Being Mindful Stories

Analogy · Ajahn Brahm

Carrying coffins of dead moments

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Contentment in the Moment | Ajahn Brahm | 16 June 2020

1 min read

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

Sometimes that I used to call the past by carrying so many coffins of dead moments from the past. One of the nice things about our culture, in all cultures, all traditions is that once a person dies they're buried or cremated, their bodies disposed of, we remember them, but we don't obsess with them, we walk on, we go forward. We never sort of linger too long in the past and that's the same with any past memories you have, good or bad, we try and let them go as fast as we possibly can

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 1:22 (to 2:06)

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

We bury or cremate the dead and walk on, yet we lug old memories around like coffins. Ajahn Brahm lets the past go, good and bad, even unanswered emails. You can't please everyone. Set down what's finished, and there's room to enjoy where you are now.

In brief (our summary)

He compares obsessing over the past to carrying coffins of dead moments: cultures bury or cremate the dead and walk on — do the same with past memories, good or bad, so the present can be free.

Teaching point

Put the past down; dead moments don't need to be carried forever.

When this story may help

  • rumination
  • grief
  • inability to move on

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Contentment in the Moment | Ajahn Brahm | 16 June 2020 · 2020-06-16 · ▶ watch from 1:22 to 2:06 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

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

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