Story · Ajahn Brahm

Sariputta and the novice who corrected him

1 min read

Content note: canonical source not named in the talk (commentarial story; verify)

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

But then I read in this story of the one of the wisest monks next to the Buddha Venerable Sariputta. He was walking on alms round, and a little novice, this little squeak of a novice, came out to him and said, "You're badly dressed." Now, usually, that would be a no-no. You can't sort of tell these very high monks and criticise that they're badly dressed. But the wisest monk next to the Buddha had a look and said, "My goodness, you're right." He went behind a bush. He adjusted his robe, and he came out afterwards. And he put his hands up, and he called this little novice "teacher".

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 57:50 (to 58:29)

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

A little novice told Sariputta, the wisest monk after the Buddha, that his robe was a mess. Sariputta checked, agreed, fixed it behind a bush, and bowed to the boy as his teacher. Truth matters more than rank. When someone junior points out your mistake, thank them.

In brief (our summary)

Told as a monk that even kings must bow to him, Ajahn Brahm reads of Venerable Sariputta, wisest monk after the Buddha, on alms round: a little novice says, 'You're badly dressed.' Sariputta looks, says 'My goodness, you're right,' goes behind a bush to adjust his robe, comes back, raises his hands in respect and calls the novice 'teacher'.

Teaching point

Respect truth more than hierarchy; real wisdom is humble.

When this story may help

  • being corrected
  • seniority at work
  • pride

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Wisdom and Stupidity | Ajahn Brahm | 04-02-2011 · 2011-02-05 · ▶ watch from 57:50 to 58:29 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is.

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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