# A free cup of coffee found Bodhinyana

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-byford-coffee-found-bodhinyana
- Themes: monastery founding, kindness, inspiration, serendipity
- Life situations: searching for a home, starting a project

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Looking for monastery land and finding nothing suitable, Ajahn Jagaro wants coffee. They stop again at the Byford real-estate agent Charles Orlando, who gives them a free cup. A man in the back mentions a big unwanted property behind Serpentine — that land becomes Bodhinyana Monastery. Dennis was there.

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

Just Bodhinyana Monastery. Just going there was actually this is I'm a bit of a hypocrite here, cuz this was just on on a cup of coffee, because we're looking at places to buy land. Where's Dennis? Is he gone? Where's Ben? Oh, he was he was there at the time. Looking for some land to buy get a monastery, and we couldn't find anything. Everything was just too expensive, or impossible, or were not appropriate. And then on the way back, looking down south, he's over there. Hi, Dennis. Yeah, he knows this story. Coming back, we just uh my fellow monk at the time, Ajahn Jagaro, he said, "I feel like a cup of coffee." Anyone in business, please remember this. Because previously, the real estate agent in Byford, he stopped there, and he gave him a free cup of coffee. So, we decided just to to stop for a free cup of coffee. Cuz the guy, Charles, I remember his name, Charles Orlando. And he gave us a free cup of coffee. Again, second time. We were you know, we were just basically not looking anymore, fed up for the day. And there was a guy in the back said, "Oh, I remember I remember in the back of Serpentine somewhere, there's a big property, but the owner couldn't sell it. No one wanted it." And of course, that is now Bodhinyana Monastery.

## Teaching point

Inspiration (and kindness — a free coffee) can open doors that hard searching missed.

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

Weary after a fruitless land hunt, Ajahn Jagaro fancied a coffee, and a kind estate agent offered a free one. A man in the back mentioned an unwanted property behind Serpentine, now Bodhinyana Monastery. Small kindnesses ripple out. When you stop pushing so hard, the right door sometimes opens.

## Source

- [Energy in our Body and Mind from Inspiration | Ajahn Brahm | 2 November 2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWz3LAAj-J0) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 36:26 to 37:49: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWz3LAAj-J0&t=2186s