Story · Ajahn Brahm
I'd rather die in the monastery — 25 more years
Content note: death; illness; cancer
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
there was a famous monk who was in the main hospital being supported by the king of Thailand. All expenses paid. and was dying of cancer. You know what happens sometimes? A doctor says, "There's nothing more we can do." "So what do you do?" He said, "Well, there's nothing more I can do," said this monk. "I'd rather die in the monastery where I spent so many years." It was on the Marong River in the north of Thailand, a beautiful monastery. So he said, "If I'm going to die, I'd rather die there than in hospital." So they took him back to his monastery. 25 years later was when he died. 25 years of extra life
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 6:39 (to 7:30)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
Told nothing more could be done for his cancer, a famous Thai monk asked to die at his beloved riverside monastery instead of in hospital. He lived another twenty-five years. Peace and happiness matter. Doctors can be wrong, Ajahn Brahm notes, though that's no reason to refuse care. Let the dying be where they feel at home.
In brief (our summary)
Famous monk in Thai royal hospital, told nothing more can be done for cancer, asks to die at his Mae Hong Son / north monastery. Taken home; dies 25 years later — peace lengthened life.
Teaching point
Place and peace can rewrite a prognosis.
When this story may help
- illness
- end of life
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Helping Others with Empathy | Ajahn Brahm | 2 June 2023 · 2023-06-02 · ▶ watch from 6:39 to 7:30 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
2 other tellings of this story
- Peace at Christmas Time | Ajahn Brahm | 18 Dec 2015 · 2015-12-19 · ▶ watch from 9:25 to 10:14 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaDec 2015: holy monk released with incurable cancer; chooses monastery over Bangkok hospital; dies ~21 years later (other tellings ~25).
- Faith and Relics | Ajahn Brahm | 9 January 2026 · 2026-01-10 · ▶ watch from 6:00 to 6:40 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJan 2026 Faith&Relics: Ajahn Tate — royal hospital cancer; prefers die at Mekong monastery; dies 25 years later.
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'Marong River' = Mae Hong Son / Mae Rong area as captioned.
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