Story · Ajahn Brahm
The monk who gave the IT keynote
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
This is another thing which happened just today, I was checking the e-mail and I think I told some of you, if you got good memories that during the last retreat period I did take one invitation to leave the monastery and that was to go to this world computer conference in Brisbane. And the only reason I did that, I thought it was interesting I have never done that before. I am a monk okay I can get on a computer but I don't know anything about IT and there they asked me to give the keynote at the World Computer Conference in Brisbane last year. I thought that was interesting. That is a sort of challenge. I like doing weird things. So I rocked up there I gave a keynote and I just got the email they said from the organizers just this afternoon . And they said that was the most popular presentations. They put everything on the internet and that has been the most downloaded session and the President of the World Computer Society in Australia summarized it up and printed it out and published in the Australian, in the IT section. So there you go I am the expert on IT. Just the world renowned lecturer on IT.
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 46:17 (to 47:31)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
A monk who admits he knows little about IT accepted a keynote at a world computer conference just because it was an odd challenge, and his session became the most downloaded. You don't have to plan every step or fit in to have a great time. Hold your plans loosely, say yes to the occasional strange invitation, and see what unfolds.
In brief (our summary)
Though he says he knows little about computers, Ajahn Brahm accepts an invitation to give the keynote address at a World Computer Conference/Congress, simply because it is an interesting challenge. The tellings disagree on where and when (see notes and each occurrence). In the fullest telling, an email from the organisers later tells him it was the most popular and most downloaded session, summarised and published in the IT section of The Australian: “So there you go I am the expert on IT.” Other tellings add that executives of Google, Samsung and LG were present and kept asking what he was doing there, and one uses the talk to describe holding up a plastic water bottle and asking “what else is it?”
Teaching point
When you don't attach to control and plans, life evolves in ways you could never predict.
When this story may help
- fear of the unknown
- over-planning
- new challenges
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Instead of Attachment | Ajahn Brahm | 04-03-2011 · 2011-03-05 · ▶ watch from 46:17 to 47:31 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
8 other tellings of this story
- Am I Good Enough? | Ajahn Brahm | 28 April 2017 · 2017-04-28 · ▶ watch from 1:03:30 to 1:04:07 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaApr 2017 telling: 'the 2015 World Computer Congress in South Korea' before Google, Samsung and LG executives; an IT volunteer agrees he knows 'stuff all'. NOTE: earlier telling places the conference in Brisbane — location discrepancy for review (possibly two events).
- Give Yourself Peace, Kindness and Forgiveness | Ajahn Brahm | 29 January 2021 · 2021-01-29 · ▶ watch from 25:12 to 25:54 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJan 2021 telling (aside): 'Daejeon South Korea in 2019'; chatting with the EU head of cyber security. NOTE: the year differs from the 2017 telling ('2015') and the earlier telling places it in Brisbane — flagged for review.
- The Fault Finding Mind | Ajahn Brahm | 7 May 2021 · 2021-05-07 · ▶ watch from 47:59 to 48:48 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaMay 2021, brief telling: '2019 World Computer Conference in South Korea' (elsewhere Brisbane); Google, Samsung and LG all there, asking what he was doing there.
- Discovering and Following Meaning in Your Life | Ajahn Brahm | 3 May 2019 · 2019-05-03 · ▶ watch from 44:21 to 47:56 · Buddhist Society of Western Australiac. 2019 telling: '2015 World Computer Congress in Daejeon', South Korea; he holds up a plastic water bottle and keeps asking 'what else is it?' until the audience runs out of labels — seeing beyond what you've been taught.
- Problems and Solutions | Ajahn Brahm | 30 Oct 2015 · 2015-10-30 · ▶ watch from 0:22 to 2:52 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaOct 2015 telling (soon after the event): 2015 World Computer Conference in Korea; ~1,200 people; Google/Samsung/LG; he is the 'IT monk' who knows nothing about computers; nested ice-cream-cone story entered separately.
- 16 Non-Self (Anatta) · 2013-01-26 · ▶ watch from 30:12 to 30:29 · BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & MediaJan 2013 telling: invited as keynote though he knows nothing about computers — loves that.
- Insight | Ajahn Brahm | 17 April 2026 · 2026-04-18 · ▶ watch from 4:19 to 5:23 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaApr 2026: Daejeon world computer conference keynote — zero computing papers.
- Effective Management | Ajahn Brahm | 06 Nov 2017 · 2017-12-13 · ▶ watch from 43:55 to 44:38 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia2017: 2015 World Computer Congress, South Korea; Samsung, LG, Google in the room — why is a monk giving the keynote?
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