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Story · Ajahn Brahm

Nine Pepsi-Colas — lucky number nine

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Maha Mangala Sutta - The Greatest Good Fortune | Ajahn Brahm | 9 May 2021

2 min read

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

If there really are devas, if there are, can they get me a Pepsi-Cola?" And I really needed it. And so, with that resolution in my mind, I walked into the village. And as I walked into the village, I saw in the corner I kept my eyes down, but I saw in the corner of my eye that there was the hardware store, the general store. And there were some people in it, but I never stopped. I was a good monk. I never spoke anything. I walked right past. And as soon as you walk past like this, you think, "Well, I'll survive. There's no devas in this world anyway, so who cares?" But then, I heard, after I was about 5 m, 10 minutes past the shop, I heard someone say, "Nimon krap." [snorts] And I turned around. I never said a word. There was a person running after me with an open bottle of Pepsi-Cola with a straw in it. Cold, refreshing. And I thought, "This is weird." And I sat down on the bench. And I thought, "Well, it may be just coincidence. People are kind." But then, another person came running after me. "Nimon krap." With another bottle of Pepsi-Cola. And another person came running up with a third bottle of Pepsi-Cola. And for those of you who've ever been to Thailand, you know the magic number in Thailand, the one which they always think is the best number. And any one of you who any counts any donations, sometimes they you may have like um a thousand eight $1,800 for some big donation. They'd always try and bump it up to $1,999. I've seen that many, many times. And somebody else says, "Oh, just bump it up to 2,000." No. $1,999 is my lucky number. So, nine is a lucky number in Thailand. It means actually the number in the Thai language means prosperity. Gao. Anyway, so I had nine I Of course, another person came up, and a fifth person, a sixth, a seventh, an eighth, a ninth person came up. And I sat down on this bench. I look I was getting excited cuz I can remember this. I can almost visualize it now. I've had so many years ago, almost almost 42 years ago now. And I remember just lining up the nine bottles of Pepsi-Cola, looking at them. No way I could drink nine bottles, no matter how thirsty you were, but it reminded me that somebody was trying to make a point that things like heavenly beings do exist

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 14:56 (to 17:57)

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

Thirsty on a walking pilgrimage in Thailand, Ajahn Brahm silently thought: if there are heavenly beings, get me a Pepsi. He asked nobody. Villagers then ran up with nine opened bottles. He sipped from each and gave the rest to some children. Believe what you will. Keep your precepts, share what comes, and stay open to blessings.

In brief (our summary)

Thirsty on NE Thai tudong, Brahm resolves: if there are devas, get me a Pepsi. Walks past the store without asking; villager after villager runs up with open Pepsi and straw — nine bottles, Thailand's lucky number. He lines them up; can't drink nine; shares with kids.

Teaching point

An experimental resolve plus keeping precepts can meet a thirst you cannot force.

When this story may help

  • on pilgrimage
  • thirst

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Maha Mangala Sutta - The Greatest Good Fortune | Ajahn Brahm | 9 May 2021 · 2021-05-09 · ▶ watch from 14:56 to 17:57 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

2 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'Nimon krap' = invitation to receive.

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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