# Monastery waiting list — want to be here

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-monastery-waiting-list-want-to-be-here
- Themes: freedom, monastery life, prison, contentment
- Life situations: dissatisfaction, prison, work

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Prisoner asks what monastery life is like; routine is far more austere than WA prison, yet there is a waiting list to get in and a waiting list to get out of prison. Only difference between incarceration and freedom: do you want to be here?

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

Staying in a monastery is much tougher than staying in a prison. But there's always a waiting list of people trying to get into a monastery. There's a waiting list that the people trying to get out of a prison. Why? And the only reason why is that a prison is where people do not want to be. A monastery is where they do want to be

## Teaching point

Freedom is wanting to be where you are; hate the place and you built a prison.

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

A prisoner asked about monastery life. It's stricter than prison, Ajahn Brahm said, yet people queue to get into monasteries and queue to get out of prisons. The only difference is whether you want to be there. A hated job, a hard relationship or an aching body can feel like a prison. Want to be here, and the walls dissolve.

## Source

- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 31 May 2025](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBLYXjIpKg) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 5:57 to 6:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBLYXjIpKg&t=357s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Empat Cara Melepaskan | Ajahn Brahm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLG1hr7Zn0U) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 31:10 to 33:15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLG1hr7Zn0U&t=1870s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 5 February 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTw4Y0hm8A) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 7:47 to 9:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTw4Y0hm8A&t=467s