# Paying for the timber: the builder's discount

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-timber-yard-builders-discount
- Themes: honesty, trust, generosity, monastery building
- Life situations: business dealings, being undercharged, integrity at work

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Building Bodhinyana in the early days, Ajahn Brahm collected a lot of timber in a rush from a timber yard on Brookton Highway and realised back at the monastery that some of it hadn't been paid for. He went back the next day to pay the difference. The man looked at him as if he were from Mars, went to see the manager, and came back: yes, they could pay — and from now on they were on a builder's discount. The $10–15 they paid was repaid 10, 20, 100 times over, 'because it's weird. Not many people do that.'

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

I'll just mention this um today when the one of the first times when I was building Bodana Monastery that uh we this was um I don't mind I mention it was Collie and Sons they had a a timber yard down Brookton Highway went there one day to get some timber to build a cooty or something and it's a lot of timber I was in a rush when I got back I said oh my goodness we we there's some stuff we hadn't paid for. So I went back on the next day and had the I said look you know we got some timber from you yesterday and just in a rush with no intention we hadn't paid for it you know can we sort of pay the difference and a fellow looked at me as if I was like from Mars or some alien planet somewhere and he said just hold on a moment and he went up to see the big the big manager and then he said okay you can pay for the extra timber But now you're on a builder's discount. And we're not builders. Well, not really professional builders, but you know that he gave us a builder's discount. And just the amount of money, you know, the monastery paid just for that bit of timber, maybe $10 or $15. We made that back 10, 20, 100 times probably by getting the builder's discount from that place. He said, because it's weird. Not many people do that. Not many people are honest and trustworthy.

## Teaching point

Honesty builds trust, and trust is worth far more than it costs.

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

Realising some timber hadn't been paid for, Ajahn Brahm drove back to pay, and the astonished timber yard gave the monastery a builder's discount for life. Ten dollars of honesty was repaid a hundred times. Look for the good in people and they keep showing it. Try a whole day without negativity this week.

## Source

- [How to Lessen the Stress | Ajahn Brahm | 29 March 2019](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSUdHhvVBfI) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 54:47 to 56:24: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSUdHhvVBfI&t=3287s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Seeing the goodness in the world | Ajahn Brahm | 28-11-2014](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPJ6aCrkgXY) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 20:16 to 21:02: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPJ6aCrkgXY&t=1216s