# The best boarding-house cook in England

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-cambridge-retreat-food-tasted-better
- Themes: meditation, mindfulness, perception
- Life situations: first retreat, dull routine, low expectations

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

At 19, dreading the 'stodge, stodge and stodge' of a Cambridge boarding house, Ajahn Brahm goes on his first nine-day retreat — and every evening the food is delicious. He thought he'd got the best cook in England; now he knows the food was ordinary and his meditating mind was simply more alive to taste.

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

One of the first times I realized this in my practice of meditation was the very first meditation retreat which I gave which I uh participated in. I was still a student only 19 years of age and a few of us hired a boarding house about two or three boarding houses in Cambridge. It's amazing when you've got good meditation. It was in Baitman Street in Cambridge. That's maybe 39 years ago. Haven't thought of that name for such a long time. It's amazing when you meditate your memory gets incredibly strong. You remember details a long time ago clearly in those boarding houses of Bman Street. We meditated for 9 days. But before I went on that boarding house retreat, I did it with some trepidation cuz I like my food. And I knew as a fact already the cooks in England were somewhere in the bottom of the league of European cuisine. Apparently cooking in UK has improved since those years. But the English were not known for their cooking. Now, at the bottom of the pile of cooks were those who worked in boarding houses for poor students who couldn't afford to complain. And I knew from experience that these cooks would usually every evening cook a three course meal. Stod, stodge, and stodge. Doesn't matter what vegetable it was, it was boiled so long it tasted the same. And if you know England in those years, you would know what I'm talking about. So I thought I'm going to have a terrible time in this retreat with food. It's just going to be really awful. But I was surprised during that period of retreat. Every evening the food was delicious. It was very tasty. At the time I thought I just must be lucky. My good karmas meant we've got the best boarding house cook in the whole of England. Now I know much better. The food was just ordinary food. But because I was practicing meditation, because I was becoming still, my mind was increasing in energy. So much so that the small amount of taste which was left in there, I could pick up. And now I know for a fact that whenever you go on a retreat, the food always tastes better than normal. Doesn't matter who the cook is, cuz it's not the food or the cook, it's your mind.

## Teaching point

Stillness energises mindfulness, so ordinary experience becomes richer.

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

Dreading boarding-house stodge, young Ajahn Brahm went on his first retreat and thought he'd found the best cook in England. The food was ordinary; his mind had come alive. Meditate before an expensive dinner, he jokes, and get your money's worth. A still mind makes everyday life taste richer.

## Source

- [Building a House of Peace | Ajahn Brahm | 13-04-2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxK7iqG2XQA) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 14:20 to 17:35: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxK7iqG2XQA&t=860s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 5 November 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnvhZM8bIW4) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:17:22 to 1:18:25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnvhZM8bIW4&t=4642s
- [3 Establishing Mindfulness & Feedback November 2012](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ukgveU3Ej8) (BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & Media) — watch from 21:03 to 22:55: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ukgveU3Ej8&t=1263s