't that solid yeah you can make plans but make them bendable plastic malleable to be able to change the last moment never make them in concrete otherwise you're going to get angry and you're going to suffer you don't want you to do that so be someone who can can almost Bend who can change can turn on a dime as they say in United States if you see a better way of doing it you just do it to be able to change to be able to to not have such fixed plans understanding uncertainty and be able to react almost immediately to circumstances as they are changed to be able to anticipate the life is unexpected having able to change accordingly no matter what happens so of course that's what I had to do last Tuesday called the last moment go all the way to Singapore and woke up next morning I'm in a different country I'm not supposed to be here I'm supposed to be in Perth with all my plans of being on retreat and doing all this sort of stuff but because that you are amenable to change because you embrace uncertainty it means there's no suffering there's no argument there's no thinking oh why me and I just started a retreat why does this happen to me is unfair if you ever think like that life is unfair of course it's not unfair life is perfectly fair it's called the law of karma look you always get what you deserve that's a tough word isn't it to accept we always blame other people but don't know it's your fault there's an old story from open the door of your heart haven't told it for a long time actually that's just got a message from the publishers it's now been published in Polish Bulgarian and Tamil language Malayan or something anyway three more editions but anyway this particular story you know I used to go in there teaching prisons and go and hang out with these these prisoners and never call them criminals remember what I said they're not criminals they're not murderers are not thieves they are people who have committed crimes now said that before if you haven't remembered I'll just reinforce that because I'll be away for two or three months is no such thing as a murderer there's no such thing as a thief there's no such thing as a liar there's a person who's murdered a person who's stolen a person who's lied they're not a liar they're bigger than that there's more to them than that and if you start criticising people you're a liar you're a thief you're an adulterer you can't say there that's not rational that's not reasonable it's also not helpful because they're just focusing on one part of a human being that's usually a tiny part of them they're much bigger than that so when I went to jail and never saw any murderers I saw people were murdered but that's a huge different than a murderer I saw the person if you see that you can be friends with anybody you can respect anybody there's no such thing as a terrorist there's a person who does terrorist things maybe for 1 percent of their life or a fraction of a percent of their life they're much more than that understanding the bigger picture means you don't see criminals you see people who've done crimes if you're angry and upset about someone if you an end it go an enemy it's because you see what they did wrong they're a cheat they're a liar they're not achieve they're not a liar the person who's cheated they're a person right I understand that the bigger picture a lot of the problems in your life get solved but anyway going back to the story I was in going to the prison seeing these people who had stolen seeing these people who had thieved seen these people who had murdered and stuff and one of the old prisoners who came to me is really nice old guy and they're really really friendly he's one of the know these these old prisoners had been in and out of jail most of his life and he came up to me and he said I want to tell you something personal so what is it he said look he said I know the other prisoners would say this but you know this is you know I'm not lying to you I respect you I've seen you a long time and you know I respect you as a religious person I would not lie to you other people yeah sure but not you okay he said the crime for which I've been put in jail for I didn't come in I was innocent I didn't do that robbery he said and he said look honestly I did not do it I'm not lying I'm not trying to do a cheat you or anything I didn't do it I've been put in jail for something I didn't do you know when you hear something like that I've got this this idea of justice this way I've been brought up maybe IV enhanced that by being a monk all these years where I see some which is wrong I have to do something about it you can't just sit there as a religious leader and just allow these things to happen so now I wouldn't put my hand up I support gay marriage I think it's unfair that people who are gay can't actually have a marriage civil service to actually to to acknowledge that they love to each other just like a heterosexual I stand out for people either I get into trouble very often you know like with the bhikkhunis and stuff and they're having allowing ladies to become fully ordained as absolutely equality is this obvious so I will stand up for that I don't mind doing that when I heard that someone's been put in jail for someone they didn't do I can't I can't let that go by especially because you know I know if I've been going to those jails for a long time I know that they haven't got many reason sis they can't help themselves they do need help from outside divides along maybe one phone call a week they they can't actually got no money to pay for lies but I knew lawyers I know many Buddhists who were lawyers you knows what we call out the one-armed lawyers you know the one-armed lawyer if you ever look for a lawyer always get one who's only got one up because if they've got two arms they'd always say to you we're on the one hand this on the other hand that you can never trust one our lawyers they always do it just so anyone you a lot of well hominoids I could trust and you're not going to raise some funds I can make some phone calls so I started thinking all these these people I would contact as soon as I got out of this jail to help this guy he's an innocent man he's put in jail okay you may think that jails are nice and easy places to live you know they got all these resources you know they can watch TV and I don't know what but look no one likes being in jail if you have ever visited a place it's not a nice place to be no matter how comfortable you may think it is so anyway I thought now I'll try and do something about this and as I was thinking what I would do he interrupted me is it but brah it's absolutely true I didn't do that crime for which I've been put in jail for but he said there were so many other robberies where I wasn't caught I think this is fair I thought that is a wise person yeah sure he didn't do that particular robbery but these other ones he got away with so this is karma the law of karma he got what he deserved he may work to out worked out in a sort of nonlinear way the places he did rob he wasn't caught when he didn't rob he was caught and put in jail so that's what life is like isn't it the law of karma never works like straight you're always go in a roundabout way so it was actually fair and so you laughed and said no need to do anything is just and so from that lizra story I thought all the things which happened to you so it's not fair why did I get sort of punished why did I get this how many how many times do you say it's not fair when you were speeding and you didn't pass the speed camera ivo said it's not fair how many times that you have we noticed not put the right amount in your tax returns and haven't got caught do you say it's not fair i wasn't caught this year okay of course you don't but when something happens you did do it then you say oh it's not fair why did that happen i got dumped i got cheated no it is fair it's the balancing of the books that's what the law of karma is so you've got to take this on the chin you get everything you deserve let me - can't complain to anybody you can't say why me exactly so the kid agrees with me yeah so I get everything I just so when we understand that yeah it's uncertain the life goes around this way that way when it happens instead of complaining about it why did it happen to me why don't have to deal with this deal with it no why me anymore no feeling sorry for yourself life is a discern adapt react not with negativity which is totally negative and to no negativity is negative which is totally sort of unhelpful but do something about it learn from it grow from it and that's why for years and years and I've always told his stories okay the story of the track mode of done that story is well worth recycling as done usually is and truckload of dianese okay you go back home and you find in front of your house or in front of your apartment someone has dumped a truckload let's not call it down let's call it what it deserves a truckload of cow smelly stinky right in front of your door what do you do with this of life number one most people say why me I don't deserve this of course you deserve it but the thing is you don't know when you ordered it so you can't remember that's a trouble with karma this is the bits of devious number two you're stuck with it no one can take it away yeah you can come up to a monkey a nun a religious person some sort of guru or or wizard and say please can you take it away of course you've all been no initiate in time to time you try to get people to get rid of it for you but you can't it's yours you'll start with it you have to deal with it and so there's two things which people do with the of life the first person puts it in their bag in their pockets up their shirt down their trousers they carry around with them why me is unfair is terrible it's not nice that's called carrying the now you find if you carry around you lose a lot of friends of course you do it's obvious with the best within the world you may be the most compassionate and kind person but do you always like to be around these people who are negative and complaining why me or angry grumpy grief-stricken you could be around such people for a while but after a while it burns you out they suck you dry we always like to be around positive happy people don't we my spending time looks if I was really grumpy and mean and nasty would you come here on a Friday night of course you wouldn't so I was like being around happy wise no Pleasant people so if you carry on a you lose a lot of friends obviously but is the other thing you do with the cow of life and it's obvious you dig it into your garden so instead of just complaining about it you make use of it and this is the beautiful thing that you don't need to complain about anything use it and I found in life anything can be used some of the people have been through the worst problems in life the worst difficulties become the best people because they dig in the of their life in their garden you know it takes a long time sometimes when you're really in the middle of this if you can't just get rid of it in an instance it takes weeks sometimes years you keep digging in a little bit every day but always happens every time it happens that moment occurs your look in front of your door and the whole pile of is gone it's vanished it hasn't gone nowhere something's happening the back garden because it's incredible garden there there's beautiful flowers and so so fragrant of people walking down the street they could smell it they light of visits your amazing garden and your fruit trees the apples in there it is so delicious and sweet so much so you give them to all your friends and maybe even your favorite monk and nuts we get a share too why do you do that because there's so many of them in other words your garden which you grow from the of your life is not just for you it's for everybody who even comes close to you people who just walk past the front of your house people are just associated with you because you work with them or you you just know them just in passing they to share the flowers and the fruits of your garden from the of your life I love that simile because number one it shows you what you do you don't complain you don't get angry but also shows you the result yeah it's tough but that's the one thing we know in life it does happen as uncertainty this will always happen but now we can embrace it accept it and make use of it and grow from it and get this beautiful beautiful gardens of life so when I learn how to accept uncertainty instead of complaining instead of worrying and getting angry my plans have been thwarted I was going to do this on the weekend now I can stop and change and I felt so wonderful about being able to go to Singapore just at a moment's notice and help somebody and of course one of the nicest things was it was only they said he I probably you can't come would be wonderful if you could say okay I'm coming and doing something which was totally unexpected for them surprising because that's what life is just a whole heap of surprises apparently the next big event Oh next big event but one which I'm supposed to be involved in as Dennis said last week on August 7th it's my sixtieth birthday and it's supposed to be a surprise party we've got advertised it with people knowing it they're talking about it in Singapore so so much for a surprise but it will be a surprise party because I'm sure it will not work out the way anyone expected it I want to be terrible if you had a party or a surprise or if you had a weekend and you exactly what's going to happen and it all happens exactly as you wanted it to I'll come on that would be terrible that's not life there's nothing interesting there's nothing which you learn there's nothing where you can grow if something is just so predictable that's wife life was predictable Abby no point to it it's because it's uncertain that's why we can be compassionate and wise because we don't know what's going to happen the wisdom opens up our mind to any possibility and our compassion our kindness allows the world to be uncertain that great saying of compassion for my own father the door of my heart is open to you son whatever you do wherever you go whatever you turn out to be there's a title of that book open the door of your heart that's where it's from his expression of unconditional love okay to me his son extend that to life life however you turn out whatever happens this weekend and the rest of my life life the door of my heart is open to you whatever happens that's called embracing uncertainty that's called worshiping life the real life not the life that is supposed to happen according to all your ideas but real life so you could say that this weekend this weekend whatever happens I will love you even when it all goes wrong even when your friend doesn't turn up at the right even when like last Sunday last Sunday we had to be ceremony abode jnana monastery in certain time start of arranged retreat we'd all been organizing this got all these people coming and when I actually I got up very early but when I came out of meditation at 6:30 no electricity the power outage on the biggest day of art not yet second biggest day of our year in the monastery no electricity it was freezing cold we won't be able to turn on any heaters won't be able to make cups of tea for people there'll be no lighting you know I never thought like that at all I thought what a wonderful thing let's embrace it it reminded us of the the first time is 28 years reading I'm honestly the first time we didn't have any electricity we just use candles or just no get a gas stove to heat up the water in it just nice we were just at that a lot of times when you adapt it becomes much more enjoyable when you we really learn how to adapt to situations while they're always having to have it this particular way always planned out to the tea I look I hate that that's one of the things I loved about Buddhism especially over in Asia and I went to Thailand the same thing happens it's when I grew up in to Sri Lanka and I've never been to Burma you go to a big ceremony in Sri Lanka or entire land and it's chaos the nothing is ordered nothing goes to time this one anchors called it Sri Lankan time the tyres call it Thai time why is it in Australia we always do things on schedule now it's chaos and I loved it that's why I hate organized religion disorganized religion that's what I like disorganize which can adapt and that's one of the great things should go to some of these big servings big occasion in Tana Schreck it works yeah maybe it's not according to plan maybe you know it's not according to the schedule maybe things get canceled other things get added on it was life is reality is humanities people and it works know that every year every year I used to go to I still do I've been doing this for about 25 years now to this this in George's Cathedral they have a Commonwealth interfaith Commonwealth day interfaith service as I've been going there for many many years and now I do my little bit of chanting someone else does their chanting and you know it was pretty boring but one day one year forget know how many years ago one year we were doing the same old boring stuff you know chanting and same old stuff every year and just a few people the people had to be there because know there their daughter was singing in the choir or you know they were told to go there by their teachers cuz of school groups here and this one year right in the middle of the chanting so the Dean John Sheppard is a good friend he's been to give talks here before he was called away and I realized that something was going on because this was not in the program and he came back again and he interrupted us all and got on the microphone and said we've just been told by the police there's been a bomb threat some sort of know crazy fundamentalist and said it's wrong it it's evil that you have people who aren't Christians in this Cathedral and a piece of taken this bomb threat seriously so we all have to evacuate that was the best service I've ever been because the reason was now the whole plans were thrown into chaos which meant that are now we were being human again and so we went to some hall had some tea you know that's when we started talking to each other because we had nothing else to do said all these people you know because it was an emergency I'm scheduled talking to each other getting really friendly and when we came back to finish the service very quickly because no was only just a scare so I'm looting a ticket ringing up the police there's no bomb in there at all it was a life it was a friendship there was the moving together was interfaith then that was at one time was really interfaith and I mentioned to John Sheppard said he should arrange us every year it was a very vessel as we ever had now the thing was because it was unexpected we dealt with the unexpected nature of the things and it worked because it was alive it was human again so when you have these ceremonies when they're always to the tea now this moment you do this this moment do that what Dennis is our marriage celebrant actually he was asking for some more marriage celebrant so if you want to be a marriage celebrant come see Dennis it's a great being a Buddhist marriage celebrant because you allowed to make mistakes you don't have to be perfect you're allowed to be disorganized well reasonably so please turn up on time but you can have these ceremonies we do play it by ear look on one cell now remember this is again memorable we're doing the seven it was at Yin ship I remember that one I was remember that one because we finish the ceremony given all the blessings and everything and now I present mr. and mrs. Smith as a dentist's you forgotten the Rings oh forgot the exchange of rings there's men well that's wonderful and everybody remembered that that's why it's beautiful say I would maybe maybe you forgot it out of denial this is like a political joke but that's they can marriage they'd always remember and they talked about it with fun and joy because it's human when things go wrong doesn't it actually add this beauty to life and you think wow I always remember that occasion that remember that the times that I do the funerals which I really remember when it goes wrong I'm here but Jenny's not here I think she's over North at the moment Jenny's husband we took her to the to the the is called the open air committal area in Fremantle Cemetery that's we don't go in the chapel's this is big conveyor belt outside you put the coffin on top you stand outside they press the button it goes through the glass door and then goes again afterwards a very simple outdoor so it's actually my fault I put my hand up because I told her I know a thing or two you don't have to just order your coffin just no off the rack you could actually make your own coffin no so just do it yourself design it that's true you've got a few sort of regulations but you can make your own it's not just to save money just to make it more personal so this guy he like whitewater rafting so they made like a little canoe thing for him with a few oars on top perfectly allowable and it was personal it was him so when they put us on the coffin the problem was too heavy no you thick wood rather than the thin plywood so that poor conveyor belt was struggling actually to take it through the grass though so the glass door opened it was struggling to put it through and the glass door closed right in the middle of the coffin stuck jammed now you really must feel for these pure and I never forget the face of the funeral director like he was going to die your way right there's a funeral directors worst dream like a nightmare things go wrong like that and he couldn't open the door no one else could it was absolutely totally jammed stuck so there was a guy halfway in the crematorium a halfway out yes it was Jed II know she usually sits right in front where Miami 10:00 her story that she had he dumped off up on the coffin and tried to push it through and people said are you really that serious to try to get rid of the guy but then someone had said look it reminds me I know this guy I was went to school with this guy same thing the first day he got a car he crashed it the first day and his coffin is crashed that so and they eventually got the door opened and said to him away but you know that was one of the most memorable funeral services and everybody loved it and they said that was him he probably did it on purpose I don't know why because it went wrong the uncertainty of life is something which I celebrate so don't get angry when things go wrong you think isn't that beautiful isn't that lovable I opened the door of my heart to the uncertainty of life I don't know what's going to happen next but what I can do is to open my heart to it and accept it yeah you make plans but all tentative plans three months I'm supposed to be in the monastery I don't know whether that's going to work or not there's always somebody goes crazy something goes wrong I don't know if I'm not gonna say no this is my retreat you can't do this to me it's unfair course not if I did that I wouldn't deserve any retreat he say I open the door of my heart to whatever happens yeah there's tentative plans I want to spend a little time by myself but who knows it might not work out I'm always adaptable no matter what happens and I ask you to do the same because the one thing we can trust in life the one truth the one God which only exists is the god of uncertainty and when we worship that which means we don't try and control we don't try and get rid of it we don't try and say it doesn't exist uncertainly does exist and you don't need to be afraid of it the problem is we're so afraid of uncertainty we think if it doesn't work out is going to be terrible is going to be hopeless it's not hopeless it's not terrible when things go wrong is wonderful now if anything went perfect in life RI just be so bored so an exciting nothing really stimulation there's nothing interesting when things go wrong That's Life that's joy you love there you have so many happy memories all the ties where no mistakes when things went well so when you understand that you can embrace uncertainty rather being afraid of it when you embrace uncertainty you don't get so absolute and angry at life you know there's going to be delays in the air quad it's going to be some ash cloud it's going to be some strife some it's going to go well yeah you're going to make try and make an appointment yeah there's going to be some traffic jam there's going to be rain on the road you get stuck in the red lights or whatever yeah this is life you're going to be like you can't always be on time the other thing is that once you understand uncertainty you understand all these promises which we make all tentative promises as well yeah I mean to try and sort of be at my my surprise birthday party I'm going to try to be there but I can't guarantee it so you've made these tentative promises so when it all promises attentive you're never letting anybody down I really mean to do this I'm going to try my best but who knows what's going to happen and that's why I get I mentioned this before and it's great with uncertainty in politics please don't give your politician such a hard time for breaking promises right the only thing I say I blame politicians for is for making such promises in the first place look come on guys and girls in politics in Canberra are in state parliament here in Perth or anywhere in the world now you don't know what's going to happen next you may have some idea of how the economy is going to go and go tomorrow but next week another year the geopolitics and other wars the the earthquakes the tragedies in this world and the successes in this world no one can understand what's going to happen you can't predict things so when we make these promises yes this is what we're going to do yes this is what we're going to going to legislate for you can't do that because you can't predict the world a good politician a good state's person a good leader always has to be able to throw all the plans away at the last moment and make new ones to adapt to the situation as they evolved that's what I mean you can't make promises uncertainty is the rule of this world is one of the deepest truths the most amazing teachings unless we embrace that we're going to make promises which we can't keep we make plans which we're going to try and defend even though they're becoming more more stupid as the world changes against our expectations which means that we just make more suffering and what problems in our world so please don't make too many promises make them tentative y'all try to be there if conditions are right I'll be there I will do that but keep those those riders in there and encourage your politicians that are the same yes we mean to do this we're going to try very best but look at situations change the economy changes or there's some other crisis please accept that we intended to do our best but we always have to adapt and no plan should be every set in concrete none of your plans should be that fixed you can't change them for a better purpose it's uncertain and remember when things do so not turn out the way you want them to get real this is life and it's beautiful that things change because in that sort of change ability of life that uncertainty that's we we find life's joy that's what we find the oomph in life the joy the adaptability the surprise the variety and that's which tests us how adaptable are we how wise in compassion are we why is enough to understand this is the nature of life and compassionate enough to open the door of our hearts to it to accept life make use of it grow gardens out of and have a wonderful time so this is supposed to be my last talk for I don't know who knows maybe I will be back next week life is uncertain thank you for listening thank you okay so any comments questions or complaints no questions yet but as soon as we finish off there will be a whole queue as just I don't buy that's life yay good excellent okay sometimes I say her sometimes him sometimes it so it's just a little bit of marketing because too often you say him and he so it's a good bit of marketing justice has suck up to the females this is getting to come one hell of it that is true so much of our language has been masculine for such a long time it is balancing the books a little bit you know that you talk about mankind for goodness sake what about women kind or it kind or animal kind so much of our language has been sort of male leaning too much to the masculine so it's nice to say a little bit of her or it or whatever yeah I did that on purpose sometimes then you don't get a complain you say oh that Buddhist monkey really understands so anyway that satisfy you okay very good that's a tougher really provoke the male yeah yeah mixing up yes marriage hey excellent that's a very good question in a marriage the word marriage actually comes from a Latin root meaning to gamble that's true look it up okay okay I'll leave it there okay Eddie hit the back yeah sometimes you win well done sometimes you don't remember if you do it once and it doesn't work out you can always roll the dice twice and in the same marriage you can make it work yep yep okay tasting a good sales pitch watch and charles book mr. oh pass which is available in our library for special which is priced this evening very good yeah okay another thing okay d yes yeah we're scenario okay saying that it's the nature of this world that when you get into a bad situation you say it's always going to get better no it doesn't always get better we won't stay the same sometimes it gets worse but it will never stay the same vision gets better again you know that it's our mind amplifies it that's with the negativity when we we sorting always going to get worse it's going to get worse it's going to go worse of course it gets worse can you make it get worse so just allow it to be changeable and uncertain I don't know what's going to happen next so that's where you open the door of your heart to change which is beautiful no we like stability we like predictability but I think that's because we're not sort of alive enough we did so life does actually take a bit of sort of courage yes yeah where I've been naughty so the lady would say that when she was in Thailand she had a large tattoo Bay that I asked where she's on her back there's a big mistake should I embrace it yeah why not but I come bodice it's great sometimes that okay challenges are we go what we think we wonder I just enjoy it it was a really stupid cut tattoo it makes people laugh and making people happy yeah Infinite's okay yes that's very profound because I don't even understand that so see already your tattoo has made I don't know three or four hundred people laugh today and this goes on the internet maybe before we actually close you can actually tell me here and showing against me what a wonderful thing that was you give it a gift of many many hundreds of people for making laughing now I just enjoy it whatever happens so when I make mistakes so you can tell people about it good right people happy it's great not having to be perfect I was just a huge relief for me when I realize I don't have to be perfect anymore I can be stupid make mistakes tell silly jokes telling the wrong way whatever you do I know it's just so wonderful a relief to know I can make mistakes so you say that's my mistake and I'm so happy so proud that I can let people see where mistakes I am NOT down had to be perfect anymore great sense of freedom then then you actually find you are perfect yes okay figured the Navajo Indians we've imperfections into the rug because that's where they think the spirits come in and go out it's the same with with the the Australian government weaves imperfections incident forces yeah like kids about Bragg that was perfect so yeah there's yeah it's so-called imperfections I mean this is dry this is reality often say that we live up in the hills in serpentine but you know on the edge of the hills we can see the the sunsets the most beautiful sunsets or when it's clouds on horizon or even a bit of ash or or smoke from bush fires to get beautiful her sunset said you do need a bit of imperfection to get the beautiful sunsets it was a perfectly sunny clear day the sunsets pretty boring a bit of imperfection spreads incredible Crimson's and golds like fire on the horizon it's beautiful so just like life when a few things go wrong that creates a beauty the ALMS enjoy the depths of life so when you do make mistakes congratulations you're just added to a beautiful sunset this true the imperfections of the Navajo rugs that's where the spirit of life real life compassion love that's where it comes in I don't agree with them it doesn't go out it stays okay so that's enough for this evening I know you try to keep me here as long as possible this is my last talk but I won't let you get away with that trick you

Channel: Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Views: 176,524

Rating: 4.8122826 out of 5

Keywords: uncertainty, Buddha Dhamma, Dhamma, Dharma talk, Ajahn Brahm, Anicca, Impermanence, Changing

Id: pswsVGVdISY

Length: 63min 30sec (3810 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 15 2011