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Story · Ajahn Brahm

Where's the bog then?

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Energy in our Body and Mind from Inspiration | Ajahn Brahm | 2 November 2018

1 min read

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

One of these friends who was lived next door to me in the student accommodation from Ukraine, but he was actually from from Leeds, Yorkshireman. And as soon as he went into Cambridge University, Emmanuel College, the first thing he said when he arrived was, where's the bog then? If you understand, where's the toilet? But he said it in such a thick accent they looked at him and said, where are you from? You know, what sort of planet are you from?

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 57:24 (to 58:01)

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

A Yorkshireman arriving at a grand Cambridge college asked in a thick accent, 'Where's the bog then?' People stared as if he came from another planet. Ajahn Brahm prefers the American word: restroom. When you're tired or stressed, that's exactly where to go. Find a quiet corner and rest your mind for a while.

In brief (our summary)

Ajahn Brahm's Cambridge neighbour, a Yorkshireman from Leeds (he says 'from Ukraine' then corrects), arrives at Emmanuel College and asks in a thick accent 'Where's the bog then?' — meaning the toilet — and is stared at as if from another planet.

Teaching point

(Warm-up for the US 'restroom' meditation advice that follows.)

When this story may help

  • arriving somewhere new

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Energy in our Body and Mind from Inspiration | Ajahn Brahm | 2 November 2018 · 2018-11-02 · ▶ watch from 57:24 to 58:01 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; 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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