Story · Ajahn Brahm
The bank robber who sat down to wait
Content note: crime
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
After he robbed the bank, he went into the the foyer and just sat down on a chair and waited to be arrested. And sooner the police came and they said, "You know, you're the guy who robbed the bank." He said, "Yeah, here's the money. I confess." And when he went to trial, they asked him, "Why did you do that?" "Well, I told my wife it's it's so noisy. I had I had such a difficult time living in the house with you. I thought, you know, I could go to jail instead. It'd be more peaceful
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 32:13 (to 32:51)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
A man robbed a bank and sat down to wait for police. In court he explained home was so noisy he'd hoped jail would be peaceful. The judge gave him home detention. Ajahn Brahm laughs, then turns gentle. When life gets hard and you feel low, there are always ways through. Reach for help instead of an escape.
In brief (our summary)
True-story newspaper item: after robbing a bank the man sits in the foyer and waits to be arrested — expectations/surrender image.
Teaching point
Sometimes the heist ends when you stop running.
When this story may help
- consequences
- giving up the chase
Themes
- crime
- surrender
- humour
- expectations
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Checking Your Expectations | Ajahn Brahm | 17 December 2021 · 2021-12-17 · ▶ watch from 32:13 to 32:51 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned.
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