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Story · Ajahn Brahm

The noisy airport prayer room

As told by Ajahn Brahm in The Power of Silence | Ajahn Brahm | 12-12-2008

1 min read

The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

I once went into one of the chapels and meditation rooms in the airport to try and get a bit of peace and quietness to do some meditation. Of course after only about 30 seconds "please do not leave your bags unattended paging Mr. so and so, your flight is about to board' and all these other announcements which were going on in the quiet room as there's noises anywhere else.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 2:00 (to 2:29)

A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Ajahn Brahm slipped into the airport prayer room for some peace and lasted about thirty seconds before the announcements about bags and boarding began. Real quiet is rare in shops, lifts and terminals. As a boy in London he found it on cathedral benches. Seek out your own refuge, a park, a church, a stretch of beach, and visit it often.

In brief (our summary)

Delighted to find a meditation and prayer room at Perth Airport, Ajahn Brahm sits down to meditate — and the room is filled with security warnings, passenger pages and boarding calls. (Told with his disappointment at a PA system installed in Westminster Abbey.)

Teaching point

Places of silence are rare and precious in modern life.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in The Power of Silence | Ajahn Brahm | 12-12-2008 · 2008-12-20 · ▶ watch from 2:00 to 2:29 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is.

The narrative is Ajahn Brahm's own telling, quoted from the talk captions. The summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk. Markdown version

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