Story · Ajahn Brahm
Ajahn Chah stopped breathing — medic takes blood samples
Content note: stroke; near-death framing; medical
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
stopped breathing and the medic on duty you know because the king of Thailand he the uh the former King he sort of paid for a medic to be on duty eight hour shifts and the medical Duty that night got freaked out when agent Charles stopped breathing and now I leave him alone he's only meditating he said no he's not breathing that's death if you don't do something quick there's no Oxygen going to the brain you get permanent break and he's already got Strokes I don't know what more you can do but he will die and so freaking out and it's very hard for monks to explain to doctors you know what's really happening and this was like a very highly trained medic and he was paranoid you know you get in trouble with the king of Thailand if you're the agent child die so they came to this wonderful compromise it was very interesting he wasn't breathing for a couple of hours so the medic would take blood sample
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 1:10:05 (to 1:11:11)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
After Ajahn Chah's stroke, a royal medic panicked when he stopped breathing for hours. The monks said he was meditating. They compromised: frequent blood tests showed plenty of oxygen, so he was left in peace, still warm. Ajahn Brahm jokes: don't take my organs while I'm meditating. Stillness can be deeper than we understand.
In brief (our summary)
After Ajahn Chah's stroke, a royal medic freaks when Chah stops breathing for hours. Monks say he's meditating. Compromise: frequent blood samples stay well oxygenated while he remains warm — so they leave him in the jhana-like stop.
Teaching point
Stillness can look like death to someone who only measures breath.
When this story may help
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 18 March 2017 · 2017-03-18 · ▶ watch from 1:10:05 to 1:11:11 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
3 other tellings of this story
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 3 June 2023 · 2023-06-03 · ▶ watch from 1:09:37 to 1:11:05 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJun 2023 guided Q&A: Chah stops breathing; medic freaks; oxygenated blood compromise.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 13 February 2021 · 2021-02-13 · ▶ watch from 1:14:38 to 1:16:07 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2021: Chah post-stroke stops breathing — medic takes blood samples; still oxygenated.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 4 July 2026 · 2026-07-04 · ▶ watch from 1:36:02 to 1:36:46 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJul 2026: post-stroke Chah stops breathing in jhāna; medic won't risk upsetting the king.
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'agent Charles'/'Charles' = Ajahn Chah 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