Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

They gave him a wrapped box of nothing

As told by Ajahn Brahm in A Talk About Nothing | Ajahn Brahm | 16 July 2021

1 min read

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

They get a nice little box. They wrap it up and give it to me. And when I open the box, you know what's inside of it? Nothing. Ah, that's just what I wanted. How do you Did you [laughter] know? And it's beautiful. Just a nothing. The emptiness of life

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 28:25 (to 28:53)

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

Asked what he'd like for his birthday, Ajahn Brahm hints, and a few people get it: they wrap an empty box. Inside is nothing at all. Just what he wanted, he beams. More stuff rarely brings more joy. Space, freedom and quiet are gifts that never clutter your life.

In brief (our summary)

When people ask what gift he wants for his birthday, a few who got the message wrap an empty box; he opens it and finds nothing — 'that's just what I wanted'.

Teaching point

The gift that matches a monk's life is emptiness, not more things.

When this story may help

  • choosing gifts
  • wanting less

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in A Talk About Nothing | Ajahn Brahm | 16 July 2021 · 2021-07-16 · ▶ watch from 28:25 to 28:53 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, 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

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