# Crocodiles sleep with their mouths open

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Analogy
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-crocodile-sleeps-mouth-open
- Themes: analogy, Thailand, nature, effortlessness
- Life situations: over-effort, nature lessons

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

NE Thailand folk: lazy crocodiles sleep mouths open; flies walk in by themselves — no hunting needed.

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

crocodiles over in northeast of Thailand would actually eat, how they would catch enough fish. They're very, very lazy, those crocodiles. And they didn't need to do very much. able to sleep out in the sunshine of the day with their mouths open. And once they were sleeping with their mouths open, of course, the flies went in all by themselves. They didn't need to hunt for flies. The flies just came

## Teaching point

Sometimes the catch comes to the open mouth that isn't chasing.

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

Villagers told Ajahn Brahm that lazy crocodiles sunbathe with their mouths open until flies fill them, then sink into the water so fish swim in after the flies. A free lunch. He jokes you could try it meditating by the Swan River. Nature doesn't hurry. Maybe we work harder than we need to.

## Source

- [What is Freedom | Ajahn Brahm | 3 December 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-B7f0JT25o) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 37:10 to 37:43: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-B7f0JT25o&t=2230s