# The tsunami ghost who gave a phone number

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-tsunami-ghost-dream-phuket
- Themes: dreams, death, tsunami, paranormal, humour
- Life situations: grief, disaster, vivid dreams

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Three days after the 2004 tsunami, a Thai woman in Krabi dreams of a battered English girl from Phi Phi who names the Bangkok temple where soldiers have just laid her body, asks for a Buddhist cremation before her London mother sees her, and gives the mother's phone number. The couple verify the number, arrange the Phuket cremation, hand over ashes at the airport — and later dream of the girl as a radiant heavenly being who thanks them and gives another number-string they treat as a lottery ticket and win on. Morale: if you see a ghost, ask for numbers first.

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

True Story 3 days after the tsunami hit Thailand there was a Thai girl who lived in the town of gby had a dream in the middle of the night and the dream was of this English girl coming up to her but this English girl her hair blonde hair was all tangled and tousled and her face she must have been quite a young girl 19 20 or whatever was all bruised and gashed and her body was all broken with huge gases and blood in it IM made see that this bloody bruised corpse coming to in your dream but because it's in a dream you know you're too sleepy for actually to be too afraid and the ghost kept saying help me help me help me and the ghost said I was on peee Island when the wave hit I'm dead and at this moment she said Tai soldiers are lifting up my body and they're placing me in a temple a Buddhist temple in Bangkok and she said the name of that Temple and my mother who lives in London is desperately trying to call me on my mobile phone but my phone is at the bottom of the ocean please help me can you do two things for me said the ghost first I want a Buddhist funeral I'm not a Buddhist but I want a Buddhist clation can you arrange that for me this is my name this is the temple where my body is right now and number two can you please ask my mother not to come until the cation is over I don't want her to see me like this please can you do this for me and here is my mother's telephone number and she gave this long list of digits after which this TIG girl woke up middle of the night she was married to an English man maybe that's why this Ghost came to see her so she woke up her husband and told her the dream which she had perfect recall of and the husband was surprised because the telephone number was a legitimate London phone number so he said call it she said no call him so they rang the number middle of the night in Thailand late afternoon early evening in London a woman picked up that phone it's true story woman picked up that phone after a short conversation it was the mother of a girl who was missing on people Island it was that ghost mother the name description was perfect so the mother was thankful at least now she knew for sure what she expected deep in her Hearts if you are a mother sometimes you can feel whether your child is alive or dead when they go missing so she gave permission for them to do the funeral service and to let her know when it was completed so she could come and collect her daughter's ashes the next morning they went to puket found the temple found the body got permission through the ceremony and cremated the corpse it said that to the body looked exactly as it did in the dream and having done the creation the mother from London came on an aircraft from Heath Road they met at puket airport handed over the ashes cried and then the mother went home and the tig girl went home with her husband to graby and a couple of nights later they had another dream and in this dream the girl came to the this English girl came to this tire girl again in a dream but this time her hair was Immaculate as if she'd been to Elizabeth ardens or something I don't know are they still in business Elizabeth ardens been a long time since I went 20 hairdresser I do my own but I the best hairdresser in town just beautiful hair and her face no bruises no Cuts as if she had like makeover and her dress white and shiny Immaculate and she said in a dream look what's happened to me look what you've done for me I'm a Heavenly being an angel thank you so much for arranging that ceremony for me and thank you so much for letting my mother know I've come here one more time to say thank you to you thank you so much to express my gratitude said this angel in the dream here is another set of numbers which she also remembered when she woke up but they never tried to dial those numbers cuz if you all suspect that was not a phone number that was a lottery number which won and they made quite a substantial amount of money and that is a true story the mor of that story is if ever you see a ghost don't run away yet ask it for some numbers first and then run like hell we going to do dream don't get afraid come on let's have some numbers please but remember because you heard that story in DCA Buddhist center 10% of your winnings should should go to the temple

## Teaching point

Told as a 'true story' about dreams as a channel for the newly dead — ending in dark humour about lottery numbers.

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

After the tsunami, a Thai couple said a dead English girl came to them in a dream asking for a cremation, and they found her and arranged it. Ajahn Brahm ends with a joke about lottery numbers. Underneath is tenderness: the departed would want us to know they're fine. Grieve gently, and look after yourself.

## Source

- [Dreams And Other Things | Ajahn Brahm | 13 Mar 2009](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSePDgBXCq4) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 25:18 to 31:47: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSePDgBXCq4&t=1518s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Buddhism and Ghosts | Ajahn Brahm | 10 March 2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fga9-6vFM) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 45:32 to 50:59: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fga9-6vFM&t=2732s