Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

Wrong cemetery, and a hearse with three heavy passengers

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Stress - Overreaction to Life | Ajahn Brahm | 9 March 2018

1 min read

Content note: death humour; weight humour

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

one of the friends over in Sydney He was a funeral director before and he said sometimes sometimes. They actually do Go to the wrong cemetery So you know they've got no two funerals one is they a Fremantle one is up in a row when they arrive there They should be a few at Fremantle. Yeah, you should be up in away Well that's when they had to collect the bodies You know it's it, and so just to be able to to get enough. You know to make it worthwhile They had had to be three three bodies in the back of the hearse one So just taking it to the funeral parlor not there to the funeral well They took it there know some of the people you know a bit sort of you know just overweight and had three really heavy people and so the poor hearse It was actually so heavy in the back the metal of the front back bumper was actually scraping on the bitumen And you can't actually stop and unload somebody and pick him up later, so they're in big trouble there

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 1:05:38 (to 1:06:47)

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

A hearse so heavily loaded its bumper scrapes the road is grim and ridiculous at once, and Ajahn Brahm lets it be both. He tells these funeral jokes in answer to a question about past mistakes. Death and blunders come to all of us; being able to smile at them makes both a little lighter to carry.

In brief (our summary)

A former Sydney funeral director tells how hearses sometimes go to the wrong cemetery, and how on one body-collection run with three very heavy people in the back, the rear bumper scraped along the bitumen — and they could hardly stop and unload one.

Teaching point

(Funeral humour in answer to a question on forgiving past mistakes.)

When this story may help

  • forgiving past mistakes
  • working in a solemn profession

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Stress - Overreaction to Life | Ajahn Brahm | 9 March 2018 · 2018-03-18 · ▶ watch from 1:05:38 to 1:06:47 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: Captions are unpunctuated with many mis-hearings although TubeAlfred marks them non-auto; words left 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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