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Story · Ajahn Brahm

From Perth Airport uncertainty to a Rolls-Royce in Armadale

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Uncertainty | Ajahn Brahm | 6 November 2020

1 min read

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

arrived at perth airport i knew he was coming sometime but he didn't tell me the day he was coming or the time he was coming he said he just wanted to just try just living with uncertainty and see what happens so he arrived at perth airport no one to pick him up no money or credit card or anything just started walking and i think he got to about 50 meters outside outside of the the the doors and someone stopped him in the car hey you're a mug where you going and so he said i'm going to certain time i'll give you a lift who needs taxis and you've got this lift all the way there so living with uncertainty he was actually also the mark had mentioned this story to someone today he was also the monk he was scheduled to give a talk at one of our groups which is in armadale in the armadale group and he was inviting down the monastery and that we had a very wealthy sri lankan man came to say hello and he came in a rolls royce so i think it's the only time we've seen the rolls-royce and burning down the monastery and so then it was on a tuesday afternoon and we said oh this month's got to go to the um the armadale group this evening would you like to give him a lift so he said yeah i can give him a lift so armada as many of you may know is a low socio-economic area and so it was really quite a first for a month to arrive at this group in a rolls royce and they never let him forget that is that taking a lift it's not mine anyway

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 31:54 (to 33:49)

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

A visiting monk arrived in Perth unannounced, walked fifty metres, and got a lift to the monastery; later he arrived at a modest suburban group in a Rolls-Royce. They never let him forget it. Ajahn Brahm says his monastery grew the same way, a day at a time. You don't need every plan. See what happens next.

In brief (our summary)

A visiting monk arrived at Perth Airport without saying which day, started walking, and within ~50 metres got a lift to Serpentine. The same monk later rode to the Armadale group in a wealthy Sri Lankan's Rolls-Royce — the low-income suburb never let him forget it.

Teaching point

Living without fixed plans can still (hilariously) deliver luxury and kindness.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Uncertainty | Ajahn Brahm | 6 November 2020 · 2020-11-06 · ▶ watch from 31:54 to 33:49 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'burning down'/'mug'/'armada' as captioned (Bodhinyana; monk; Armadale).

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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