Stories about body image
2 Buddhist wisdom stories about body image from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Best friends on the school busStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On a bus home from teaching at a school, Ajahn Brahm sits behind two 13- or 14-year-old best friends whose whole conversation is picking faults: flat chest, no boyfriend; big…
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I was on a bus coming back from, I think was teaching at a school, coming back here. And just sitting behind two girls, maybe about 13 or 14, on the way back from school, best friends, and listening to what they were saying. I was overhearing them sitting right behind them, and listen to their conversation. I wasn't so shocked, because it reminded me of my school days, the conversation went something like you've got flat, flat breasts, you're never gonna get a boyfriend, but you got a big nose, you're not gonna get one either. And it always came picking faults in one another. And these were the best friends.
- “My nose is too big”Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In his first year in Perth a 13-year-old girl, brought by her father after every other psychologist and psychiatrist had failed, finally admits her problem: her nose is too big.…
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I still remember this when I first came to Perth the very first year this thirteen year old girl came to see me. Her father organised a meeting, she wanted counselling, she'd been to all the other psychologists, psychiatrists or whatever in Perth and this was the last resort to go and see a Buddhist monk. They must have been desperate in those days to come see a Buddhist monk. Because we didn't have much of a reputation and I asked her what's your problem and she took a long time to get it out of her cause you know when people really feel they have a big problem and they just don't want to share it with you especially a thirteen or fourteen year old young girl. And eventually I got it out of her. She said, looking down at the floor feeling so embarrassed, she said 'my nose is too big'. Now you know, you girls you know that, you know where she's coming from, that to her every time she looked in the mirror she saw her nose and it was too big. I tried to use like a scientific approach to her problem, you know I mentally I measured her nose and I've seen many noses in my life and I measured it in my mind and I told her, lady that your nose is pretty average. It's not the most beautiful nose, it's certainly not the most ugly nose, its just a nose, it's average ok. But she wouldn't accept that for her it was the biggest problem because it was right in front of her face. I didn't, I didn't actually help her, but she helped me to understand the negativity of fault finding.