Two Bad Bricks -- By Ajahn Brahm

 “I did see those bricks. But I also saw the 998 good ones that surrounded it.” Ajahn Brahm -- the abbot of Buddhist monastery in Australia. 

Many years ago, Ajahn Brahm and his fellow monks bought land in Australia to create their monastery. The land was vast, the resources plentiful, but there were no structures or buildings. Being a group of Buddhists – and having just spent quite a lot on land – they didn’t have enough money to simply pay for the construction. In lieu of that, they had supplies donated and set to work building their new homes.

Ajahn Brahm, who had studied Theoretical Physics in college, was now put to the task of bricklaying. He was in charge of constructing walls. For those of you who have never laid brick, it is a tedious process that most people want to do perfectly. I mean, you’re building a wall – you don’t want cracks, holes, or ugly deformities.

So he would lay bricks and, if one of them went askew, he would scrape the mortar, fill in the crooked area, and adjust the problem to perfection. This was a painstaking process that took days, but at the end of his project, he looked at what he had created. Stepping back, the first thing he noticed was that there were two bricks near the center of the wall that were off-kilter. There were two bad bricks.

He tried to scrape the mortar, but it had dried. He went to the leaders of the monastery and asked if he could destroy the wall and start over. “Do we have a bulldozer? Dynamite?” But they simply said there was not enough money and he would have to leave the wall is it was.  This tormented Ajahn Brahm. For several months, he dwelled on the fact that the ugliest wall in the monastery was the one that he had built. If people came to the grounds for a tour, he often volunteered to lead them – just so he could skip going past that wall!

One day, though, he saw a group coming back from a tour with another monk. One of the visitors raved about the quaintness of the buildings and made a comment about a singular wall that he particularly adored. Naturally, it was Ajahn Brahm’s. The monk looked at the guest and said, “Are you serious? Are you blind? What are you talking about? Couldn’t you see the two bad bricks?”

What the man said next puts the inherent nature of depression and obsession into perspective.  He said, “I did see those bricks. But I also saw the 998 good ones that surrounded it.”

Too often in life, we focus on the two bad bricks instead of looking at the many wonderful things around us. It’s incredible when you focus on the tiny faulty parts in our life, and forget about the many fantastic things, the wholeness of our life. We focus on the one or two bad bricks and conclude that our life must be miserable.

This is absurd! When put into proper perspective, our problems are all, in some way, temporary. There is nothing so consuming – even our own illnesses! – that we cannot appreciate the “good” we have. I once heard someone say, “If you are alive, then more is right with you than wrong.” Think about that – it’s true.

Years later, when Ajahn Brahm told this story to an audience, a man came to him afterward and said, “Don’t worry, I do construction and make mistakes all the time. Only in my line of work, when we screw up, we just call it a ‘feature’ and let people know it costs more!”

So from now on, when things go badly in your life, try to think of them as “features,” things that make you more valuable. And don’t forget to pay attention to all of the parts of your body that don’t have cancer, all of the people in your life who do love you, and all of the things you can experience now that don’t cost money. Because they far outweigh the two bad bricks.

The moral of the story is about how the ego used to be our fault finder in life. It Always looks for the negative side of life.  Life can never be perfect anyway, it is a coin of two sides. Rather than indulge with the negativity of life, which make us suffer as well as others, why not just simply enjoy the other bright side of life. Isn't this a win-win situation? Relaxed, don't take life so serious, be happy!

Next time be mindful of life situation! Don't be misled by the  cunning and tricky little ego! When ignorance overwhelms you, the ego is your very intimate enemy within. Be careful! 

This story, told by Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm

This Is Your Dharma

There was once a holy man sitting under a tree meditating. He had his hands open and a female mouse fell into his hands. A bird had apparently dropped the mouse. He felt sorry for the little mouse and because he was a great siddhi, a being of great powers from his years of meditation, he turned the mouse into a lovely young girl, and took the girl home to his house. His wife was enthralled with this. She was unable to have children, and she was so happy to have this little girl. They both loved her very much, and brought her up to be a fine young lady.

One day the wife said to the husband, "Husband it's time for our daughter to get married. Where can we find a suitable husband for her?" And the holy man said, I know, I'll ask the sun. So he went outside and he called the sun and he said, "Mr. Sun, our daughter is of the marrying age and we're looking for a suitable husband. Can you help us?" The sun said, "Certainly, I will marry her myself." How would you like to get married to the sun? The husband was thrilled and he said, Oh great joy has come over me that the sun would pick my daughter to be married to. And he ran in and he told his wife and he told his daughter. And the daughter said, "No Dad, I don't want to marry the sun. There's too much light, I'll be burned. Find me a different husband."

So the holy man went outside, he spoke to the sun again, he said, "Mr. Sun, our daughter does not wish to marry you because she will be burned with your light. Can you think of anyone else more powerful than you, that can marry her?" So the sun thought about it, and then he said, "Ask Mr. Cloud. The cloud will give you an answer. The cloud is mightier than I am because many times the clouds hide me, and I do not appear, and I can do nothing about it. So the cloud is mightier than I am. Ask the cloud." The holy man beseeched the cloud and said, "Mr. Cloud, I have a daughter that is of the marrying age and I'm looking for a suitable husband for her. Can you help out? Do you know of anyone who should marry her?" And Mr. cloud said, "I will. I'll marry your daughter." And again the holy man became overjoyed with this. Imagine a cloud marrying my daughter. This was a good thing. He ran in the house, told his wife and then told his daughter. The wife and the husband were so happy, but the daughter said, "Chill out, Dad. I don't want to marry that cloud. For when it rains, I'll get soaked. Get me a better husband."

So again the holy man went out to the cloud and told him the story, what the daughter said. "Can you think of anyone else?" And the cloud said, "Well, how about Mr. Mountain? This is a great mountain here that is mightier than I am, because when I flow around the mountain, I can't go through it. I have to flow around it. And there's nothing I can do about it. So the mountain is very powerful." The holy man beseeched the mountain, "Mr. Mountain, can you think of someone that can marry my daughter?" And the mountain also said, "I will." So again the holy man was very happy about this. A mountain marrying his daughter, what could be better? He ran into the house, told the wife, she was overjoyed. And he told the daughter. Again she didn't want to marry the mountain. She said, "Come on, Dad, I can't marry this mountain. The mountain has cactus growing all over it. When we embrace, I'll be pinched with cactus. Think of someone else."

So the holy man went back to the mountain and told him the story, and said, Can you think of anybody else for my daughter? The mountain said, "Well, the only one I can think of that is more powerful than me is this little mouse that lives in the bottom of me, because he bores holes and has a nest inside of me, and I can do nothing about it. And since he bores holes in me, he must be more powerful than I am. Ask the mouse."

So the holy man went to the mouse and said, Mr. Mouse, I have a daughter of the marrying age, I'm looking for a suitable husband, can you help me?" And the mouse said, "Yes, I will marry her myself." He was overjoyed. Imagine, a mouse marrying his daughter. He ran and told his wife, and they both went and told the daughter. The daughter thought about this and she said, "Yes, I will marry the mouse. The mouse is very cute. I will marry the mouse. But father can you do something for me? Can you please turn me into a little mouse also?

So the holy man turned her into a little mouse. And they both got married and they lived happily ever after, in the mountain. Now what is the moral of this story?

This story tries to bring home the fact that your dharma is what you have to live out. If you try to change it, years will pass, and you will make all kinds of mistakes, and go through all kinds of problems. This means if you change your environment, or if you change the condition, the samskaras and the conditioning that you have inside of you will just put you back in that kind of a position with different people, different environment, because you have not risen from that condition yet. Therefore you have to experience the same things over, and over, and over, and over again.

Whatever your dharma is, has been presented to you by karma. Therefore do not fight it. Bless it.

From Robert Adams Talk -- This is your Dharma

Know Thyself Is To Hold the Attention On Itself

The ego exists say the scriptures due to non-inquiry. This non-inquiry is sustained and strengthened by ignorance. Consciousness is pure attention alone. 

When the attention is held unmoved, there is no place for ego or non-attention. To hold the attention on itself, to dissolve or transform non-attention into total attention, total consciousness, the quest, "Who Am I?" is the vital process. 

To turn one's attention on oneself is the essence of true knowledge.

Such self attention is the key to open the mystery gates of the immeasurable treasure, knowing the knower. The knower known there is none else, nothing else to be known. 

To turn one's attention from the details or activities to the source of activity is called introspection. This turning inward is the beginning of spiritual effort called sadhana. 

To remain as pure consciousness is the secret in meaning of "Know Thyself."

From Robert Adams Talk -- Beliefs And Predetermination