Being Mindful Stories

Joke · Ajahn Brahm

Just add water — baby powder

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Buddhism, Religion? | Ajahn Brahm | 27-03-2009

1 min read

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

this guy who came from the Eastern Europe this was before the fall of the burlin wall where in the communist countries they had very very few things and when he went into his first Super Market this guy from Eastern Europe was just amazed at the amount of product which was available to people what he was really amazed at you know he saw first of all milk powder cuz you know in the Eastern Europe you get milk from a cow here it's a packet of dust and so just add water and you get milk so wow these Wess are so clever you know just add water and you get milk and then he saw instant mashed potato again just powder just add water and you get potatoes CU you know you know if in the old days you had to peel the potatoes so boil them up and smash them before you get mashed potatoes so amazing but what really surprised him you thought wow these westerners they're just so incredibly intelligent don't know how they could do this cuz they saw after seeing the milk powder and the mashed potato powder he saw on one of the store's baby powder just that water you didn't realize that's not what baby powder meets

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 14:39 (to 16:09)

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

A visitor from behind the Iron Curtain marvelled at Western supermarkets: milk powder plus water makes milk, potato powder plus water makes mash, and then he spotted baby powder. Ajahn Brahm laughs, then reflects. More choice doesn't make us freer. Wanting less does. Monks never wonder what to wear.

In brief (our summary)

Before the Berlin Wall fell, a man from communist Eastern Europe walks into his first Western supermarket: milk powder + water = milk; mashed-potato powder + water = potatoes; then he sees baby powder — and assumes the same magic.

Teaching point

A pattern that works twice does not make the third case true.

When this story may help

  • culture shock
  • false analogies

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Buddhism, Religion? | Ajahn Brahm | 27-03-2009 · 2009-04-25 · ▶ watch from 14:39 to 16:09 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'burlin wall' = Berlin Wall; 'Wess' = West; 'meets' = means.

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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