Being Mindful Stories

Joke · Ajahn Brahm

What fun does a monk have? None

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Buddhism and Love | Ajahn Brahm | 12 February 2021

1 min read

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

I remember him saying this, such an old joke. He said, "What fun does a monk have?" He said, "The answer is none. [laughter] [laughter] That's number one. It's not true. It's not my joke. My father told it and it still makes me laugh. [laughter] It's only a joke. That's all. So, number one, yeah, sometimes I tell that joke and some people say that joke, you shouldn't tell that joke

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 11:34 (to 12:19)

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

His father's joke: what fun does a monk have? None. Ajahn Brahm still laughs, and insists it isn't true. He tries to stay approachable, without bodyguards, and enjoys a cup of tea and jokes with everyone. You don't need alcohol or anything else to have fun. Just a kind heart.

In brief (our summary)

Father's old joke: What fun does a monk have? None. Brahm still laughs — and insists monks actually have lots of fun.

Teaching point

A joke need not be true to open the door of the heart.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Buddhism and Love | Ajahn Brahm | 12 February 2021 · 2021-02-14 · ▶ watch from 11:34 to 12:19 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

2 other tellings of this story

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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