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Analogy · Ajahn Brahm

Club Med versus Club Meditation

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Meditation is stillness, not concentration | Ajahn Brahm

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

This is not a concentration camp, this is a stillness, it's the happy camp. It is much more like Club Med than a concentration camp It is Club Med. And what do I mean by that? Club Meditation Serpentine

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 0:58 (to 1:15)

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

Someone showed Ajahn Brahm a holiday-resort schedule crammed with yoga, scuba and nightclubs; he felt tired just reading it. Why does a holiday need so much doing? A retreat is the real getaway: good food, a bed, peace and quiet. Rest doesn't have to be earned. Let calm people carry you into it.

In brief (our summary)

Someone shows him a Club Med holiday schedule packed with yoga, scuba, activities and a nightclub — exhausting. He contrasts it with 'Club Meditation' at Serpentine, where the point is to get away from it all into peace and quiet.

Teaching point

A real holiday is rest, not more busyness with a different backdrop.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Meditation is stillness, not concentration | Ajahn Brahm · 2018-10-15 · ▶ watch from 0:58 to 1:15 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

3 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: Manual / edited captions; 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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