# Cambridge Botanical Gardens — first bamboo clump

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-cambridge-botanical-bamboo-clump
- Themes: beauty, memory, meditation, uk, humour
- Life situations: student life, nature

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Student days near Baitman Street, Cambridge: first day in the Botanical Gardens he finds a bamboo clump so beautiful he stares 10–15 minutes, invents 'sensuous, soft and slender, coming to a point,' then sits on a bench so no one calls the police on the doughnut-haired hippie.

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

Cambridge Botanical Gardens. It was only about 5 minutes walk from where we had our retreat center. And do you know, I don't remember my girlfriend's name. I remember the place where we had our retreat in Baitman Street in Cambridge. My memory of those times was so powerful. Still is. If you really enjoy something, it becomes easy to remember. So just down the road from Baitman Street in Cambridge, we had the botanical gardens and I went in there the first day and just when you went through the entrance [snorts] on the right hand side there was this clump of bamboo and I couldn't believe it. That was the most beautiful clump of bamboo that I've ever seen in my life. I'm not exaggerating. And I kind of thought that isn't that what happens? Bamboo is such a beautiful plant. It's in most of the Chinese water colors you see in museums throughout the world. They always have a clump of bamboo there. If you look at the bamboo stems, they're slender and they have the little joints, the color changes and then the next stem and it gets thinner and thinner and as it does, it bends under its own weight as it curves through space and then you have its branches and leaves which are also very slender. And I'd always say from that time, please excuse me, I'm a monk. Sensuous, soft and slender, coming to a point. And I looked at that first clump of bamboo and it was incredibly beautiful. That I remember very easily. So much so that I just stared at it for about 10 or 15 minutes. When you see something which shocks you, which is really beautiful, you do end up just staring. But I had enough introspection to realize in those days, I think it was 1970, many students took drugs. I never did, but I thought if somebody sees me, [snorts] they call the police, have me arrested or tested or something and disturb my solitude. In those days I had hair and I tell people the hairstyle which I had was such a big curly hair on the outside. Very different than what I've got now. And that went all around the top of my head and where it finished that's where the beard started. Very thick beard. It was very useful to endure the cold. And when people asked what was it, it was like the donut look. You could see my face in the middle and around the outside was all hair. That kind of describes it. And so if someone had seen me and semi staring, you know, entranced by a clump of bamboo, they would have thought the wrong things. So what I did, I just there was a bench close by and just sat on that bench and stared at the clump of bamboo for as long as I could

## Teaching point

Real beauty stops the mind; memory keeps what joy touched.

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

On retreat as a Cambridge student, Ajahn Brahm stared for an hour at a clump of bamboo in the Botanic Garden, entranced by its beauty. Days later, without the retreat's stillness, the same clump looked ugly. Nothing had changed but his mind. Beauty is in the quiet eye. Calm the mind and the ordinary shines.

## Source

- [Effortless Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 30 October 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrxbtSV3gZ8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 13:54 to 17:57: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrxbtSV3gZ8&t=834s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Meditation - 16-05-2015 | with Ajahn Brahm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEf6zyDG2b4) (DhammalokaMeditation) — watch from 6:55 to 10:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEf6zyDG2b4&t=415s
- [2022 January (1/19) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSl9f1_vJNA) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 24:41 to 28:21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSl9f1_vJNA&t=1481s
- [4 Stillness Give Clarity & Energy - October 2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5jHE_LuK14) (BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & Media) — watch from 12:18 to 15:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5jHE_LuK14&t=738s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 17 January 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoBI3jvnQcI) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:20:40 to 1:21:20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoBI3jvnQcI&t=4840s