Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Brahm

Sheep circling a bush forever

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Why are we here? Why are we born? | Ajahn Brahm | 09-01-2015

1 min read

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

When it comes to sheep, I always remember the little story told me by one of our monks, Vasavado [?] He grew up on a farm just outside of Mundijong, really was local boy. And he said, once, you know, he went out to check out on the sheep in the farm. And he saw the sheep, he didn’t know how they started, but they had formed a circle around a thick lump of bushes. So they could not see the other side of the bush, but they’d formed a circle and they were walking round and round and round, as sheep always do, following the one in front, and they didn’t realise that they were going round and round and round in a circle which had no end. And if he hadn’t chanced on this and pulled one of the sheep out of line, they’d still be walking around that circle [chuckles] years later.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 1:23 (to 2:21)

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

On a farm near Mundijong, a young man found sheep trudging in a circle around a thick bush, each following the one ahead, and had to pull one out of line to stop them. People do the same with careers, opinions and habits. Buddhism invites questions rather than dogma. Every so often, step out of the line and check where it's going.

In brief (our summary)

A monk who grew up on a farm near Mundijong once found the sheep walking in a circle around a thick clump of bushes, each following the one in front, unable to see that the circle had no end. If he hadn't pulled one out of line, they'd still be going round years later.

Teaching point

Following others without questioning gets you nowhere; develop a questioning mind.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Why are we here? Why are we born? | Ajahn Brahm | 09-01-2015 · 2015-01-11 · ▶ watch from 1:23 to 2:21 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

1 other telling of this story

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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