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Story · Ajahn Brahm

Opened the Door of the Heart — in the medical section

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Humoristic Buddhism| Ajahn Brahm | 31 March 2017

1 min read

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

Bookshop and they say where is the section on self-help books and the person behind the counter said if I told you it would defeat the purpose cell phone so there we go the guy sort of looking for the book and they eventually found it it was in the medical section so somebody saw it opened the door of the heart they thought it was heart surgery so they bumped it in the medical section true story I was very proud of that

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 43:29 (to 44:12)

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

Friends hunting for Ajahn Brahm's book 'Opening the Door of Your Heart' finally found it shelved under medicine; someone thought it was about heart surgery. He was proud. Real teaching should be medicine of a kind: practical wisdom that eases anxiety and fear. He loves making cancer groups laugh. Find teachings that lift you up.

In brief (our summary)

Adelaide friends hunt his book; self-help clerk joke; they find Opened the Door of the Heart shelved in medical — someone thought heart surgery. He is proud.

Teaching point

Sometimes the right shelf is the wrong department.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Humoristic Buddhism| Ajahn Brahm | 31 March 2017 · 2017-03-31 · ▶ watch from 43:29 to 44:12 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

1 other telling of this story

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'cell phone' = self-help.

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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