Analogy · Ajahn Brahm
How the donkey caught the carrot
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
It's a story, one of my favourite stories of the donkey and the carrot. Those of you who know the story because you've been on the retreats, it's also in the book of "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond." You know that donkeys are very stubborn animals, that's why they say in English - as stubborn as a donkey. You hit them with a stick, they won't move. So the only way you get donkeys to move, is you tie the stick to their back, so the front of the stick is about 2 feet, in front of the donkey's head, at the end of the stick you put a string, on the end of the string, a carrot. So there's this donkey, seeing this carrot 2 foot in front of it , craving is what drives the donkey, not fear of punishment. So there the donkey moves forward to try and get the carrot but because this carrot is on the end of the stick, and the stick is tied to the donkey, it doesn't matter how fast the donkey moves forward, the carrot goes at the same speed so it's always 2 foot in front of the donkey's head. But it's stupid enough to think, well, if I run a bit faster I might catch that carrot. You understand the simile - that's called your life [laughter] chasing a carrot. Do you ever get it? Now it's always 2 foot in front, you almost get it, sometimes, just perfection you know, happiness, even deep meditation, it's almost there, and you just go a bit further, and it goes further away from you. But many donkeys have actually heard my talks on YouTube. [laughter] And they now know how to catch the carrot! How to find meaning in life. You know how you do that? The donkey's already been running really fast, and the donkey hears the word, "stop", stop chasing that carrot, "stop" so the donkey stops. You know what happens when you stop? The carrot moves further away than its ever been before. If you've got patience and trust and faith, you've heard Ajahn Brahm, you actually believe he may be on to something, so you stop. And as soon as it's 4 foot away from you, twice as far as it's ever been you get a little bit of doubt, is this going to happen, is it true? But then something amazing happens, the carrot starts coming towards you. And soon it's in its normal position, 2 foot in front of your mouth, but now it's coming at great speed [laughter] towards you, you don't have to do anything, you just sit there, And just at the right moment, you remember the most important phrase, "The door of my mouth is now open to you, carrot" [laughter] And the carrot gets into your own mouth!
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 58:40 (to 1:01:24)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
The donkey chases a carrot tied to its own back, always two feet ahead. When it finally stops, the carrot swings further away, then comes swinging back, straight into its open mouth. Much of what we chase, peace, meaning, contentment, works the same way. Stop running, bear the moment of doubt, and let it come to you.
In brief (our summary)
A stubborn donkey is driven by a carrot dangling on a string from a stick tied to its own back — always two feet ahead however fast it runs: that's your life. But a donkey that has heard the teaching stops. The carrot swings further away — four feet, and doubt arises — then comes back towards it, faster and faster, and at the right moment the donkey says, “The door of my mouth is now open to you, carrot.”
Teaching point
You don't reach peace, meaning or nirvana by chasing; you find it by stopping.
When this story may help
- chasing goals
- restlessness
- meditation struggles
- perfectionism
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Putting Meaning Into Life | Ajahn Brahm | 03-12-2010 · 2010-12-05 · ▶ watch from 58:40 to 1:01:24 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
11 other tellings of this story
- Buddhism and Rubbish | Ajahn Brahm | 5 February 2021 · 2021-02-05 · ▶ watch from 59:40 to 1:00:19 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2021 closing: stick+carrot on donkey's neck; carrot always two feet ahead — welcome to life.
- The Importance of Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 07 Nov 2017 · 2017-12-13 · ▶ watch from 1:18:44 to 1:21:10 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia2017 Colombo telling: a mango instead of a carrot for Sri Lanka; the donkey stops, waits as the carrot swings away and back, and says 'carrot, the door of my mouth is open to you' (linked to Angulimala 'I have stopped').
- Expectations Cause Suffering | Ajahn Brahm | 24 June 2022 · 2022-06-24 · ▶ watch from 1:00:50 to 1:01:21 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJune 2022 Q&A telling, brief (simile only; 'You don't catch the donkey by chasing it' as spoken).
- Transcending Negativity of Our World | Ajahn Brahm | 12 April 2019 · 2019-04-12 · ▶ watch from 51:41 to 52:23 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaApr 2019 telling: short stick-and-carrot donkey — goal always two feet ahead; what are you chasing?
- New Year's Eve with Ajahn Brahm | 31 December 2023 · 2024-01-01 · ▶ watch from 7:16 to 9:18 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNYE 2023 telling: donkey-and-carrot / mango always two feet ahead.
- Patience and Renunciation | Ajahn Brahm | 19 January 2024 · 2024-01-20 · ▶ watch from 25:39 to 26:08 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaJan 2024 telling: donkey-carrot with Malaysian durian always two feet ahead.
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 5 November 2022 · 2022-11-05 · ▶ watch from 1:19:04 to 1:20:24 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2022 telling: stick+carrot; stop and the carrot comes back — let go of chasing peace.
- Hard Questions To A Soft Teacher (2/2) | Ajahn Brahm & Venerable Canda | 7 November 2020 · 2020-11-18 · ▶ watch from 12:48 to 14:48 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaQ&A with Canda: donkey, stick, carrot — stop chasing and the carrot swings into the open mouth (kindness).
- Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 27 March 2021 · 2021-03-27 · ▶ watch from 8:02 to 8:44 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaMar 2021: stop chasing jhāna — carrot comes to the still donkey.
- 14 Enlightenment - November 2011 · 2012-06-23 · ▶ watch from 34:56 to 40:00 · BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & MediaNov 2011: the stubborn retreat donkey stops, the carrot recedes then comes back, and with metta at the right moment the donkey catches it.
- 12 Insight Into the Path · 2013-01-24 · ▶ watch from 42:26 to 43:30 · BSWA Retreats 2011-15 & MediaInsight-path telling of the carrot-on-a-stick; not the donkey-in-the-well story.
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