Being Mindful Stories

Joke · Ajahn Brahm

Form is emptiness — the empty platter

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Discovering and Following Meaning in Your Life | Ajahn Brahm | 3 May 2019

1 min read

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

there was a Zen monk who was wandering from place to place and he hadn't got any arms food for a couple of days he was really hungry and then somebody said well you know we haven't got any further so but you see there's a restaurant over there really famous restaurant and the owner of the restaurant is a very generous Buddhist she'll be able to give you something so he went to the restaurant and he asked to see the owner and the owner said our venerable monk so blessed will you come to my restaurant and as what can I do for you in his a world or a bit hungry said I'll but you have to teach some dumb man before you know I know you're a real monk so he stood up and said form is emptiness emptiness is form Sardis I decided she said sit down and he thought wow I've really my lucky day I'm gonna get a good meal today see how she liked that teaching and so she soon came this big platter huge platter so wonder what's underneath the cover which was keeping it warm and she presented that platter to the monk you don't skip half a days and the month lifting it up there's nothing there form is emptiness emptiness is for monk

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 54:16 (to 56:16)

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

A hungry monk proclaimed 'form is emptiness' to earn his meal, and was presented with a grand platter with nothing under the lid. Clever words don't feed anyone. Real emptiness means carrying no burden and no fixed ideas, which leaves room to learn. Keep your cup a little empty.

In brief (our summary)

A hungry wandering Zen monk is sent to a famous restaurant owned by a generous Buddhist woman. She will feed him, but first he must teach some Dhamma so she knows he's a real monk. He stands and declares: 'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.' Delighted, she has a huge covered platter brought out. He lifts the cover: nothing there. 'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, monk.'

Teaching point

Clever talk about emptiness is empty; true emptiness is being unburdened and open to receive.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Discovering and Following Meaning in Your Life | Ajahn Brahm | 3 May 2019 · 2019-05-03 · ▶ watch from 54:16 to 56:16 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'arms food' = alms food; 'Sardis I decided she said sit down' garbled; final line as captioned ('emptiness to veg out but' before it is garbled).

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

  • The monk with the divine ear sat in Ajahn Chah's chair

    In brief: A monk Ajahn Brahm knew in Thailand claimed he could hear people talking about 12 kilometres away; when tested it was true — a 'divine…

    Read full story

    and just to make things interesting there was one monk I knew when I first went to Thailand who had that power he was tested out when he said he could hear people talking about 12 kilo meters away. when he made that claim we said you are crazy he said, no it is true and when we went to check in it was absolutely true he had what they say in the suttas a divine ear this incredible hearing And the problem what happened with him was he started getting this psychic power, obviously with incredible meditation then he thought he was so highly attained and one day he actually sat in Ajahn Chah's chair and said... Ajahn Chah is nobody I am the real Abbot here And it was an example of the pride and ego which sometimes comes up when you start to attain such things which is one of the reasons why in monastic Buddhism they are suppressed If you do get any psychic powers we don't talk about it that much especially if the person is still alive If they are dead we don't mind

    Open story page·Watch this telling

  • The celebratory pork curry that ended his enlightenment

    In brief: After four years as a monk Ajahn Brahm had a great satori and thought he was enlightened. That morning, instead of the usual rotten fish…

    Read full story

    When I had my great Satori experience Four years as a monk and everything became really clear I really thought I was Enlightened You can read the whole story, it's very self deprecating until the food came that morning usually we have rotten fish curry for that morning there was another pot of curry It was actually... sorry if you are vegetarian there was no vegetarian food around in Thailand those days and the other food was like a pork curry from town we never have that that is really rare and straight away I thought the heavenly beings are also celebrating my Enlightenment I thought wow this is great because that's such a rare event and I was number two monk and the head monk a local boy actually from that local village he should have liked the rotten fish curry he grew up on it that was a local dish and he never took any rotten fish curry He took -- incredible big ladles no one could eat that much of the pork curry He sloshed it into his bowl. I wasn't concerned about that because there was plenty left you know of the pork curry but what he did next was absolutely unforgivable he took what was left of the pork curry and he poured it into the rotten fish curry; stirred it up and said it's all the same, it's all the same What a hypocrite, if it was all the same why didn't he pour it in and mix it up before he took his and he spoiled my celebratory meal for being .. Arahant doesn't worry about food. That was ... oh no... I am not fully enlightened after all but I really felt like it for a long time had all the.... no sloth and torpor, incredible energy absolutely imperturbable that was great Shame it didn't last that long So that is what these satoris are And the only way you can find out if it is the real thing if it really persist over years So just one great insight not enough

    Open story page·Watch this telling

  • It wasn't the flag or the wind — your mouths were moving

    In brief: Two monks argue whether the flag or the wind is moving; a Zen master says their minds are moving. Unsatisfied, they ask a Theravada forest…

    Read full story

    the conflict of the two monks who were watching the flag latter and one monk said look at that the flag is fluttering and the other one said no the wind is moving not the flag and they had an argument this is I'm going to use this as a metaphor later on and they couldn't solve the argument was the wound wind moving or the flag moving so they went to see the Zen Monk and the sand monk said you were both wrong it wasn't the flag moving it wasn't the wind moving your minds were moving and they weren't satisfied with that either so the three of them the two monks and the Zen master went to go and see the theravada forest adjun and he said you are all wrong it wasn't the flag movie it wasn't the wind moving it wasn't your mind's moving the problem was your mouths were moving and that is that the important part that's actually a little bit of a joke and I was actually saw that in a list of jokes not because your mind moves because your mouth moves that's where the conflict starts from

    Open story page·Watch this telling

  • They gave him a wrapped box of nothing

    In brief: When people ask what gift he wants for his birthday, a few who got the message wrap an empty box; he opens it and finds nothing — 'that's…

    Read full story

    They get a nice little box. They wrap it up and give it to me. And when I open the box, you know what's inside of it? Nothing. Ah, that's just what I wanted. How do you Did you [laughter] know? And it's beautiful. Just a nothing. The emptiness of life

    Open story page·Watch this telling

All stories·Find a story for your situation