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Story · Ajahn Brahm

He ran for the camera and missed the Himalayas

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Power Of Slience | Ajahn Brahm | 11 May 2018

2 min read

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

we found out there was the post truck. The post truck would actually deliver letters from Kathmandu, the center, over to the the Tibetan border. And you know, you what is you know, it wasn't we supposed to do this, but the post driver to get a few extra uh rupees would allow a couple of um travelers to go in the back of the post bus, you know, and take them to the Tibetan border then come back again. So, it was a really nice little trip. And so, halfway up there, stopped for tea and then there was a little hill, not a big hill. Took about half an hour to get up. We climbed up or maybe 20 minutes. Climbed up the hill and as soon as you got to the top of the hill, the clouds parted. And you could see the the clear range of the Himalaya mountains from far left to the far right. It was an amazing sight. You know what I did? I ran down the hill to get my camera. I don't know why I did this. Totally stupid. And as you know, fast as I possibly could, I was much fitter and much thinner in those days. Ran down, got the camera out of my little bag, ran back up again and as soon as I got to the top of the the the hill, I could just see just the clouds came up and closed. Just maybe 10 seconds. And then there's a there's another uh couple of travelers there, Americans. They were just They were not smiling. They were just sitting down there just enjoying. And they said, "Where did you go?" And I missed everything and I never saw those Himalayas for the whole trip, 3 months. That was my one chance and I missed it because I wanted to capture it. And to me, there were some things in life you can never capture. And thank you, I learned my lesson there. It was worth it. Later on, you see the Himalayas. But this time, I missed them because I tried to capture them

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 30:20 (to 32:29)

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

For one moment in Nepal the clouds parted on the whole Himalayan range, and Ajahn Brahm ran for his camera. When he got back, they'd closed for the rest of his three months. Some things can't be captured. Trying to grab an experience, with a lens or a label, can make you miss it. Just look.

In brief (our summary)

On a monsoon trip near Kathmandu he hitch-rides a post truck toward the Tibetan border, climbs a small hill, and for once the clouds part on the full Himalayan range. He races down for his camera, runs back up — and the clouds close; Americans who stayed put ask where he went. He never saw the Himalayas again that whole three-month trip.

Teaching point

Trying to capture the moment can make you miss it entirely.

When this story may help

  • missing the moment
  • phone addiction
  • travel disappointment

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Power Of Slience | Ajahn Brahm | 11 May 2018 · 2018-05-11 · ▶ watch from 30:20 to 32:29 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

3 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, 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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