# Cough straight away

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Analogy
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-cough-straight-away-volcano
- Themes: suppression, meditation, emotions, humour
- Life situations: suppressing feelings, group meditation

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Simile: if you feel like coughing while meditating, cough straight away. Suppress it, and when the cough finally comes it's like a volcano going off and disturbs everybody. So with suppressed desires.

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

The simile which I've often given, if anyone here is meditating, if you feel like coughing, please cough straight away, because if you don't cough straight away, and you suppress it, when you do cough it's like a volcano going off, and you just disturb everybody.

## Teaching point

What's suppressed without understanding explodes later.

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

Hold back a cough in the meditation hall and it erupts later like a volcano, disturbing everyone. Suppressed feelings work the same way. Covering things up or banning them doesn't solve much. Understanding how you relate to what you want, gently and honestly, does far more than clenching against it.

## Source

- [The Buddhist Attitude to Sensuality | Ajahn Brahm | 19-01-2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV1f4G-hiDw) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 6:28 to 6:52: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV1f4G-hiDw&t=388s