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Story · Ajahn Brahm

The meditator taken to hospital as dead

As told by Ajahn Brahm in What Happens After You Die? | Ajahn Brahm | 08-04-2011

1 min read

Content note: extraordinary claim (told as true)

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

this was a person who got into such a deep meditation at home I'll tell it very briefly that his wife was concerned he died and so called the ambulance and it got taken to S Charles Garden the hospital it was on a weekend he was just an ordinary person meditating in his bedroom he was meditating for too long and his wife checked him up could find no signs of life so call the ambulance ambulance could find no signs of life so took him to Charlie Gardner's hospital where they put ECG and EEG on him both were flat the guy had died at least so the instrument said now ECG there was no heartbeat for long time EEG no brain activity the brain was not working and he was just in a meditation I told the story elsewhere so I won't elaborate on it after giving him defibrillators and many electric shocks nothing worked but eventually he came out of his meditation he just decided I've had enough now I come out just like you do and as soon as he came out of meditation both machines worked perfectly ECG and EEG started beeping in the proper way and he felt fine he just wondered what the hell he was doing in hospital he was in his bedroom and gave him a quick uh uh sort of check over the doctor nothing wrong with the guy so he actually went home he walked home and obviously didn't live that far away from s charar g Hospital in Netherlands he walked back home he was that fit but during that whole time he was perfectly alert perfectly conscious but not of his uh body or his surroundings he was deep inside so he's having a wonderful time one of the best experiences of his life

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 25:20 (to 27:05)

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

As Ajahn Brahm tells it, a Perth meditator went so deep that paramedics and doctors thought he had died; then he came out, felt fine and walked home. It's an extraordinary claim, told as true, and not medical evidence. The gentler point is that deep stillness is described as wonderfully peaceful, and that peace may be closer than we think.

In brief (our summary)

A member of the Perth community meditates so deeply at home that his wife finds no signs of life; paramedics and hospital doctors find a flat ECG and EEG and shocks do nothing — until he simply comes out of meditation, the machines beep normally, and he walks home, having had one of the best experiences of his life.

Teaching point

In very deep meditation the body and brain can go quiet while awareness remains blissfully alert.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in What Happens After You Die? | Ajahn Brahm | 08-04-2011 · 2011-04-09 · ▶ watch from 25:20 to 27:05 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

7 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: 'S Charles Garden' / 'Charlie Gardner's' / 's charar g Hospital' = Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth (mis-hearings; not changed). Captions read 'in Netherlands' near the end — apparently a slip or mis-hearing; the hospital is in Perth. Not changed.

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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