Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?: Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties

This book changed my life and made me a Buddhist, with just its philosophy and positivity. Check out ajahn brahm on YouTube, he gives a lot of talks that dive into the topics of this book and always has funny lighthearted jokes. I wish everyone could read this book.

This is a terrific book of stories that illustrate many of the basic tenets of Therevada Buddhism. The author, Ajahn Brahm, was a student of the great Thai teacher Ajahn Chah and he brings to life the essence of Buddhist thought. The stories are easy to relate to, even if you've never spent a day in a monastery. The chapter on Creating Happiness alone is worth the price of this book. As Westerners, it can be difficult to reconcile the realities of day to day living with our overwhelming desires for control and happiness. We strive so hard to change our external world that we fail to recognize that no change is possible without inner change. This book will tell you how to look at life in a way that allows you happiness under the most difficult of situations. It is written in a humourous style and can be read straight through, or opened at random whenever you need a pick me up.

This book reminded me of "it's Easier Than You Think" by Sylvia Boorstein in that it's a very accessible approach to talking about Buddhist principles. The stories are funny and also edifying. Some of my favorites (none are really duds) include Two Bad Bricks (don't let two bad bricks ruin the enjoyment of your handiwork when they're surrounded by 998 good bricks), the Mexican Fisherman (an American business professor trying to convince a Mexican fisherman to build up his business and accumulate wealth just so he can one day retire and buy a small villa, get a little fishing boat and enjoy his family -- just as he's doing today), Poor Me, Lucky Them (we all have our own suffering), and The Ups and Downs of Death (you'll just have to read it). Also, the sections on Love and Commitment and Fear and Pain are really lovely. It's a quick read and worth sharing.

It is hard to imagine anyone who will not delight in this book. Forget it is written by a Buddhist monk. Instead, enjoy it for what it is -- a telling compendium of wisdom wrapped in laughter. If you read, remember and apply only one of the 108 stories -- the one about Ajahn Brahm's father -- then you will have received your money's worth. The other 107 stories will come as a delightful bonus. I have already given away four copies of "Dung" and have just ordered another six. It's the best Christmas gift imaginable.

Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? By: Ajahn Brahm "Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung" is a book packed with inspiring stories for welcoming life's difficulties. It is essentially a "toolbox" filled with the most efficient tools for facing every challenging situation in life. However, the tools in this toolbox are much more effective than "material tools" we are looking for in day to day life to find happiness. This book is most helpful for us in life's many unfortunate situations in which we frankly don't have a clue about how to proceed without causing more harm and pain to ourselves and others. The literary style is simple and easy to understand and the vocabulary isn't complicated. It takes true understanding of concepts to be able to deliver them in a basic, understandable way. This is how Ajahn Brahm writes his stories. They flow elegantly and the concepts are simple enough even for a child to understand. Ideas are not exorbitantly portrayed in an attempt to make the reader believe that it is very profound. The book only delivers simple, humble teachings that are for us to take and apply to our life. Born in London, U.K., having studied Theoretical Physics in Cambridge University, meditating in forest monasteries in Thailand, and spending time with prisoners in jails in Western Australia, Ajahn Brahm has experienced it all. He shares these experiences with us in a way that we can take the morals from his experiences and apply them to our lives. We all need guidance on the paths we find ourselves treading. "Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung" is simply a road map with directions that can help us take steps towards the path in which we can find happiness and contentment. This happiness that one experiences is not only a short lived one but an everlasting happiness or what he refers to as the path to "ultimate happiness". Can you honestly say that you have not had a traumatic experience? No one can. From our childhood until we become senile, we have had many traumatic experiences. Ajahn Brahm uses the metaphor of a truckload of dung that has been dropped off in your driveway in comparison to these traumatic experiences. You know that you did not order the dung, you are stuck with it as you cannot return the dung and it is awful and impossible to endure. Ajahn Brahm teaches us how to take this dung and use it as a fertilizer day by day lessening the pile of dung in order to cultivate our metaphorical seeds so that the pain in our hearts, like the load of dung gets less and less day by day. There soon will be a time when we share the flowers of happiness or fruits of freedom with the others. These are the rewards that we gain by following Ajahn Brahm's simple words of wisdom as opposed to carrying the dung in our pockets day after day making ourselves depressed as well as depressing others around us until we lose our friends and loved ones. If you want a taste of the style that is used in this "guidebook" for life, read the following quo

I'm fortunate enough to have attended many talks by Ajahn Brahm and heard these various teachings stories elaborated on in person. I have found them to be of great personal benefit. I bought two copies of the Australian edition of this book when it was first launched. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them - something which I shared with my family. I also bought quite a few books as gifts for friends and family. The stories are collected under a range of practical topics for challenges often faced in daily life, and use traditional, personal, and contemporary stories to illustrate the application of wisdom to overcome difficulties and suffering. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who values wisdom and a good laugh.