Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

A problem or an irritation?

As told by Ajahn Brahm in How to Deal with Difficulties | Ajahn Brahm | 29 April 2022

2 min read

Content note: Holocaust

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

There's another story about Awitz which I remember reading a good story. There was a a backpacker who was traveling through Europe said travel is now becoming allowable again. when this backpacker was traveling through Europe, he'd just get a job at restaurants and cafes and just any old uh easy work to get a few more dollars and then he would go on his next leg of his journey. And he got a job in this restaurant in somewhere in Germany. And then as he was um I think in Austria I think he said in that restaurant [snorts] it was always known if you get a job in a restaurant you get free food. That's you know part of the deal. You don't get paid very much. You get a few tips but the free food makes it just really quite worthwhile. But then one day the owner of the restaurant told all the workers he'd ordered too much sauerkraut. I don't know if you know Sauerkraut. We have a couple of German monks at Bodhinana Monastery and even though he's not a monk, we have like you know I'm talking about Amandis. Many of you been down there. You know Amandis and he loves sauerkraut. So anyway, they' ordered too much sauerkraut. And so the owner of the restaurant, this is quite a few years ago, told everybody, "If you want free food, it has to be sauerkraut. Sauerkraut for breakfast, sauerkraut for lunch, sauerkraut for dinner, whatever it is. Sauerkraut and only sauerkraut." And this young backpacker said, "You can't do that to us. That is unfair. That's not what we signed up for. I know some people like sauerkraut, but not everyone likes sauerkraut. This is not right. you can't do this to us. And he got very angry. And that apparently was when the owner, not the owner, the cook of the restaurant came up and took him aside. He said, "Look, I've been working at this restaurant for quite a few years now." Said this old man. And he said, "I want to tell you the difference between a problem and an irritation. And then this old cook, he bared his arm and you could see the tattooed numbers on his arm. He said I was in Awitz and he said every morning when I woke up I didn't know whether I would survive that day. I was very fortunate many of my relations and friends and loved ones did die. I survived living in Awitz. That is a problem. Eating sauerkraut is only an imitation.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 31:59 (to 35:09)

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

A backpacker raged at eating sauerkraut every day, until the old cook showed him the numbers tattooed on his arm. Auschwitz was a problem; sauerkraut is an irritation. Next time you're angry at a partner or yourself, ask which one this is. Most of what upsets us is an irritation, and can be let go.

In brief (our summary)

A backpacker working his way round Europe gets a job in a restaurant (in Germany or Austria) where staff eat for free. The owner over-orders sauerkraut and tells the staff their free food will be sauerkraut — breakfast, lunch and dinner. The backpacker angrily protests that it's unfair. The old cook takes him aside and offers to explain the difference between a problem and an irritation. He bares his arm to show tattooed numbers: in Auschwitz, every morning he didn't know whether he would survive the day, and many of his loved ones died. 'That is a problem. Eating sauerkraut is only an irritation.'

Teaching point

Most of what upsets us is an irritation, not a real problem.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in How to Deal with Difficulties | Ajahn Brahm | 29 April 2022 · 2022-04-29 · ▶ watch from 31:59 to 35:09 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

2 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'Awitz' = Auschwitz; 'only an imitation' = only an irritation.

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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