# The king eagle in the mountains

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-king-eagle-in-the-mountains
- Themes: nature, wonder, youth, mountains
- Life situations: hiking, seeking

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Young spiritual searcher in cold mountains sees a vast eagle (king eagle) after spotting a freezing lake of melting ice — wonder interrupting the climb.

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

spying one of the biggest birds I've ever seen, a king eagle. I checked afterwards, and those birds exist. It's big as me. Huge. It was actually just sitting there looking at me. And I realized that, you know, that could do you a lot of damage. They could kill you or injure you very easily. So, very careful when you saw that, you turned around, and you walk back

## Teaching point

Wonder arrives when the mountain turns a corner.

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

Walking alone in cold mountains, young Ajahn Brahm rounded a corner and met an eagle as big as himself, staring at him. He backed away carefully. Wild places give joy and peace, but other beings depend on them too. Go out into nature with wonder, and with respect for those who live there.

## Source

- [Checking Your Expectations | Ajahn Brahm | 17 December 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DEK6Ag_0go) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 48:26 to 48:56: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DEK6Ag_0go&t=2906s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Ultimate Truth and Reality | Ajahn Brahm | 1 Dec 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTtMR-KEHXw) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 56:01 to 56:21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTtMR-KEHXw&t=3361s