# The Muslim family at the airport

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-muslim-family-airport
- Themes: prejudice, interfaith friendship, assumptions
- Life situations: prejudice, conflict between groups

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

On a teaching tour of Indonesia, Muslims attend his talks and a veiled family rushes to the airport to have him sign the book they loved and take a last photo together.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

Even like Indonesia, my trip to Indonesia, that's where all the Muslim terrorists are, you know all the Bali bombers, they came from over there, but I had such a wonderful time with the Muslims, they came to all my talks, we had photos together, got interviewed and photographed in the Muslim newspapers. Even one Muslim family, they came to the airport, they just caught me in time, said "Oh, Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Brahm you must sign our book, it's the best book we've ever had." So this whole Muslim family in the veils and everything, me in the middle with the book, having a last photograph taken together. Isn't that wonderful, when people of different religions can have so much fun together.

## Teaching point

“So a lot of the times when we think, ‘Oh, Muslims, they don't like Buddhists,’ that's actually what stops us seeing the truth.”

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A whole family in veils hurried to the airport just to get a book signed and share one last photo. Our fixed ideas about who will welcome us are so often wrong. Keep a Teflon mind: let those labels slide off, and leave room for the warm surprise that real people usually are.

## Source

- [Four Ways of Letting Go | Ajahn Brahm | 09-04-2010](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USC5MJVZLy8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 52:01 to 52:44: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USC5MJVZLy8&t=3121s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Cztery sposoby na to, jak odpuścić - Ajahn Brahm [LEKTOR PL]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXR9emyoJlA) (Sasana.pl) — watch from 52:02 to 52:51: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXR9emyoJlA&t=3122s