# Don't walk the ant path twice

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Analogy
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-jungle-ants-choose-another-path
- Themes: suffering, past, analogy, Thailand
- Life situations: rumination, painful memories

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Analogy: barefoot on Thai jungle paths you learn which trails the ants own — leave those past-biting paths alone and take another way (the present).

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

barefoot through the jungle paths in Thailand because I didn't have any sandals and sometimes you would see where the ants left you would never walk on the paths where the ants were cuz they would bite you and they would sting and it was very painful you'd always find other paths where there were no ants

## Teaching point

Past suffering is an ant trail — you are allowed another path.

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

Walking barefoot on Thai jungle trails, Ajahn Brahm learned to avoid the paths where ants bit. The past is like that. Painful memories bite every time you walk there. You don't have to go back. Take another path, the present moment, and feel your body sitting here now. It's a skill worth learning.

## Source

- [Suffering Leads to Liberation | AjahnBrahm | 12 May 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG2ZtMzJo3g) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 13:08 to 13:39: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG2ZtMzJo3g&t=788s