# Why ants don't get COVID

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Joke
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-joke-ants-antibodies
- Themes: humour, pandemic
- Life situations: needing a laugh

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Why don't ants get COVID? Because they've got antibodies.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

Did I tell the ant joke last week? Last time I was here. You know why ants [snorts] don't get CO? Cuz they got antibodies. Okay, enough [laughter] of that. So, thank you for listening. Now, are there any questions either from the internet or from the floor

## Teaching point

Sometimes the pill of Dhamma needs the mouth open with laughter first.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Why don't ants get COVID? They've got antibodies. After that groan, a listener asked how to bear climate change, the pandemic and war. Ajahn Brahm found hope even there: at least nearly everyone now accepts the problem is real. A joke opens the heart, so heavy truths can enter. Keep some lightness for hard times.

## Source

- [Buddhism and Worldly Events | Ajahn Brahm | 11th March 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbvKfJS-_vo) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:13:55 to 1:14:27: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbvKfJS-_vo&t=4435s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Spirituality and Worldly Problems | Ajahn Brahm | 5 March 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o-E2VJLQ-o) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 51:07 to 51:41: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o-E2VJLQ-o&t=3067s