Story · Ajahn Brahm
The whitewashed wall that vanished
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
I went to this Zen monastery. And I never knew what we were supposed to do. So, all they told us to do was to sit in a line, and just to watch the wall with open eyes. And it was sort of serious because they had the Zen master. And they would walk behind you with a Zen stick. And they would hit you if you were sleepy. People told me, "Oh, yeah, you know, if they hit you, it doesn't hurt." But when the guy next to me got hit, I didn't believe that at all. But it worked. Cuz the guy next to me woke up. So did I. For the rest of the retreat, I wasn't sleeping at all. But that was out of fear, not really the right way of doing things. But going back to the the story, that watching the wall with your eyes open, just a simple whitewash wall, and then the wall vanished. It disappeared. And it just it left existence
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 8:33 (to 9:39)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
At a Zen retreat in northern England, young Ajahn Brahm sat staring at a plain whitewashed wall until it vanished completely. No drugs involved; he was weird but virtuous. He worked out why: the brain only registers change. Close your eyes and the eyelids disappear too. When the mind grows still, the unchanging drops away.
In brief (our summary)
Young seeker ~21–22 at a north-England Zen monastery: sit in a line, open eyes on a whitewashed wall, Zen stick for sleepers. Watching without change, the wall vanishes from existence — early clue that the brain only registers what changes.
Teaching point
Stillness makes the unchanging drop out of awareness.
When this story may help
- retreat
- seeking
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 4 July 2020 · 2020-07-04 · ▶ watch from 8:33 to 9:39 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
16 other tellings of this story
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 29 June 2024 · 2024-06-29 · ▶ watch from 15:50 to 16:38 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJun 2024: age ~19–20 Zen sit staring at wall; wall vanishes — screensaver simile.
- 01. Day 1 - Morning Talk. Ajahn Brahm Retreat at Bandarawela, Sri Lanka 2011 · 2015-09-01 · ▶ watch from 5:27 to 6:59 · BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & MediaBandarawela 2011: Zen weekend — stick whack next seat; blank wall vanishes.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 1 February 2020 · 2020-02-01 · ▶ watch from 8:50 to 9:24 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2020: Zen weekend — neighbour gets the stick; woken by terror not peace.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 26 October 2024 · 2024-10-26 · ▶ watch from 7:26 to 8:27 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaOct 2024: student Zen farm-building — whitewashed wall vanishes, eyes open.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 3 December 2022 · 2022-12-03 · ▶ watch from 1:10:08 to 1:10:46 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaDec 2022: north-England Zen — eyes open, wall disappears into awareness/silence.
- Day 3 Morning talk on Stillness Nov 2013 Ajahn Brahm Retreat · 2013-12-12 · ▶ watch from 34:50 to 35:19 · BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & MediaNov 2013: age ~20–21, eyes-open Zen; after 15 minutes the wall vanished.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 13 January 2024 · 2024-01-13 · ▶ watch from 7:50 to 8:51 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJan 2024: north-England Zen, converted barn, whitewashed wall vanishes; sight turns off.
- Word of the Buddha (Part 9) | Ajahn Brahm | 10 December 2023 · 2023-12-10 · ▶ watch from 1:09:02 to 1:09:23 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaDec 2023: eyes kept open; the wall vanishes because the brain finds it boring — attached to the higher-occurrence north-England key.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 28 March 2026 · 2026-03-28 · ▶ watch from 16:07 to 16:47 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaMarch 2026: layperson, eyes kept open on a whitewashed wall; after about ten minutes the wall vanishes. Attached to the higher-occurrence north-England key (same eyes-open wall telling).
- Word of the Buddha (part 4) | Ajahn Brahm | 8 March 2020 · 2020-03-08 · ▶ watch from 16:57 to 17:34 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaMarch 2020: old barn, few instructions, eyes open on a whitewashed wall; after about 40 minutes the wall vanishes. Attached to the higher-occurrence north-England key (not the 1-occ weekend twin).
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 17 January 2026 · 2026-01-17 · ▶ watch from 10:19 to 11:48 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJan 2026: names the place Thoros Hall in Northland in the UK; eyes open on a whitewashed wall, no instructions; after a few minutes the wall vanishes.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 16 May 2026 · 2026-05-16 · ▶ watch from 13:35 to 14:08 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaMay 2026: short retelling — eyes open, white-washed wall, after about ten minutes the wall disappeared and the sense of sight turned off.
- Word of the Buddha (Part 12) | Ajahn Brahm | 11 February 2024 · 2024-02-11 · ▶ watch from 17:45 to 18:38 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2024: eyes wide open, wall vanishes; he stays with it rather than backing away.
- Word of the Buddha (Part 3) | Ajahn Brahm | 9 February 2025 · 2025-02-09 · ▶ watch from 1:09:14 to 1:10:04 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2025: as a layperson he chooses the north-England Zen retreat over a Rolling Stones concert in the area; eyes open on a whitewashed wall, after 10 or 15 minutes the wall vanishes. Higher-occ north-England key, not the 1-occ weekend twin.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 23 November 2024 · 2024-11-23 · ▶ watch from 4:02 to 4:56 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2024, shortened class before a visiting monk's 50th-anniversary talk: weekend Zen retreat as a layperson, eyes open, the barn wall vanishes. Higher-occ north-England key.
- Word of the Buddha (Part 2) | Ajahn Brahm | 8 December 2024 · 2024-12-08 · ▶ watch from 22:52 to 24:21 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaDec 2024 Word of the Buddha pt 2: north-England barn, whitewashed wall, 10–15 minutes, the wall vanishes. Higher-occ north-England key. Caption clock last 4721s vs inventory 4733s (underrun 12s); mined within the caption clock.
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned.
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