# The wine gums

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-wine-gums-four-drunk-monks
- Themes: alcohol, monastic life, humour
- Life situations: offering food to monks, abstinence

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

One Christmas when Ajahn Brahm was a young monk, four (now famous, unnamed) Canadian monks receive wine gums from their parents. Assuming they're just sweets, they eat them together — without sharing, luckily. They contain real wine, and after years without alcohol the monastery has four drunk monks.

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

even when I was a young monk, it was Christmas time, and it was these four monks, actually they're all really famous monks now. I won't tell you who they are. I wouldn't embarrass them. But their parents for Christmas sent them some wine gums. Now, wine gums are just sweets. And they just got the name wine, but they thought, "No, there'd be no wine in these." And so, the four of them, you know, from Canada, they sort of ate them together, just the four of them. They never gave any to me. And it's a good job because I would've taken them, too. And actually had real wine in them. And the monks didn't think there was any such They they haven't had alcohol for for years. So, they were actually ultra-sensitive. So, we had four drunk monks in the monastery to look at.

## Teaching point

After long abstinence even a little alcohol affects the mind strongly.

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

Four monks shared a Christmas packet of wine gums, assuming they were just sweets, and the monastery had four drunk monks. Ajahn Brahm admits he'd have eaten them too if they had shared. After years of clarity, even a little can tip the mind. Know what you're putting into yourself, and laugh kindly when someone gets caught out.

## Source

- [Sex and Booze | Ajahn Brahm | 01-07-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQfkUXfx4Y) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 26:42 to 27:29: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQfkUXfx4Y&t=1602s

Other tellings of this story:

- [The Right to Believe? | Ajahn Brahm | 18-05-2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Prm3nAvFs) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 6:54 to 7:28: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Prm3nAvFs&t=414s