Story · Ajahn Brahm
The 18-hour flight delay
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
And just was it in January, when I was going off to Indonesia to give a series of talks I got to Perth airport and found that the Garuda flight was cancelled. It was actually delayed by about 18 hours. And I was a monk so I just went up to the counter and said, "Oh is it delayed? When is it going to leave? 18 hours. Okay, thank you very much," and I sort-of called the monastery and got a lift back to the monastery. But the people behind me they were thumping the counter - "You can't do this to us! I've got all of these arrangements and plans!" I had arrangements and plans as well - thousands of people were waiting to listen to my talks. But I couldn't do anything about it. And you know all that anger and all that thumping and all that shouting.. it didn't make the plane leave earlier. It didn't do anything good at all except making people upset. Themselves upset, and other people upset.
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 27:37 (to 28:44)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
An eighteen-hour delay, and he simply said thank you and went back to the monastery while others thumped the counter. The plane didn't leave a minute earlier for all that shouting. When something can't be changed, anger only adds a second problem. Save your energy for what you can actually do; the people at the desk will thank you too.
In brief (our summary)
Ajahn Brahm's flight to Indonesia is delayed 18 hours; he thanks the desk and goes back to the monastery, while the passengers behind him thump the counter — which does not make the plane leave any sooner.
Teaching point
“So really what is the use of anger?”
When this story may help
- travel delays
- things beyond your control
- road rage
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Dealing with Emotions | Ajahn Brahm | 15-06-2007 · 2007-06-20 · ▶ watch from 27:37 to 28:44 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
6 other tellings of this story
- On the Other Side of Anger | by Ajahn Brahm | 31-05-2013 · 2013-06-01 · ▶ watch from 50:48 to 51:40 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaMay 2013 telling: the delay is given as 24 hours (earlier telling: about 18 hours, in January); adds the joke that it was the bird-flu epidemic and 'Garuda is a bird'.
- Contentment | Ajahn Brahm | 11 Mar 2016 · 2016-03-11 · ▶ watch from 23:51 to 24:41 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia2016 telling: 24 hours; his talk that night had to be cancelled; he says shouting at the counter staff is 'really cruel to them' and his response was 'Oh great, I got another day in Perth.'
- Flowing with Uncertainty | Ajahn Brahm | 23 April 2021 · 2021-04-23 · ▶ watch from 37:15 to 37:55 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaApr 2021 telling: Indonesia talks; angry businessman pounds desk at Garuda delay; later — volcano/nature/bird-flu gag; relationship to disappointment.
- Lower Your Expectations | Ajahn Brahm | 24 Nov 2017 · 2017-11-24 · ▶ watch from 3:16 to 5:22 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2017 telling: flight CANCELLED (not delayed); no phone/money/cards; others bang the counter and get sore hands; he borrows a phone, returns to monastery, jokes the plane had bird flu (Garuda = bird). Same Garuda-airport family as earlier delayed telling.
- The Value of Trust | Ajahn Brahm | 10 Feb 2017 · 2017-02-10 · ▶ watch from 6:45 to 7:41 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2017 telling: Perth Airport Garuda cancelled; no money for return taxi; hungry morning — does not lose trust; keeps spare cash afterwards.
- Resilience and Valentine's Day | Ajahn Brahm | 15 February 2019 · 2019-02-15 · ▶ watch from 36:11 to 37:12 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2019: Garuda cancelled 24h — bird-flu joke; Qantas bumps because flying kangaroo.
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