Story · Ajahn Brahm
He judged the violin — then heard the old woman
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
an old man who lived up in the mountains. And he worked very hard in a very poor village so that his children could have a really great education. And the children they did work hard at school then at university and then they went to town then to the city where they established themselves in good careers. And after they had established themselves, they decided together to invite their father into the city for the first time. And this father had worked hard all his life. He never seen a major city before. And so when he went into that city, he saw things he never ever seen before. And one of the things he didn't actually see, he heard it. It's really terrible, terrible, terrible sound. But even though the sound was very hard to listen to, he couldn't resist finding out what was causing what he decided was the worst sound in the whole world. And he followed it to a house. In the back room of a house, he saw a little child trying to play the violin. He never seen a violin before in his life. And he saw this little child. It was a terrible noise. And so he thought, "Violins are bad." He never wanted to hear a violin again. Same day in the afternoon, passed another house. This time he heard a beautiful sound, one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard. followed that to the front room of a house. There he saw an old woman playing the violin. The same instrument. There was an old woman. She had learned how to play that violin. And she was a maestro of that instrument. And he thought straight away that he'd made a mistake judging the instrument rather than judging the person
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 18:04 (to 20:20)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
A poor mountain father's grateful children sent him a fine violin. He couldn't play it, and it screeched, so he decided it was a bad instrument. Then in town he heard an old woman make the same kind of violin sing like rain on the hills. He had judged the instrument, not the player. Be patient with people still learning, yourself included.
In brief (our summary)
A poor mountain father sacrifices for his children's education; they prosper in the city, send him a fine violin he cannot play — it sounds awful. Years later in town he hears the most beautiful sound: an old woman, a maestro, playing the same kind of instrument. He realises he judged the instrument, not the player.
Teaching point
Blame the player before you blame the tool — or the gift.
When this story may help
- ungrateful gifts
- estranged parents
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Gratitude and Expectations | Ajahn Brahm | 9 July 2021 · 2021-07-09 · ▶ watch from 18:04 to 20:20 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
1 other telling of this story
- How to Resolve Conflicts Wisely | Ajahn Brahm | 3 November 2023 · 2023-11-04 · ▶ watch from 6:31 to 9:14 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2023 telling: remote farmer hears child's out-of-tune violin then a maestro — fault is the player, not the instrument.
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned.
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