# The ugly dead trees were condominiums

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-dead-trees-habitat
- Themes: nature, ecology, judgment, monastery
- Life situations: tidying nature, new country

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

New to Serpentine forest he wants to chainsaw 'ugly' dead trees; learns they house possums, birds, lizards — a condominium, not a cemetery.

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

dead trees. Now I came from Europe, you know, where the trees were mostly alive. So when I saw the dead trees, I wanted to get the chainsaw out and cut down those dead trees. They were ugly. You know, who wants to live like in a cemetery forest? And so if you could take down the dead trees and all these live trees would grow up and you have this beautiful like green forest with leaves everywhere and these dead trees were just a blight on the landscape. So I thought the dead trees were terrible until somebody told me and it was true that in those dead trees that was the habitat for many psums

## Teaching point

What looks dead may be someone else's home.

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

New to the Serpentine forest, Ajahn Brahm wanted to cut down the ugly dead trees, until he learned they housed possums, cockatoos, lizards and birds. They were apartment blocks for wildlife. What we want to remove often belongs. Before you change the world to fit your idea of beauty, learn its harmony.

## Source

- [The Four Old Men | Ajahn Brahm | 10-12-2010](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0aShBL6-i8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 33:02 to 33:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0aShBL6-i8&t=1982s