Joke · Ajahn Brahm

A terrible retreat — he only got the first jhāna

1 min read

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

this guy who came up to me once and said he's having a terrible retreat. He can only get into the first genre. He can't get into the second. This is crazy stuff. If you know what the jas are, there's deep meditation. You're blissing out. Just one janna is more than good enough

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 29:27 (to 29:52)

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

A retreatant complained his retreat was terrible: he could only reach the first deep meditation, not the second. Ajahn Brahm laughs; one is blissful enough. A complaining mind always wants more, at retreats and in life. Our homes are warmer than ever, yet never enough. Find contentment with what you have.

In brief (our summary)

A retreatant complains his retreat is terrible because he can only reach the first jhāna, not the second. Ajahn Brahm: one jhāna is more than good enough — a complaining mind always wants more.

Teaching point

Contentment beats spiritual greed; deep peace is already extraordinary.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in The Dangers of Complaining | Ajahn Brahm | 1 March 2024 · 2024-03-01 · ▶ watch from 29:27 to 29:52 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'genre'/'janna' = jhāna.

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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