# The emperor in five garments

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Analogy
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-emperor-in-five-garments
- Themes: mind, meditation, senses, rebirth
- Life situations: learning meditation, questions about death

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Simile he says he usually keeps for retreats: a powerful emperor is completely covered by boots, trousers, a jacket, gloves and a helmet, so you can't tell whether it is male or female, old or young, or of what race. The mind is like that emperor, clothed in the five senses; meditation unclothes it to reveal the sixth sense, the mind itself.

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

imagine there's an emperor and this Emperor is a very very very powerful being and you know it affects you what this Emperor does this Emperor is clothed he's got boots or it's got boots you don't know if it's a he or she it's got boots which cover its feet and go right up to its thighs it's got trousers which cover the top of his boots and go halfway up his waist he got a jacket which covers the top of his trousers go to the elbows and go up to the neck and it's got these gloves which cover all the hands that go halfway up the arm and last it's got a helmet and this helmet just covers the hold of the face and halfway down the you know overlaps the tunic so the five pieces of clothing completely cover this Emperor so much so you don't know who this Emperor is whether it's male or female whether it's old or young whether it's African Caucasian Chinese or what and this is like the mind this mind this Emperor within you is covered with the five senses of seeing hearing smelling tasting and touching and that's why sometime we don't know what this mind actually is in a Buddhist way we want to try and unclothe the emperor take off these five senses of seeing hearing smelling tasting and touching to get to this six six sense the Mind

## Teaching point

To know the mind, you have to strip away the five senses in stillness.

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

An emperor in boots, gloves, helmet and armour can't be recognised, not even whether old or young. The mind, Ajahn Brahm says, is clothed in the five senses the same way. Sit still, let sight, sound and the body quieten, and you begin to meet what's underneath. Common sense, he notes, starts there.

## Source

- [Superstitions | Ajahn Brahm | 12-01-2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RggiVQ6F0fk) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 43:29 to 45:03: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RggiVQ6F0fk&t=2609s