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Story · Ajahn Brahm

The Buddhist soldiers from the British Army

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Change | Ajahn Brahm | 17 December 2010

1 min read

Content note: war (Iraq, Afghanistan)

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

there was a group of Buddhist military who came to see me in UK a few years ago. Just like in all parts of life, even in the British army, there were many Buddhists. I thought those Buddhists would be in the ancillary services such as the dentists, or the accountants, but some of these Buddhists were frontline soldiers who had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Is that a good thing for a Buddhist to be doing? I'm not going to judge but that's where they were and that's what they were doing. And so I had to change many of my attitudes, and I'm willing to change those attitudes to face these people in front of me who were obviously very sincere—they weren't bad people. I could sense straightaway that they had a very strong, inner morality in them. And how can that be? It was a contradiction in all I had ever told about Buddhism. And so one of the things I told them is never allow your knowledge to stand in the way of truth. I remember that they were shocked by that. They said, "Yeah!" Because my knowledge was telling me that what these guys were doing is wrong. But the truth in front of my eyes that these were beautiful people. Which is the one you're supposed to follow? If you follow your knowledge, you'll make so many mistakes— you'll be judgmental, critical, harsh, and you'll never be able to connect, appreciate and respect people. The truth of the matter is something different. That was a wonderful experience. I still don't know understand. I still haven't really processed that totally

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 49:53 (to 51:40)

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

Ajahn Brahm expected Buddhist soldiers to be army dentists, then met frontline veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who were plainly good, sincere people. His views had to move, and he admits he still hasn't fully processed it. When someone you meet doesn't fit your assumptions, let the truth win over the knowledge.

In brief (our summary)

In the UK a group of Buddhists from the British Army come to see Ajahn Brahm. He had assumed Buddhist soldiers would be dentists or accountants, but some are frontline soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sensing their sincerity and strong inner morality, he has to change his attitudes; he tells them never to let knowledge stand in the way of truth — his knowledge said what they did was wrong, but the truth before him was that these were beautiful people. They were shocked, and agreed. He says he still hasn't fully processed it.

Teaching point

Never allow your knowledge to stand in the way of the truth in front of you; be willing to change your views.

When this story may help

  • meeting people whose choices you disagree with
  • challenged beliefs
  • military service

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Change | Ajahn Brahm | 17 December 2010 · 2010-12-18 · ▶ watch from 49:53 to 51:40 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

2 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is.

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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