Joke · Ajahn Brahm
Why shoes stay outside Buddhist temples
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
someone asked me why it was that people don't wear shoes in Buddhist temples and the answer to that is because it means if I tell a bad joke you can't throw your shoes at me you have to leave them outside before you come
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 0:14 (to 0:35)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
Why do people leave their shoes outside Buddhist temples? So they can't throw them when Ajahn Brahm tells a bad joke. Then he turns to a hard question: why do people do bad things? Understanding helps us forgive, and admit we're capable of the same. That's the first step to causing less hurt.
In brief (our summary)
Someone asked why people don't wear shoes in Buddhist temples. His answer: so if he tells a bad joke, you can't throw your shoes at him — you have to leave them outside.
Teaching point
There's always something practical about Buddhism — and about humour.
When this story may help
- needing a light opening
- temple etiquette
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Why Do People Do Bad Things? | Ajahn Brahm | 17-06-2011 · 2011-06-19 · ▶ watch from 0:14 to 0:35 · 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