Being Mindful Stories

Analogy · Ajahn Brahm

Stop the train as it leaves the station

As told by Ajahn Brahm in The Buddhist Attitude to Sensuality | Ajahn Brahm | 19-01-2007

1 min read

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

What mindfulness does is like trying to stop a train. When a train has left the station, it's going 110 kilometers an hour down the track with so much weight behind it. If the train driver tries to stops and put on the breaks because there's an obstruction on the road or on the rails in front of it, sometimes you just can't do that. It's going too fast and the momentum is too strong. A train going that fast takes maybe half a kilometer to come to a halt which is why that sometimes there are these terrible crashes when a car crosses the railway line. The driver sees it but it's going too fast to stop. This is what happens when we try to catch our lust or whatever, our anger, when it's a bit too late. It's gone too fast, the momentum is too strong, we can't stop it straight away. Many of you know that when you're in the power of lust, you can't stop just straightaway. You just can't say no I'm going to stop now. It's like a train just trying to pull on the breaks and stop immediately, it just cannot be done. But the best time to stop the train is when it's first moving out of the station. It's maybe going at one kilometer an hour and then you can put on the break, it's easy to stop it.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 22:27 (to 23:51)

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

A train at full speed needs half a kilometre to stop; leaving the station, a light touch on the brake will do. Lust and anger are the same. Once they've built up momentum, you're no longer in control. Notice the first stirrings, and stop there while it's still easy.

In brief (our summary)

Simile: a train going 110 km/h with all its weight can't stop for an obstruction — it takes half a kilometre, which is why there are crashes at level crossings. Catching lust or anger when it's in full flow is like that. The best time to stop the train is as it leaves the station at one kilometre an hour; then the brake works easily. Mindfulness sees the process early.

Teaching point

Catch desire or anger early; once it has momentum you can't stop it.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in The Buddhist Attitude to Sensuality | Ajahn Brahm | 19-01-2007 · 2007-01-22 · ▶ watch from 22:27 to 23:51 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings 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

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