Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

The donkey in the well

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Dealing With Difficult People | Ajahn Brahm | 28 Nov 2008

3 min read

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

there was a donkey, just walking happily along in the forest, just munching and minding its own business. Because it wasn't mindful, he fell into a well, the well was dry so it didn't drown, and he didn't really injure himself, just a few bruises and scratches. When the donkey came to his senses he realized he was at the bottom of a well and there's no way up because donkeys can't climb. The only thing the donkey thought he could do was to cry for help to get someone's attention otherwise he would die down there of starvation. So he started crying for help. [makes donkey sound] I can't really do donkey noises, as I think now you have understood because probably I've got no previous incarnations as a donkey. [laughter] Ajahn: Those people who imitate animal noises, it must be that in your last life you were an animal. [laughter] As for me, I wasn't a donkey in my last life so [makes donkey sound] is the best I can do. " [makes donkey sound] ," said the donkey again and again. After a couple of hours actually somebody heard him. It was the local farmer. "What's making that noise?" He came over and saw it was coming from the well. He looked down, "my goodness, a donkey has fallen down that well." Now that farmer never liked that donkey. The donkey was always eating his farm produce and was being very stubborn. He'd never do what the farmer wanted. He also realized that well was a very dangerous thing. Somebody might fall in that well, a human. He thought of a wonderful idea. He could get rid of that dangerous well and the donkey at the same time. He got out a spade and started filling that well with earth. The cruel farmer. Now, if you do something like that it's called "bad karma." If you do any bad karma you're going to get unpleasant consequences, as you will see as this story develops. [laughter] So this donkey at the bottom of the well, thinking at first the farmer would help him, realized the farmer's trying to kill him by shoveling all this dirt over the donkey. When the donkey realized that, [makes donkey sound] even louder. [laughter] But that didn't stop the farmer. He just kept shoveling more dirt over this donkey, more and more dirt, trying to fill in the well and bury the donkey alive. After a while the donkey went quiet and never said anything. The farmer thought, "I've killed him." "I've buried him. Good riddance," and kept on shoveling. But the donkey hadn't died. The donkey, who must have also gone to Nollamara in the previous life... [laughter] Ajahn: ...had insight. He was a very smart donkey. Never underestimate donkeys. His insight was this. Instead of complaining when people throw dirt all over you, instead of complaining, just shake it off, tread it in, and he found he was growing a centimeter taller. The next shovel full of earth, shake it off, stamp it in, he's another centimeter higher. Every shovel of earth, he was getting closer and closer to the top of the well. Now the farmer, thinking the donkey had died already, paid no attention at all, shoveling, shoveling, when a pair of donkey ears appeared above the top of the well. Shovel, shovel, shovel. Shake it off, stamp it in, until a donkey head appeared at the top of the well. Before the farmer realized, the donkey was close enough to the surface it jumped out and bit the farmer on the backside. [laughter] Ajahn: Not because the donkey didn't like the farmer, but because he had to show the farmer the law of karma. [laughter] He was just an agent of cause and effect. He ran away. That's how the donkey escaped from the well.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 53:37 (to 58:08)

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

Every shovelful meant to bury the donkey became a step up, once it stopped braying and started shaking. Criticism works the same way: a sharp word from a partner, a colleague or a stranger only buries you if you let it settle. Shake it off, tread it down, and you rise a little. Biting the farmer is optional.

In brief (our summary)

A farmer tries to bury a donkey that fell into a dry well; with every shovelful of dirt, the donkey shakes it off and steps up on it, until it climbs out, bites the farmer and runs away.

Teaching point

“shake it off, stamp it down, and you will rise up” — when criticised, don't let it bury you (my translation).

When this story may help

  • being criticised
  • bullying
  • unfair treatment at work
  • public criticism
  • insults from partner

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Dealing With Difficult People | Ajahn Brahm | 28 Nov 2008 · 2008-12-06 · ▶ watch from 53:37 to 58:08 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

7 other tellings of this story

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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    I gave it another simile of being like a guitar string and when a guitar string is stretched the tighter it is stretched stretched when something hits it it really makes a high-pitched sound and when it's not stretched so much it makes a lower pitch sound when it's hardly stretched at all it makes a very low sound when it's not stretched at all it makes no sound at all that's like people's resilience the way they react to some of the unpleasant things which happens in life

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  • The kids throwing stones on Bunbury beach

    In brief: In the early years in Australia, while Ajahn Brahm meditates on Bunbury beach, stones start whizzing past his ears. He stands up and walks…

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    once they threw stones at me. And that was over in Bunbury beach many years ago. These kids - I was just meditating there, minding my own business - and this stone came whizzing past my ears. Very good they were bad shots, but as they got closer and closer, I thought I better do something. So I just stood up and turned around. And there were these kids. For those of you who were old enough, that was when the orange people were here. They thought I was an orange person, fair enough mistake, this is pretty orange. But I actually started walking to them, and it's amazing, when you face people who do things like that, as soon as I started walking <u>towards</u> them, they started running away. [laughs] There was about six or seven kids there, and they could have easily beaten me up, but just the confidence there was enough to get them to scatter. And I just rushed after them, caught them up, and said "Look, why are you throwing stones? I'm a Buddhist monk". "Ohh, you're a Buddhist monk, sorry! We thought you were an orange person. Buddhist monks are cool.

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  • Teased on the Charles Street bus

    In brief: In the early Perth days people mock his robes: 'women's clothes', 'Hare Krishna', 'get a proper job'. On a bus down Charles Street some…

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    And I remember going on a bus once and just uh down Charles Street. Uh and then somebody started teasing me. And so I said I'd go and give as good as I got. I said, "You know, you got long hair. You're like a girl. You should shave all off like me." And as soon as I started fighting back, the other guys they got really embarrassed. And the reason was because I was not going to get embarrassed. I was not going to be controlled. I was going to sort of have some fun.

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  • Two cakes: karma as ingredients

    In brief: Simile (from Opening the Door of Your Heart): one person bakes a cake with mouldy old flour, cheap sugar and butter and an old kitchen;…

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    the best simile I've got two people baking a cake the first person baking the cake has got the very worst ingredients they got white flour which is so old it's got green moldy bits in it I remember flower like that when I was a student we couldn't afford anything so you know we'd have to take the green bits out and use the other bits white moldy flower uh diabetically enhanced sugar cholesterol enhanced butter and whatever fruit you can get you know to put in there and just an old kitchen to actually to cook it in the very worst ingredients but the second person has got the very best ingredients organically grown whole wheat flour gluten free if sown in a field where there has to be no genetically modified crops for a thousand kilometers surrounding a free range wheat that is I don't know what I'm talking about I sometimes read this on the stuff which I see and I don't know what it means but anyway and canola oil which is people I'm not sure if it's just true or not it's supposed to be cholesterol free beautiful honey from Western Australia and fresh fruit from their back Garden and the very best of ingredients and the most modern kitchen to cook it in so those are the two people who bakes the best cake and this is actually where you understand what karma is who makes the best cake it's not always the person with the best ingredients it's not always that you go to Asia Penang where'd you get the best food in the restaurants in the streets yeah the Hawkers they can't afford the best ingredients or the best kitchen but that the competition is so cutthroat that they have to make the best to survive they have to put so much more effort energy love and skill into their cooking they have to otherwise they won't survive and that's why they're cooking is much more delicious now that is like you know what the law of karma it's not just the ingredients you have to work with the most important part of calm is what you're doing with those ingredients how you put them together

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