Being Mindful Stories

Analogy · Ajahn Brahm

One leaf on a swept path

As told by Ajahn Brahm in How to Lessen the Stress | Ajahn Brahm | 29 March 2019

1 min read

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

Ajanch used to tell that story. I remember he said if you swept the path and a leaf falls on it why does it stand out? It's because it's not entangled. it's not sort of um confused with all the other leaves which have fallen down there. But if one leaf falls on there, you can really see it and get to know it and understand it.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 26:04 (to 26:40)

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

Ajahn Chah noticed that a single leaf on a freshly swept path stands out, so you can really see it. Our lives are so crowded with chores and theories that we never understand even one simple thing. Clear a little space. Simplify, be kind, stop fighting yourself, and things become clear.

In brief (our summary)

Ajahn Chah's image: when you've swept a path and one leaf falls on it, it stands out, because it isn't tangled up with all the other leaves — you can really see it, get to know it and understand it. Ajahn Brahm uses it for simplicity: life is so complex we don't understand even one simple thing.

Teaching point

Simplicity makes clear seeing possible.

When this story may help

  • overload
  • busy life

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in How to Lessen the Stress | Ajahn Brahm | 29 March 2019 · 2019-03-29 · ▶ watch from 26:04 to 26:40 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

2 other tellings of this story

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'Ajanch' = Ajahn Chah.

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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