# The letter that wouldn't come

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-difficult-letter-meditate-first
- Themes: creativity, work, meditation, rest
- Life situations: writer's block, difficult emails, work stress

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Tired one morning, Ajahn Brahm struggles at the computer over a very difficult letter about a published book — every draft seems wrong. So he stops, goes to meditate, takes a shower, comes back, and a beautiful letter comes out.

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

that I had to write a very difficult letter (this is about a book which was published). And this morning I was a little bit tired, and so, when I was trying to write that letter - have you ever had that experience, you're on the computer, you’re trying to write a letter, it just doesn't come out. You're writing, ‘that doesn't seem good, that doesn't seem good, that doesn't seem good’. You're wasting so much time. And again, just as I taught many of you, if you're in the office, at work, you've got some report to write, some letter to write, some really sensitive letter to write, and it doesn't come out, then stop. And go meditate. That's exactly what I did. Went off to meditate, took a shower, went back to the computer and a beautiful letter came out

## Teaching point

When work won't flow, stop and rest; creativity comes from a relaxed mind.

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

Every draft of a tricky letter came out wrong, so Ajahn Brahm stopped, meditated, had a shower, and came back to write it beautifully in one go. When work won't flow, pushing harder rarely helps. Step away, rest, and let a relaxed mind do what a tense one couldn't.

## Source

- [Give Yourself Peace, Kindness and Forgiveness | Ajahn Brahm | 29 January 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PPWbmzp6M) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 20:08 to 20:56: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PPWbmzp6M&t=1208s