# The ATM that gave twenty euros

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-atm-twenty-euros
- Themes: loving-kindness, power of mind, humour
- Life situations: frustration with things not working

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

A former monastery postulant studying in Germany adopts a campus ATM that 'gurgled' at him, sends it loving-kindness every day, and one lunchtime it gurgles again and pushes out a twenty-euro note no one had requested.

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

The guy who was an Anagarika for one year at Serpentine Monastery Went over to Germany to complete his degree first day at a University campus he walked past the ATM machine This is a great story, and you may actually get some benefit from this, if you understand it and practice it properly So, he walked past the ATM machine and he said the ATM machine emitted a sound, he called it a gurgling type sound very difficult to define, but it made a sound just as he passed by and he took that as a welcome from the ATM machine to the campus And so from that time on that was his ATM, that's where he did all his transactions, and because he had been by a monk like me A little bit weird and crazy but, he would always give Loving-Kindness to the ATM machine. "May you be happy and well, may you never run out of cash may you're clients never hit you and swear at you when they find they've got no balance, may, you now, robbers never tear you out of a wall with a four wheel drive or blow up trying to get the cash may you live at peace and happy" that sorta stuff He'd talk to the ATM, regarded it as a personal being with consciousness and was always kind to it! And he swore to me, this actually happened, having his lunch one afternoon, on a bench, maybe about five or ten meters away from the ATM. No one had gone close to that ATM machine for about 20 minutes, he was there he saw it, no one had gone close to it! and he was sitting there, having his lunch, and he heard the gurgling sound again, the machine gurgled at him and he looked around, and he saw a twenty euro note come out of the machine (Laughs) no one had put in any credit card, punched in any numbers for twenty minutes it got twenty euros. And he went to the machine with disbelief, but it was there and he pulled it out: "does this belong to anybody?" no one claimed it but of course they wouldn’t claim it because it was the ATM's gift to It's friend

## Teaching point

Kindness, even to things, is part of how the mind works in ways we do not yet understand (Ajahn Brahm: “just we haven't figured out how that happens yet it's the way the mind works”).

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

He swore the grateful ATM gave him twenty euros; you can make of that what you like. What is plainly true is that greeting even a machine with goodwill changes the one doing the greeting. Wishing well to the late bus and the jammed printer softens a whole day, whatever the cash machines decide to do.

## Source

- [Learn to be at peace with yourself | Ajahn Brahm | 6 Jan 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu0RtEG6V4A) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 39:17 to 41:48: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu0RtEG6V4A&t=2357s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 2 February 2019](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlaUiC1y6HY) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 10:52 to 12:56: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlaUiC1y6HY&t=652s