# Drunken karaoke on Christmas night in Penang

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-penang-christmas-karaoke
- Themes: alcohol, consideration, humour, inhibitions
- Life situations: noisy neighbours, parties, sleep deprivation

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Teaching a retreat in Penang, Ajahn Brahm is kept awake on Christmas night by a karaoke party across the road. Fine, he says — but by midnight, drunk, the singers think they're Frank Sinatra and sound 'like a wild dog with a sore throat', while monks who must teach next day try to sleep.

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

karaoke party. My god, that was suffering. And I've been teaching all day, I was tired, I wanted to rest and people were singing this karaoke. And if ever you… that’s the first time I've heard karaoke. What you do first of all – you have to be drunk first of all. And then they think they can sing like Frank Sinatra or like, you know, Barbra Streisand or something – and they can't! And it's out of tune, they forget the words, it's screaming, and it's… If you're drunk, you don't notice it, but for sober people like me, like monks, it was such suffering! And it didn't finish ‘till about one o'clock, I forgot what the time it was, and then I get up early in the morning so I didn't get much sleep that night. But I realized that if ever… the worst type of hell in the whole world will be the karaoke hell

## Teaching point

Some inhibitions are worth keeping, out of compassion for others.

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

Kept awake on Christmas night in Penang by drunken karaoke, Ajahn Brahm decided the worst hell must be karaoke hell. Then he turned the joke: nobody sends us to our hells; we sentence ourselves because we think we deserve punishment. You are allowed to walk out, and allowed to be happy.

## Source

- [Is There Heaven and Hell | Ajahn Brahm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1hpbTvvkAM) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:48 to 2:47: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1hpbTvvkAM&t=108s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Sex and Booze | Ajahn Brahm | 01-07-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQfkUXfx4Y) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 13:48 to 14:55: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQfkUXfx4Y&t=828s
- [New Year's Eve with Ajahn Brahm | 31 December 2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk6GJ499J5k) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 20:54 to 22:18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk6GJ499J5k&t=1254s