# The frozen forest and the sacred silence

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-sussex-snow-sacred-silence
- Themes: silence, peace, nature, stillness
- Life situations: seeking peace, nature retreats, winter

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

On his first visit home after seven years in Thailand, Ajahn Brahm stays at a new, unheated monastery in Sussex in a winter so cold the papers report 'even the beer froze'. Walking out alone at dawn into fresh, untracked snow, with no wind and every animal hibernating, he stops — and the whole world stops with him. It is where he coined the phrase 'the sacred silence': like a homecoming.

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

I still remember one of the amazing times of my life one of the mornings which I will never forget when I was staying in England The ..Veriliam.. Monastery, one of the first monasteries which our tradition built in England, in Sussex That was a winter time about now I have gone to visit my family I think it was the first time after seven years that I went after living in Thailand that I went to visit my family for Christmas and this monastery has just been established and it was one of the coldest winters in England at that time in a typical British news-sheet it showed me the headlines -26 degrees centigrade even the beer froze But that following morning even though it was just so cold I went out for a walk in the forest early not many people were up let alone outside of the houses in such cold weather I remember that walk in that forest even now because as I walked in the fresh snow fall you look down in the freshly fallen snow and there were no prints of any animals, let alone human beings the snow has fell the night before and I was like the first person on earth to walk in that forest and as I walked nothing moved there was no wind or even breeze not even the leaves fluttered when I stopped, the whole world stopped moving all the animals were hibernating nothing stirred It was so silent and of course my own mind went silent when you are faced with such profound and deep and powerful peace your mind can't resist resonating with that peace as if the peace gets right inside of you just like the cold can do But this was not unpleasant you became one with that peace. It became one of those magic experiences of my life just walking and then stopping and enjoying the power of silence.

## Teaching point

Peace is always there when we stop moving; it is different from happiness, which we make happen.

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

On a morning so cold even the beer froze, young Ajahn Brahm walked into an untracked, windless forest in Sussex. When he stopped, nothing moved at all, and his mind fell silent with it. He calls it the sacred silence. Peace isn't something we manufacture like happiness; it's already there when we stop moving long enough to meet it.

## Source

- [The Power of Silence | Ajahn Brahm | 12-12-2008](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtLQ_ho63M) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 17:00 to 19:37: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtLQ_ho63M&t=1020s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Peace Is The Highest Happiness | Ajahn Brahm | 2 May 2008](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jYrr952vbg) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 33:33 to 36:27: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jYrr952vbg&t=2013s
- [Finding Stillness | Ajahn Brahm | 5 July 2019](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY7Fu7wEh0Y) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 24:22 to 26:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY7Fu7wEh0Y&t=1462s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 4 Feb 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyjJtsEt-rY) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 14:28 to 15:23: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyjJtsEt-rY&t=868s
- [The Essence of Vesak | Ajahn Brahm | 24 May 2013](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBgBiZZA-g8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 36:12 to 37:56: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBgBiZZA-g8&t=2172s
- [Hard Questions To A Soft Teacher (2/2) | Ajahn Brahm & Venerable Canda | 7 November 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Qs6v1orD8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:44:52 to 1:45:28: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Qs6v1orD8&t=6292s
- [1 Introduction to Meditation - 9 Day Jhana Grove Retreat Oct/Nov 2012](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JSo75D-aRI) (BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & Media) — watch from 44:43 to 46:59: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JSo75D-aRI&t=2683s
- [Sức mạnh của sự im lặng | Ajahn Brahm | 12-12-2008](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TExC5PlltSk) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 17:36 to 18:37: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TExC5PlltSk&t=1056s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 31 March 2012](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j-cyn9rKVU) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 10:14 to 11:39: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j-cyn9rKVU&t=614s