Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

“I haven't got a tail — I'm not a dog”

As told by Ajahn Brahm in No-Self Esteem | by Ajahn Brahm

1 min read

The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

They said their son was being bullied at school, bullying is a big thing. And they said a little teaching which really helped them, a very simple teaching, was that teaching which I took back from Thailand, which means that you don't listen to other people's criticisms. It was that teaching, if somebody calls you a dog, you look at your bottom to see if you've got a tail. If you haven't got a tail, you're not a dog, it is the end of the problem. And this actually happened because these bullies, they called this kid a dog, and he would remember the story, this was a kid at school, remember the story, he looked at his bottom, "sorry I haven't got a tail, I'm not a dog". And those kids stopped bullying him after that.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 5:52 (to 6:35)

A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Taunted as a dog at school, a boy checked his bottom, announced he had no tail, and the bullies gave up. An insult is just a word unless we accept it. When a label is thrown at you, check whether it fits; if it doesn't, leave it on the ground. Bullying that persists still needs adults to step in.

In brief (our summary)

A parent tells Ajahn Brahm that their bullied son used a Thai teaching he'd brought back: if someone calls you a dog, look at your bottom to see if you have a tail; if not, you're not a dog. When the bullies called the boy a dog, he looked at his bottom — “Sorry, I haven't got a tail, I'm not a dog” — and they stopped bullying him.

Teaching point

You can choose not to let others press your buttons.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in No-Self Esteem | by Ajahn Brahm · 2012-07-10 · ▶ watch from 5:52 to 6:35 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is.

The narrative is Ajahn Brahm's own telling, quoted from the talk captions. The summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk. Markdown version

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