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Story · Ajahn Brahm

Free beer — and the beer-garden roof fell in

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Word of the Buddha (part 2) | Ajahn Brahm | 8 January 2017

1 min read

Content note: death; alcohol

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

he was at a beer-garden. The beer-garden was set around a house somewhere in the beautiful countryside of Germany and they would make the beer there, they'd sell it, and they had all the places on the outside, little benches and tables, where you go with your friends and have some beer and a really good time. They still have those beer gardens in Germany today, but maybe not as rustic as in his day. And he was with some friends having a few beers, having a good laugh, a nice time with his mates, and then the house in which the beer was made and sold caught fire - there was a fire in the cellar. Oh no - it was actually higher up I remember him telling me, and the owners of the beer garden house ran out, and a lot of his friends - young men and young women ran into the house for free beer, and when they ran into the house for the free beer, the top storey of the house collapsed and killed all of his friends

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 31:09 (to 32:21)

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

In his German youth, Nyanaponika saw a burning brewery collapse on friends who had run in for free beer; many died. That shock kept him a monk for life. Worldly happiness is uncertain. When life doesn't go as you planned, Ajahn Brahm says well done: it's teaching you something deeper.

In brief (our summary)

Nyanaponika as a young man in Germany: beer-garden brewery catches fire; friends run in for free beer; the house collapses and many are killed — a formative shock that kept him on the path.

Teaching point

Chasing a cheap thrill can cost everything when the roof comes down.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Word of the Buddha (part 2) | Ajahn Brahm | 8 January 2017 · 2017-01-08 · ▶ watch from 31:09 to 32:21 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly 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

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