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Story · Ajahn Brahm

'I'm marrying your best friend tomorrow'

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Living Without Blame | Ajahn Brahm | 05-12-2014

1 min read

Content note: named private people (first names)

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

you know his former wife you know because he's a marriage cbrant you know he went home one day and he said oh I'm marrying your friend uh Janice tomorrow. And his wife said, "You're married to me. You can't be marrying my best friend." He said, "Look, I'm doing her marriage ceremony. I'm marrying your best friend tomorrow. I'm the marriage celebrant.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 22:28 (to 22:56)

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

A marriage celebrant told his wife he was marrying her best friend tomorrow, and for a moment she was horrified. He was only conducting the ceremony. So much upset comes from hearing words instead of meaning. Practise right listening. Before reacting, check what someone actually meant.

In brief (our summary)

Dennis, the Buddhist Society's marriage celebrant, came home and told his wife, 'I'm marrying your friend Janice tomorrow.' 'You're married to me — you can't marry my best friend!' 'I'm doing her marriage ceremony. I'm the celebrant.'

Teaching point

Misheard words cause needless offence; practise 'right listening' and give the benefit of the doubt.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Living Without Blame | Ajahn Brahm | 05-12-2014 · 2014-12-07 · ▶ watch from 22:28 to 22:56 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'cbrant' = celebrant.

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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