Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

I'm 888 months old

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Relax the Mind | Ajahn Brahm | 13 June 2025

1 min read

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

I count my age in months. It's much more impressive. And if you quickly work it out, what is 74 years in months? It's 888. Oo. Yeah. In a place like Singapore. 8 AAA. Wow. That's really apicious. It's the most auspicious number. If anybody can get a car with a number plate 88 AA, it cost a fortune. Is that true, Eddie? Yes, I'm 88 in a couple of months time

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 59:08 (to 59:54)

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

Bored of saying he's 74, Ajahn Brahm counts in months: 888, wonderfully lucky in Singapore. Asked by a stern official to prove who he was, he said he'd spent 45 years trying to find out. She didn't laugh. Play with ageing and bureaucracy lightly. Who we really are is a deeper question than any ID card.

In brief (our summary)

Bored of turning 74, he counts age in months — 888 — an auspicious number in Singapore, and jokes about number plates.

Teaching point

Even ageing can be played with lightly.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Relax the Mind | Ajahn Brahm | 13 June 2025 · 2025-06-13 · ▶ watch from 59:08 to 59:54 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, 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

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