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Story · Ajahn Brahm

They preferred the taller Islamic teacher

As told by Ajahn Brahm in What is Ego? | Ajahn Brahm | 17 May 2024

1 min read

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

Pinjara school the was it Para school? No I think it was another school. It's a girl school. They wanted to have different teachers. one teach on Buddhism, one teach on Islam, one teach on uh Hinduism. I did the Buddhism bit and afterwards I got the feedback from them. He said, "No, we preferred the the Islamic man." He was a westerner because he was blondhaired and much taller than you. [snorts] These were 14, 15 year old school girls

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 33:45 (to 34:18)

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

After a multi-faith school visit, Ajahn Brahm heard that the teenage girls preferred the speaker on Islam: he was taller and blond. They weren't listening to anyone's words. He laughs, then turns it to ego. Instead of asking what the self is, ask what you take yourself to be. Notice the assumptions, then hold them lightly.

In brief (our summary)

Multi-faith school visit: feedback says girls preferred the blond Western Islamic speaker — taller than the short Buddhist monk. Ages 14–15; he does not mind.

Teaching point

Ego still hears height when the Dhamma was the point.

When this story may help

  • teaching teens
  • ego bruises

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in What is Ego? | Ajahn Brahm | 17 May 2024 · 2024-05-17 · ▶ watch from 33:45 to 34:18 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'Pinjara'/'Para' = Pinjarra? / other school.

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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