# His new BMX for a rabbit

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-bmx-bike-for-tortured-rabbit
- Themes: kindness, children, animals, generosity
- Life situations: parenting, cruelty

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Boy with birthday BMX finds bigger kids torturing a rabbit; trades the bike for the animal. Parents tip West Australian — front-page inspiration.

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

There was a boy coming home from school. He just got given, it was his birthday a couple of days previously, a big BMX bike, a nice bike. He loved his bike. But then he saw some bigger kids. They had caught a rabbit and they were actually torturing the rabbit. You know, they really I'm not quite sure why they were doing that, but the kids stopped. And these were bigger kids. And he said to the bigger kids, "Leave that rabbit alone. What's that rabbit done to you?" And the two bigger kids told him to, you know, go off. He didn't actually say those words apparently, but you know, and he said, "No." And then the little kid said, "I will give you my bike if you give me the rabbit." This is a new bike. Very expensive. So the two other kids gave him the rabbit. They did that exchange. When he got home, his mom and dad said, "Where's your bike gone?" When he told the story, they knew somebody in the newspaper. They put that in the front page of the West Australian newspaper that day

## Teaching point

Kindness can cost the prize you just unwrapped.

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

A boy with a brand-new birthday BMX found bigger kids tormenting a rabbit, and swapped his bike for it. The story made the front page, and dealers sent him new bikes. Ajahn Brahm wishes the news were full of stories like that. Kindness may cost the prize you just unwrapped. It's still worth it.

## Source

- [Generosity and Kindness | Ajahn Brahm | 13 January 2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVzsAkIQi1Q) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 9:06 to 10:23: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVzsAkIQi1Q&t=546s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Expanding Your Circle of Compassion | Ajahn Brahm | 08 December 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82YR5zJpcQc) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 20:20 to 21:13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82YR5zJpcQc&t=1220s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 20 January 2024](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLN6fGv2BJ0) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 11:28 to 12:06: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLN6fGv2BJ0&t=688s