# Opened the Door of the Heart — in the medical section

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-opened-the-door-book-medical-section
- Themes: humour, books, publishing
- Life situations: bookshops, needing a laugh

## Synopsis (editorial 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.

## 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

## Teaching point

Sometimes the right shelf is the wrong department.

## 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.

## Source

- [Humoristic Buddhism| Ajahn Brahm | 31 March 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIg4F99Manc) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 43:29 to 44:12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIg4F99Manc&t=2609s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Happiness in All Circumstances | Ajahn Brahm | 5 December 2025](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fndKRw2O4jU) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 39:30 to 40:17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fndKRw2O4jU&t=2370s