Being Mindful Stories

Analogy · Ajahn Brahm

If you understand, you can explain it to the barmaid

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Why not Us? | Ajahn Brahm | 18-02-2011

1 min read

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

there was this very powerful quote by one of the most famous Quantum physicists Vera Heisenberg which even if you weren't a physicist everybody knows Heisenberg by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle you know at least I think you do anyway but you also know that quantum physics is incredibly complicated but this man he's quoted as saying if you really understand quantum physics if you really understand it you can explain it to the bar girl serving you a pint of beer in the pub and she will understand it so if you really understand Nana or God you'll be able to to explain it to somebody serving you beer in a nightclub and they will understand in other words if what you say is Goble cook it means you don't understand so when I gave up Christianity and became a Buddhist

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 6:02 (to 7:12)

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

Heisenberg is said to have claimed that if you truly understand quantum physics, you can explain it to the barmaid. When monks told young Ajahn Brahm enlightenment was ineffable, he figured they didn't know either. So he puts it plainly: the end of craving, happy just to be here. Real understanding sounds simple.

In brief (our summary)

Heisenberg (via Brahm): if you really understand quantum physics you can explain it to the bar girl serving a pint — and she will understand. Same test for Nibbana: if it's gobbledygook, you don't understand it yet.

Teaching point

Real understanding is simple enough to share over a pint.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Why not Us? | Ajahn Brahm | 18-02-2011 · 2011-02-20 · ▶ watch from 6:02 to 7:12 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'Vera Heisenberg' = Werner Heisenberg; 'Goble cook' = gobbledygook; 'Nana' = Nibbana.

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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