# One buffalo, or wanting two

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-one-buffalo-or-two
- Themes: contentment, craving, wealth
- Life situations: financial comparison, wanting more, poverty

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Living among subsistence farmers in north-east Thailand, young Ajahn Brahm wonders why some equally poor villagers are happy and others miserable. Every house has a water buffalo; the farmer with one buffalo who is content with one is always smiling — the farmer with one who wants two is the unhappy one.

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

But one of the things which I did notice living in that village. yeah sure many of those poor people were happier than the people I knew sort of from the great university like Cambridge I also saw some miserable people in that village. When I saw those miserable people in that village I wanted to find out why some people were miserable other people were happy when they both had very few things. and I found out that basically it worked out like this Every house had a water buffalo which they used to plough the fields. and the dung from the water buffalo would be the fertilizer for their fields The buffalo would plough their fields and do all sorts of tasks like pulling the cart and that was a very important part of their house But I noticed the farmers who had say one water buffalo and happy with one water buffalo seem to be the ones always smiling But the farmer who had one water buffalo but wanted two that was the farmer who was unhappy. who didn't seem to have so much time and so much joy in their lives Seemed to me that happiness was not so much how much you have but how much you want.

## Teaching point

Happiness depends not on how much you have but on how much you want.

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

Among poor rice farmers in north-east Thailand, young Ajahn Brahm noticed that the cheerful ones were content with their single buffalo, while the miserable ones had one and wanted two. They owned the same; only the wanting differed. Whatever your buffalo is, a car, a title, a bigger salary, notice when wanting the next one spoils enjoying this one.

## Source

- [The Secret | Ajahn Brahm | 30 Dec 2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e-y1Xn4N8Q) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 5:30 to 6:53: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e-y1Xn4N8Q&t=330s