Story · Ajahn Brahm
Complaining about the wall
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
when I was visiting my mother in London some years ago and I was just walking from her apartment to a temple to give a talk, and I passed these two young men waiting for a bus. And they were sitting on a wall. But unfortunately, the wall was not flat, it was round bricks on the top. And they were complaining: ‘They should not allow walls to be built like this, they should all be flat’. But my goodness! You can complain about anything, what's wrong with that? At least you've got somewhere to put your bum on, you don't have to stand! Yeah, it may not be flat, but it's good enough - what do you want, all the walls, the garden walls, to be upholstered with cushions and backrests for you? [laughter] But you find that even in an advanced country, you can always find some fault.
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 29:33 (to 30:34)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
Two young men at a London bus stop complained that the wall they sat on had rounded bricks instead of flat ones. At least it's somewhere to sit, thought Ajahn Brahm. Do we want upholstered garden walls? Fault-finding becomes a habit, at work and at home. Notice it, and enjoy what you've got.
In brief (our summary)
Walking from his mother's flat in London to give a talk, Ajahn Brahm passed two young men waiting for a bus, sitting on a wall topped with rounded bricks and complaining that walls shouldn't be allowed to be built like that — they should all be flat. At least you've got somewhere to put your bum, he thought; do you want garden walls upholstered with cushions and backrests?
Teaching point
The fault-finding mind is an addiction; you can complain about anything.
When this story may help
- habitual complaining
- negativity
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Dealing with addictions | by Ajahn Brahm | 19 June 2015 · 2015-06-22 · ▶ watch from 29:33 to 30:34 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is.
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