Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

The dog, the lion and the monkey

As told by Ajahn Brahm in No Fear | Ajahn Brahm | 20-05-2011

2 min read

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

once upon a time there was a dog who went for a walk in the forest in Africa and he walked a bit too far because a lion saw him and the lion thought that dog will make a good dinner and a dog heard that. How could a dog escape from a lion? But this dog, he must have listened to some of the the uh YouTube talks from here because he was a very very smart dog. I'm sure he was a Buddhist. So what he did, he managed to find some bones and he sat in front of the bones with his back towards the lion totally unafraid. And as the lion was about to pounce, the dog licked his lips and said, "M, what a delicious meal. These lions are very, very tasty. I wonder when I can get my next lion to eat. And the lion heard that, thought, "My goodness, that must be a really vicious dog. He's eaten another lion. I'm not going to be his dinner." And so the lion turned around and ran away. But there was a monkey and that monkey saw that that conversation and he said, "I'm not going to let the dog get away with tricking this lion." So he went up to the line and said, "You've been tricked. you're a fool. You know, this dog, you know, can't eat lions. You know, he just said this to scare you away. And so the lion got very upset and said, "I'm going to go and eat that dog." And the monkey said, "I can't come with you to watch." So the monkey jumped on the lion's back and the lion went straight towards the dog and the dog saw them coming. So he went in front of the pile of bones again with his back towards the lion and the monkey on the back. And as they came close, the dog licked his lips again and he said, "Where's that damn monkey? He promised he'd bring me another lion.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 16:18 (to 18:42)

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

Facing a lion, a dog sat with his back to it, licked his lips over some old bones and praised the taste of lion. The second time, he asked where the monkey was with his next one. Fear needn't take charge of you. Keep your wits, and sometimes you can even turn the scare to your advantage.

In brief (our summary)

A dog wanders too far into an African forest and a lion decides to eat him. The dog finds some bones, sits with his back to the lion and, as it's about to pounce, licks his lips: “Mmm, lions are so tasty — I wonder when I can get my next one.” The lion flees. A monkey who saw it tells the lion he's been tricked and rides on its back to watch the dog be eaten. The dog sees them coming, turns his back again, licks his lips and says, “Where's that damn monkey? He promised he'd bring me another lion.”

Teaching point

With wisdom, fear doesn't control you — you can even use it.

When this story may help

  • danger
  • being betrayed
  • thinking under pressure

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in No Fear | Ajahn Brahm | 20-05-2011 · 2011-05-21 · ▶ watch from 16:18 to 18:42 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned. 'line' for lion once (not changed).

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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