# 'You can't be any good then'

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-caller-free-meditation-cant-be-good
- Themes: generosity, value, humour
- Life situations: judging by price, looking for a teacher

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

In the early days Ajahn Brahm answered the phone to a woman asking about that evening's meditation class. 'How much do you charge?' 'We don't charge anything.' 'Well, you can't be any good then.' And she hung up.

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

I answered the phone in the old days and they said, um, I hear you're teaching meditation tonight. I said, yeah, I'm teaching this evening. And he said, how much do you charge? It was a fair question because sometimes you have to pay a lot of money to practice meditation. And the answer was, don't charge anything. And the answer was from this woman, well, you can't be any good then. And she hung up.

## Teaching point

We assume what costs a lot must be better; don't be afraid of giving things freely.

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

A caller asked what the meditation class cost, heard 'nothing', said they couldn't be any good then, and hung up. We assume expensive means better. Ajahn Brahm encourages the opposite. Give freely, including forgiveness. How many times should you forgive? One more time. People respect real forgiveness more than you'd expect.

## Source

- [The Dangers of Fear | Ajahn Brahm | 4 November 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9QrmkzlBgE) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 34:32 to 35:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9QrmkzlBgE&t=2072s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Kindness Creates Peace | Ajahn Brahm | 18 February 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcYeueUnflY) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:16:26 to 1:17:07: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcYeueUnflY&t=4586s
- [Dhamma Talk in Walpole at Dana | Ajahn Brahm | 21 September 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr1dh26dTYg) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 37:59 to 38:21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr1dh26dTYg&t=2279s