Story · Ajahn Brahm
“I always wanted to become a monk — but not now!”
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
I remember giving a simile like this earlier on when I was in Singapore giving a big talk to about 2000 people and at the end of the talk somebody asked a question, it wasn't much of a question, more like a comment, It was very much what I just said, they said to me how do you, you are a Buddhist monk how do you know what stress is. What you said may make sense in theory but in the real world where we do have to work so hard, it is much different, what do you know about stress, and then I told him what I had done that day in Singapore. Getting up at 4'o clock, how many of you get up at 4'o clock in the morning and you start working from the very beginning and that day I listed all the things which I had done that day, visiting people in hospital, doing work as the Spiritual Patron of the Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore and Director of the Brahm Centre, Singapore, that is overseas, this is not my core business, which is right here, all this stuff which I am doing, I gave hour by hour account of what I had done that day, and after I told what I've done that day, to say, "look I qualify, all the work which I do and get done, I qualify as someone who knows what I am talking about--working hard and dealing with stress". Then they came to the microphone afterwards and said Wow...I never realised how hard monks have to work in our modern world, he said you know, I always wanted to become a monk one day but not now...no..no..no !!
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 2:16 (to 4:04)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
Challenged that a monk couldn't know real-world stress, Ajahn Brahm listed his day from four in the morning, hospital visits included. The questioner decided he'd still like to ordain someday, just not yet. Hard work and stress aren't the same thing. The workload may be fixed, but the worry piled on top of it is something you can learn to set down.
In brief (our summary)
At a 2,000-strong talk in Singapore, a man challenges what a monk could know about real-world stress. Ajahn Brahm gives an hour-by-hour account of his day from 4 a.m. — hospital visits, patron and director duties, teaching. The man comes back to the microphone: he'd always wanted to become a monk one day, but not now!
Teaching point
Monks work very hard too — the point is working without stress.
When this story may help
- overwork
- assuming others have it easy
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Success Without Stress | by Ajahn Brahm | 24 February 2012 · 2012-03-01 · ▶ watch from 2:16 to 4:04 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
3 other tellings of this story
- How to React to Life | Ajahn Brahm | 30 June 2017 · 2017-06-30 · ▶ watch from 5:56 to 9:35 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJune 2017 telling: at the World Trade Centre, HarbourFront, about 2,000 people; interrupted mid-story by an online wedding blessing for 'Kevin' ('dehydrated holy water'); his day runs from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. of heavy work.
- Jealousy | by Ajahn Brahm | 15-11-2013 · 2013-11-17 · ▶ watch from 48:15 to 49:03 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2013 telling (Q&A on how to handle people who are jealous of you): his day from about 4 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m.; the questioner works in IT in Singapore.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 1 February 2020 · 2020-02-01 · ▶ watch from 2:42 to 3:48 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2020: Singapore real-world challenge — lists hard day; man: monk someday, not now.
Caption notes: Volunteer transcript: contains editorial annotations such as '(audience laughs)' and occasional misspellings ('bugler', 'tample'); kept as is.
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