Being Mindful Stories

Joke · Ajahn Brahm

Fat bottoms polish the temple floors

As told by Ajahn Brahm in In Between | Ajahn Brahm | 27-05-2011

1 min read

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

you see all the floors are always very highly polished have you ever notice that you go to Asia see highly polished floors in the in the temples you know where they come from they come from people like you sit on the floor fidgeting all the time and every time you fidget with your fat bottom you polish the floor and after many centuries my goodness those flaws are very highly polished

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 3:46 (to 4:15)

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

Why are temple floors so shiny? Centuries of fidgeting bottoms, Ajahn Brahm laughs. Then he points to the moments in between: the commute, the wait, the journey. We never really arrive anywhere; life is always in between. Stop rushing to the destination. This in-between moment is where life happens.

In brief (our summary)

Joke about why temple floors in Asia and at Serpentine's Dhamma hall shine: centuries of people fidgeting on the floor — every fat bottom is a polish pad.

Teaching point

(Joke about monastic furniture and fidgeting.)

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in In Between | Ajahn Brahm | 27-05-2011 · 2011-05-28 · ▶ watch from 3:46 to 4:15 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'Dino Hall' = Dhamma hall; 'flaws' = floors.

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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