# All his questions vanished before Ajahn Tate

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-ajahn-tate-unconditional-acceptance
- Themes: unconditional love, acceptance, teachers, monastic life
- Life situations: feeling judged, seeking a teacher, self-criticism

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Ajahn Tate, a famous monk once sent home from hospital to die of cancer (he lived another 25 years), is so revered that young Ajahn Brahm waits two days for an appointment, full of questions. Entering the room, every question vanishes; instead he feels an incredible unconditional love — accepted with all his faults, without having to be enlightened or a good monk — and wants to stay there for the rest of his life.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

I went to visit this famous monk called Ajahn Tate in Sri Chiangmai on the Mekong River over in Nong Khai Province, the north of Thailand. He was supposed to be an amazing monk. In fact, when I first became a monk, he was dying of cancer. He was in the main hospital being looked after by the King of Thailand because he was a famous monk. And the doctor said okay, waste of time looking after you anymore, there’s nothing more we can do, you’re going to die. So he said, well I might as well die in my temple in Bangkok. So he went back to his temple and he died about 25 years later. [laughter] And he was an amazing monk and of course he had such a good reputation that, I could speak Thai, and I just wanted to go to these great masters and ask all my questions. It was just like, you know, we all have these questions inside of us, you get these incredibly wise beings and you just wanted to ask questions from someone who knows what they’re talking about. And so, you know, he was very famous, had to make an appointment, went up there, spent about two days waiting. When I went into his room, and you know what happened, all the questions totally vanished. My mind was so blank but what I felt instead, was this incredible, and I mean just this incredible unconditional love. I was a young monk. I still had my fantasies, my defilements and all that sort of stuff. And this guy he loved me for who I was, I didn’t have to become enlightened. I didn’t have to sort of be a good monk. I didn’t have to clean up my act. You felt totally accepted for who you were with all your faults. And that’s the feeling I had. As soon as I got a feeling like that, the next feeling I had, I don’t want to move, I want to stay in here. for the rest of my life. I’m not going anywhere because it was such a beautiful feeling of having this total, absolutely hundred percent acceptance. This guy would not criticize me at all and he never would.

## Teaching point

Unconditional acceptance can be felt from another person — and we can learn to give it.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Young Ajahn Brahm waited two days to see Ajahn Tate with a head full of questions, and they all vanished in his presence. What he felt instead was complete acceptance, faults and all, with nothing to prove. Few of us meet a sage, but we can offer a little of that to others: someone who feels unjudged around you can finally relax.

## Source

- [Why are we here? Why are we born? | Ajahn Brahm | 09-01-2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RrCjzi74BA) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 29:37 to 31:47: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RrCjzi74BA&t=1777s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Why Is It So Hard To Be Kind? | Ajahn Brahm | 05 March 2010](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbTLO-Z9rf8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 58:29 to 59:10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbTLO-Z9rf8&t=3509s
- [How to deal with chronic pain | Ajahn Brahm | 04-07-2014](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As9jmZBCUWU) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 18:27 to 19:12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As9jmZBCUWU&t=1107s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 8 July 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxl1rfa6hkQ) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:12:42 to 1:13:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxl1rfa6hkQ&t=4362s
- [Forms of Love In Buddhism | Ajahn Brahm | 26-11-2010](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvo5G0WbWSs) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 34:45 to 36:38: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvo5G0WbWSs&t=2085s
- [How To Be A Happy Hermit | Ajahn Brahm | 15-01-2010](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7n5CpmWRM) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 45:15 to 47:57: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7n5CpmWRM&t=2715s
- [Vibe | Ajahn Brahm | 20 October 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G00nJgXX6y0) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 41:06 to 42:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G00nJgXX6y0&t=2466s
- [Good? Bad? Who Knows | Ajahn Brahm | 14 May 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtq3BQ8da9s) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 9:33 to 10:32: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtq3BQ8da9s&t=573s
- [Superstitions and Mysterious Events | Ajahn Brahm | 4 December 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfJ4yNlt9po) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 10:28 to 13:17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfJ4yNlt9po&t=628s
- [Authenticity | Ajahn Brahm | 16 February 2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck4pLTMjuYQ) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 34:08 to 35:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck4pLTMjuYQ&t=2048s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 31 May 2025](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBLYXjIpKg) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:02:37 to 1:03:53: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBLYXjIpKg&t=3757s
- [The Benefits of Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 13 December 2019](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5LJL6bgKO0) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 26:11 to 26:50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5LJL6bgKO0&t=1571s
- [Joy and Power of Peace | Ajahn Brahm | 13 February 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaYAEgABL2M) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 41:01 to 41:38: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaYAEgABL2M&t=2461s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 23 March 2019](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bplhqYzM060) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 3:09 to 4:03: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bplhqYzM060&t=189s
- [MN89: Dhammacetiya Sutta - Monuments to the Dhamma | Ajahn Brahm | 13 March 2016](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thdr-DhNOA8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 43:15 to 43:37: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thdr-DhNOA8&t=2595s