Jokes can be a way to heal and learn from traumatic experiences. Old age, sickness, and death can teach us valuable lessons in life, and they can be viewed as Buddha nature. Peace and goodwill towards all beings is a central message of Christianity. People come to teachers for guidance, not to be lectured to. Stay true to your beliefs and help those in need, no matter what their beliefs. The Buddha said that the things we experience in our life, such as being praised or blamed, have Buddha nature. We can see that these experiences have no personal meaning, and are just part of our journey towards awakening. Sickness, disease, aging, death, are all teachers which help us learn about non-self.

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This dhamma talk was originally recorded using a low quality MP3 to save on file size (because internet connections were slow back then – remember dialup?) on 27th December 2002. It has now been remastered and published by the Everyday Dhamma Network, and will be of interest to his many fans.

These talks by Ajahn Brahm have been recorded and made available for free distribution by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia. You can support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia by pledging your support via their Patreon page.