Story · Ajahn Brahm
Kissing it better
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
falling over and scrapping the skin off my knee which really hurt, it stung, and my mother would just crouch down and kiss it better Just her kindness would take the pain away. Every time that happened
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 45:11 (to 45:25)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
As a boy, Ajahn Brahm kept grazing his knees playing street football, and his mother would kneel and kiss them better. The pain vanished every time. Love is a powerful painkiller. When no one else is there, you can still visit yourself with that same kindness. It soothes physical and emotional aches alike.
In brief (our summary)
Growing up poor in Acton, west London, young Ajahn Brahm plays street football with migrant friends and keeps grazing his knees. He runs to his mother, who kneels and kisses the open wound better. Now he wonders why it never got infected — but it always healed, and the pain vanished at once: a mother's love was the best painkiller.
Teaching point
Kindness and compassion relax pain; give the irritated part of the body a 'mother's kiss' in meditation.
When this story may help
- childhood injuries
- pain relief
- meditating with pain
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in How to deal with chronic pain | Ajahn Brahm | 04-07-2014 · 2014-07-06 · ▶ watch from 45:11 to 45:25 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
1 other telling of this story
Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is. 'scrapping' 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