Joke · Ajahn Brahm

Owners of Labradors go blind

1 min read

Content note: disability humour (blindness)

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

And today's stupid joke is about the two men who were talking to one another. One of them said, "You know, I think I need a pet. I'm gonna buy a dog. I'm gonna buy a Labrador." And his mate said, "Buy a Labrador? Don't be stupid. Haven't you noticed the owners of Labradors usually go blind?"

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 51:24 (to 51:52)

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

Don't buy a Labrador, a man warns his mate; haven't you noticed their owners go blind? Ajahn Brahm admits the joke is stupid and blames his conditioning. Then he gets serious: trying to make the world or yourself perfect is a kind of hating it as it is. Caring is embracing things as they are.

In brief (our summary)

Two men talking: one plans to buy a Labrador. His mate: 'Don't be stupid. Haven't you noticed the owners of Labradors usually go blind?'

Teaching point

A deliberately stupid joke about confusing cause and effect; he can't help his conditioning.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Wisdom and Stupidity | Ajahn Brahm | 04-02-2011 · 2011-02-05 · ▶ watch from 51:24 to 51:52 · 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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