# The texture of a bean after a month's retreat

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-bean-after-month-retreat
- Themes: stillness, mindfulness, food, retreat
- Life situations: after retreat, rushing meals

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Just after a month self-retreat at Bodhinyana he eats a bean slowly and notices texture he had never attended to — soft yet structured — stillness opening ordinary senses.

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

just crunching it with my teeth very slowly and the texture of it. You ever notice a texture of a bean

## Teaching point

Deep silence makes even a bean's texture new.

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

After a month of solitary retreat, Ajahn Brahm bit slowly into a single bean and was amazed by its texture, soft here, firm there. That isn't madness, he says, just what a tired, hurried mind misses. He jokes that at an expensive restaurant you should ask your partner to stop talking. Slow down and taste your life.

## Source

- [Stillness and Silence | Ajahn Brahm | 25th March 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9DKTXZ2jpI) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 48:19 to 48:31: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9DKTXZ2jpI&t=2899s