Story · Ajahn Brahm

“Oh no, not again”

1 min read

Content note: doubtful: presented as "supposed to be true" but unverified; likely legend

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

there was this one story supposed to be true confirmed as best you possibly can a a baby being born in a maternity ward knows a boy so born in a maternity ward in the u.s when the baby came out of the womb still attached to umbilical cord spoke uttered words and the words which it said were just classic it said and everyone there heard it oh no not again

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 47:50 (to 48:26)

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

The newborn who supposedly looked around the delivery room and said 'Oh no, not again' is a tall tale, but Ajahn Brahm enjoys it: school again, homework again, everything again. He makes the Buddha's first noble truth funny. Life has its hard bits on every round, and a laugh at that helps you meet them.

In brief (our summary)

A baby boy born in a US maternity ward, still attached to the umbilical cord, is said to have spoken words everyone heard: “Oh no, not again.”

Teaching point

Birth leads to the same suffering all over again — the first noble truth.

When this story may help

  • weariness with life

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Out of Body Experiences | Ajahn Brahm | 1 July 2022 · 2022-07-01 · ▶ watch from 47:50 to 48:26 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

2 other tellings of this story

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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