Attitudes to Life.... and Death

I know of this extraordinary monk through my lecturer, Mr. Kweh. He gave me a copy of Ajahn Brahm's book "Opening the Door To Your Heart" in response to a bit of positive gestures by me. He informed me of a talk that is to be conducted by Ajahn and I am glad I attended. I am amazed by his eloquence and more by his ability to see things so simply and from different perspectives that is often overlooked by you and me.

I received a bad news today of a friend who I know of for only about one month. But life have to go on.... there is no option. While doing other things on the computer, I searched for Ajahn Brahm on the internet and ended up on a site with a number of downloadable speeches by Ajahn Brahm. Now, I am wondering why on earth do I search for him on the internet? Anyway, I believe all of them will be useful in all aspect of my development and my contacts' development. Coincidentally or not, one of them, actually the first one I listened to, is very relevant to what I am experiencing now. Read on ....

"When we're actually talking about somebody else's death, what is your attitude towards it? How do you relate to it? Obviously, the death is something you cannot change. But, the way you look at it can be changed. Usually as many of you know when there is such a thing as a death, instead of letting you look at it with negativity, we say it is a break to the life. What a wonderful thing it was to have known the person for such a time, however long that was. For if I haven't known them at all, for if they haven't came into my life I'd be much poorer as a result. See we're relating not to what's been taken away, we're relating to what we have had. We're grateful to have known the person for so long and wouldn't have missed their company for the world. What a wonderful thing it was that I knew the person. And straight away, the way we relate to the problem changed. Instead of ill will, aversion, grief and desire, we are actually looking at it with a positive attitude. The thing itself is not the problem, it is the way we look at it.”

Adapted from a Dharma Talk, "Attitudes to Life" , by Ajahn Brahmavamso on 27 Feb 2004

His talks are available in mp3 format at http://www.bswa.org/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=4
Although the file size is large (12.0 to 16.0 Mb), the download speed is relatively fast.