Story · Ajahn Brahm
The guard who fell asleep
Content note: prison security incident; captions garbled at the climax
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
the only time when it was really bad when somebody was snoring was when I was teaching meditation in uh in the prison once, in a high-security prison. And because it was a high-security It's the one one in Canning Vale, I think it's called Acacia now. Is it Acacia? Or whatever. Anyway, they keep on changing the names. But anyway, that when I was teaching in there, because it was high-security prison, you had to have a prison officer with you at all times. So, he had to come in my meditation group. So, as I was teaching meditation, even the prison officer, you know, he was just Well, he's hearing it, so he decided to close his eyes and start meditating as well. And of course, he was the one who started snoring. And it's a very good job I opened my eyes to check because as he was snoring, one of the prison officers, his hand was maybe about 1 in from the keys. [laughter] And I said, "Oh, well, let's look at the prisoner." And he did the Oh. [laughter] So, that's where I the prison officer up. So, there are times when you shouldn't snore.
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 20:44 (to 21:59)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
Teaching meditation in a high-security prison, Ajahn Brahm heard the guard start snoring, opened his eyes, and saw a prisoner's hand an inch from the keys. He woke the officer gently. Usually dozing off in meditation is nothing to fret over. Just don't be hard on yourself; be wise about the times that matter.
In brief (our summary)
Teaching meditation in a high-security prison at Canning Vale, Ajahn Brahm must have a prison officer in the room. The officer closes his eyes to meditate too — and starts snoring. Opening his eyes to check, Ajahn Brahm sees a prisoner's hand about an inch from the officer's keys. 'Let's look at the prisoner,' he says, and wakes the officer. There are times when you shouldn't snore.
Teaching point
A comic counterpoint: falling asleep is usually fine — but not always.
When this story may help
- prison ministry
- responsibility at work
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Learn to Not Blame Yourself | Ajahn Brahm | 25 May 2018 · 2018-05-25 · ▶ watch from 20:44 to 21:59 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
8 other tellings of this story
- How to be Free | Ajahn Brahm | 26 November 2021 · 2021-11-26 · ▶ watch from 38:02 to 39:04 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2021 telling: seven or eight prisoners in a small room; the hand reaching for the keys belongs to Nick, who later appears in the Karnet schoolchildren's-cards story.
- Death and Grief | Ajahn Brahm | 30 November 2018 · 2018-11-30 · ▶ watch from 11:07 to 11:40 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2018 telling: top-security prison; officer must stay; soft teaching voice puts officer to sleep — Brahm hears snoring near the keys.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 4 March 2017 · 2017-03-04 · ▶ watch from 1:36 to 2:15 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaMar 2017: top-security class — officer snores; prisoner almost on the keys.
- Friday Night Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 30 November 2018 · 2018-12-03 · ▶ watch from 0:39 to 1:22 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2018 Friday: top-security — officer snores; prisoner almost on the keys.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 23 April 2016 · 2016-04-23 · ▶ watch from 1:08:25 to 1:09:10 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaApr 2016: Canning Vale top-security — officer snores; prisoner reaching for keys.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 9 December 2017 · 2017-12-09 · ▶ watch from 1:05 to 1:25 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaDec 2017: high-security — officer snores; prisoner's hand near keys until Brahm opens eyes.
- 2022 October (12/18) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm · 2022-11-18 · ▶ watch from 17:18 to 18:31 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaOct 2022: first a prisoner snores and accuses the others; then it is the Canning Vale officer who has fallen asleep, and a prisoner already has a hand out for the keys when Brahm opens his eyes.
- 2023 April (1/19) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm · 2023-04-06 · ▶ watch from 22:56 to 24:02 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaCanning Vale: officer falls asleep during a sit with six prisoners; a student's hand is about an inch from the keys.
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions (machine-punctuated); words left exactly as captioned. 'his hand' (a prisoner's, as context implies) and 'So, that's where I the prison officer up' 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