# “If only my house were this small”

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-if-only-my-house-were-this-small
- Themes: simplicity, time, possessions
- Life situations: housework overload, mortgage stress, downsizing

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Showing a visiting local women's group his small monastery hut, Ajahn Brahm hears one woman say with envy: “Wow, if only my house were this small, I'd get all my housework done in half an hour.”

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

And I still remember about ten years ago taking a group of women who were visiting the monastery, it was a local women's group who wanted to do weird things on an afternoon and had never been to the monastery and that qualified being weird, and when I took them to see my hut my room, I always remember one of the girls turning around to me and saying 'wow if only my house were this small I get all my house work done in half an hour'.

## Teaching point

Big houses cost time — to pay for and to maintain; simplicity gives freedom.

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

Seeing his tiny monastery hut, a visitor sighed that she'd finish her housework in half an hour if her home were that size. A big house asks for a big mortgage and endless cleaning. You needn't move into a cave, but each extra room, gadget or upgrade costs time. Choosing a little less can hand back your evenings.

## Source

- [The Secret | Ajahn Brahm | 30 Dec 2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e-y1Xn4N8Q) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 17:05 to 17:41: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e-y1Xn4N8Q&t=1025s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Outer Space and Inner Space | Ajahn Brahm | 02-01-2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gpSRsg2ixQ) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 13:11 to 14:24: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gpSRsg2ixQ&t=791s
- [Justice | Ajahn Brahm | 14-10-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mACT5JL4qNI) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 14:01 to 15:03: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mACT5JL4qNI&t=841s
- [Changing Climate Change | Ajahn Brahm | 10-01-2014](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk4_BiXb7Wk) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 31:25 to 31:48: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk4_BiXb7Wk&t=1885s