Being Mindful Stories

Joke · Ajahn Brahm

Bachelor / genius

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Expectations | Ajahn Brahm | 15 April 2016

1 min read

Content note: gender stereotype humour

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

if a man is not married he's called a bachelor if a woman is not married she's called a genius

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 33:07 (to 33:21)

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

An unmarried man is a bachelor; an unmarried woman is a genius. Some will object, Ajahn Brahm admits, and some will laugh. Laughing together takes the heaviness out of life. It reminds us we're all in the same human condition. Stop trying to fix everyone, yourself included, and enjoy people as they are.

In brief (our summary)

If a man is not married he's called a bachelor; if a woman is not married she's called a genius.

Teaching point

Told as a feminist joke that some will object to and some will find funny.

When this story may help

  • singleness

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Expectations | Ajahn Brahm | 15 April 2016 · 2016-04-15 · ▶ watch from 33:07 to 33:21 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned.

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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