# “Fear killed twenty thousand”

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-plague-demon-fear-killed
- Themes: fear, illness, panic
- Life situations: health anxiety, pandemic fear, serious diagnosis

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Plague demons meet in a forest clearing to compare tolls: one killed 1,000 in Paris, another 2,000 in London; the third says he killed only about 50 in Frankfurt — “but fear killed 20,000.”

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

I remember reading that in a great story by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Mask of the Red Death," only a short story. I remember it was a story about the plagues which hit Europe during the Middle Ages, which devastated 20%, 30%, 40% of the population of cities. And then this little scene from the play... there were the demons, the devils who were supposed to be spreading this plague, and they met together in a clearing in the forest, and one asked the other, "You've been to Paris, how many people did you kill there?" "1,000." "You've been to London, how many you kill there?" "2,000." "You've been to some other city, Frankfurt, how many killed there?" "I only killed about 50, but fear killed 20,000.

## Teaching point

Fear often kills more than the disease itself.

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

In this old tale, a plague demon killed fifty and fear killed twenty thousand. The link to Poe is doubtful, and it isn't a medical statistic. Still, panic can lead us into worse choices than the danger itself. When frightening news comes, take a breath, find good information, and let calm, not fear, choose your next step.

## Source

- [The Attitude Of Fearlessness | Ajahn Brahm | 21-11-2008](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj2H1sDwG-o) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 29:13 to 30:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj2H1sDwG-o&t=1753s

Other tellings of this story:

- [How to deal with chronic pain | Ajahn Brahm | 04-07-2014](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As9jmZBCUWU) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 49:49 to 51:39: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As9jmZBCUWU&t=2989s
- [Relax. Everything's out of control! | by Ajahn Brahm | 26 June 2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY6Q-OnMTEE) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 21:46 to 23:12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY6Q-OnMTEE&t=1306s
- [Being Afraid | Ajahn Brahm | 16 March 2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYHTHj4PGPU) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 55:42 to 56:37: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYHTHj4PGPU&t=3342s
- [Courage | Ajahn Brahm | 8 Jul 2016](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKlatq90npY) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 29:51 to 31:12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKlatq90npY&t=1791s