# Who's the beggar?

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-beggar-and-rich-man-at-temple
- Themes: prayer, generosity, humility, humour
- Life situations: praying for outcomes, judging beggars

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

In India a rich man comes out of a temple and a beggar asks him for a donation. 'Go and get a job!' 'Well, what did you just go into the temple for? You went in to beg for something too.' 'You're quite right — here's a donation.'

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

And this rich guy went into the temple, this is in India. When he came out, there was a beggar. And the beggar asked him for a donation. And the rich man said: ‘What are you asking for a donation for, you should go and get a job? You shouldn’t go out begging for people’. And then the beggar said: ‘Well, what did you just go into the temple for? Even though you’re a rich man, you went to beg for something or other’. And the rich man said ‘actually you're quite right, here's a donation

## Teaching point

Praying for things is begging; blessings are better seen as encouragement.

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

A rich man tells a beggar outside a temple to get a job, and the beggar asks what he went inside for, if not to beg. Fair point; the rich man pays up. Ajahn Brahm laughs at our prayers for lottery wins. Blessings are better taken as encouragement, a push of confidence, than as a deal.

## Source

- [Give Yourself Peace, Kindness and Forgiveness | Ajahn Brahm | 29 January 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PPWbmzp6M) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 58:06 to 58:43: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PPWbmzp6M&t=3486s