Joke · Ajahn Brahm

The odd-job man

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Power of Kindness | Ajahn Brahm | 22 October 2021

1 min read

So, they hired an odd job man to come in and help. And Bill just you know was organizing looking after the place sort of he gave the odd job man 10 jobs to do. The odd job man only completed job number one number three number five number seven and number nine. He was the odd job man.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 43:04 (to 43:36)

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

The odd-job man was given ten jobs and finished numbers one, three, five, seven and nine. Ajahn Brahm admits his jokes haven't improved. Still, laughter has a place in spiritual life. A light heart, and a kind request, will get the kitchen redone far sooner than complaining.

In brief (our summary)

The Dhammaloka subcommittee hire an odd-job man and give him ten jobs. He completes only jobs number one, three, five, seven and nine. He was the odd-job man.

Teaching point

Told as a 'test' of his jokes; a light moment showing fun has a place in spiritual life.

When this story may help

needing a laugh

Themes

humour

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Power of Kindness | Ajahn Brahm | 22 October 2021 · 2021-10-22 · ▶ watch from 43:04 to 43:36 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; 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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The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)