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Story · Ajahn Brahm

'You ordained to forget'

As told by Ajahn Brahm in The Buddhist Attitude to Sensuality | Ajahn Brahm | 19-01-2007

1 min read

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

there is a monk called...Ajahn Juin. He was one of the old Thai monks who lived in this beautiful monastery "~Phu ~Top". It's like a top hat mountain and some of the Thai people know him and I - I mean he was a very famous monk at that time - I went to visit him and this lady came from Bangkok and asked this monk, "Did you become a monk,because you had a failed love affair?" He said, "No, of course not." She said, "Ha, that makes sense, you ordained to forget and you have forgotten by now."

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 46:31 (to 47:04)

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

A visitor decided old Ajahn Juin had ordained to forget a broken heart, and had simply forgotten by now. Ajahn Brahm laughs at the logic. People assume monks are running from love. He went toward something: a joy in meditation that surprised him. Look for the happiness that doesn't depend on getting what you want.

In brief (our summary)

Visiting Ajahn Juin, a famous old Thai monk at the top-hat-shaped mountain monastery Phu Tok, Ajahn Brahm hears a Bangkok lady ask him, 'Did you become a monk because you had a failed love affair?' 'No, of course not.' 'Ha, that makes sense — you ordained to forget, and you have forgotten by now.'

Teaching point

People assume monks flee from love; Ajahn Brahm says he ordained for the joy of meditation, not a broken heart.

When this story may help

  • misunderstood choices
  • heartbreak

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in The Buddhist Attitude to Sensuality | Ajahn Brahm | 19-01-2007 · 2007-01-22 · ▶ watch from 46:31 to 47:04 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is. '~Phu ~Top' = Phu Tok (not changed).

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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