Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

Kissed on the nose by an emu

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Confidence, Fear and Anxiety | Ajahn Brahm | 28 January 2022

1 min read

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

One of the anagaracas was sitting over in the area of Janna Grove some years ago, sitting very peacefully, but with his eyes open and an emu came up to him. And I've seen emus before, but they're always this very scary. No, they're scared. They run all over the place. But this monk or monk to be one day he was sitting there perfectly not perfectly still he had his eyes open but really calmly and the emu never seen a human being like this before. So the emu came right up to him. The m the anagara never moved and the emu just put its beak on this anagaraka's nose like almost like a kiss just smell it. What is this? Have you ever been kissed on the nose by an emu? A wild one. Nate, you know, not sort of tamed or anything. And of course, then the emu just very hopped away just very gracefully and and and calmly.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 1:11:22 (to 1:12:32)

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

A trainee monk sat so calmly at Jhana Grove that a wild emu walked right up and touched its beak to his nose, almost a kiss, before hopping away. When you aren't afraid, others, even animals, stop being afraid of you. Relax, meditate, and you'll find life is safer than you feared.

In brief (our summary)

An anagarika sitting calmly with eyes open at Jhana Grove is approached by a wild emu that has never seen a human so still. It puts its beak on his nose — almost a kiss — then hops away.

Teaching point

When you have no fear, animals lose their fear of you.

When this story may help

  • fear of animals
  • learning stillness

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Confidence, Fear and Anxiety | Ajahn Brahm | 28 January 2022 · 2022-01-28 · ▶ watch from 1:11:22 to 1:12:32 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned. 'anagaracas' / 'anagara' = anagarika; 'Janna Grove' = Jhana Grove.

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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