Stories about animals
36 Buddhist wisdom stories about animals from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- A dog called ChemoStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A doctor friend in Melbourne has a big Labrador she named 'Chemo'. She was training it to visit hospital wards, because stroking a gentle animal helps very sick people recover —…
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there's one of my friends over in Melbourne, now that's Priya Mendes [?] and she’s got this big dog and it was Labrador wasn’t it, and when I saw it, I said “what's its name” and she gave it the name, she's a doctor, she gave it the name “Chemo”. Chemo the dog, that's a really weird name, why do you name it Chemo? She said “because I'm training this dog to be one of these dogs who goes into wards with people who are very, very sick, because we all know that if you take a little dog or a cat or a rabbit into a ward where people are very sick, just being able to pet that dog, to stroke it, have this beautiful soft animal in there, the compassion which a small animal or even a big animal generates amongst human beings has a very strong positive effect on people's recovery. They actually get better. Having a beautiful dog to play with in the ward, it makes you sort of, gets up all your, what's it called, the, not serotonin, all these endomorphines, all this beautiful health things in your body, you all know better than I do... but you know it really works. So that's why she called her dog Chemo because it was short for chemotherapy, that was a little joke, she's a good student of mine, has got a stupid sense of humor just like me. [laughter] So Chemo, Chemo the dog, and of course that dog went into so many wards in its life, healing people, helping people, that dog must have made huge amounts of good karma just by generating compassion in other beings.
- Alex the African grey parrotStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Psychologists adapting methods for children with learning disabilities teach African grey parrot Alex not party tricks but intelligent vocabulary — Brahm first saw the video…
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Alex the parrot, A L E X, and parrot is an African grey parrot who was a subject of an experiment, and a kind experiment. Some uh psychologist who had uh knowledge of a way of teaching those with intellectual disabili- disabilities, learning disabilities, how to talk. You know, sometimes kids, it's not they're naughty, but just they have some blockages about learning how to speak the local language. And of course, some of these psychologists have worked out very good techniques in order to teach kids how to speak. Not maybe the normal lessons which other kids have in school, but specialized for them. So, these couple of psychologists over in the United States, they uh tried to teach a parrot how to talk. I don't mean like pieces of eight or uh naughty language. I mean, how to have enough of a vocabulary to be able to use these words intelligently
- Ask the dogStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm advises people whose vet says to put a pet down to ask the animal what it wants. Judy, in the audience, did this: her dog had cancer and the vet wanted to put it…
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Judy was telling me that she did that with her dog. She went to the vet, it had a cancer. And the vet said, "Your dog's in such great pain. I've got to put it down." She took it aside. And as she took it aside, she felt the dog didn't want to go. So she told the vet, "No, I'm taking it home" and the vet was very angry at her. "So you Buddhists are very cruel. You're heartless. You're supposed to be compassionate. The dog is in great pain, and you are keeping it alive. You cruel person." But good on her. She sort of took it home. Six months later, she took the dog back to the vet. He had made a full recovery.
- Darwin crows only die under trucksJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On the Darwin highway the only roadkill noticed is crows — and only under trucks and buses, never sedans. The rumour checks out as true.
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Northern Territory in Darwin, they're investigating a very weird phenomena because on the big highway, you know, going up to Darwin, they noticed the only road kill they saw on there was actually crows, the crows being killed, they were only killed by by trucks and buses, never by sedans. They look there and so and that was a rumor, the myth and I actually checked that it was absolutely true weird but the crows would only be wiped out by the truc
- From the park dance to the gorillasStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Young woman with Asperger's leaves school early, drugs and homelessness; a dance teacher spots her stretching in a park and pays her; with dance money she sits with zoo gorillas…
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Asberers which is a form of autism. Had a terrible time at school, left very early. Um hated it. Um difficult parents. So she left home very early, was on drugs for 5 years, drugs and alcohol to cope and um homeless. And anyway, she was apparently lovely mover. And one day she was just just sort of stretching and just pre-dancing in the park and she was noticed by um a lady who was actually a dance teacher. She had a school and she said could you you know could could you please come and join us? You're so good and we'll pay you. So she sort of agreed to that. And um so from the money that she earned from the dancing, she used to go to the zoo and sit with the gorillas and just stay there and she just sort of for two hours at a time and the staff actually noticed this after quite a while and they came up to her and they offered her a job. They said please come and you know please because you love the you know we love you with the gorillas
- Kissed on the nose by an emuStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An anagarika sitting calmly with eyes open at Jhana Grove is approached by a wild emu that has never seen a human so still. It puts its beak on his nose — almost a kiss — then…
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One of the anagaracas was sitting over in the area of Janna Grove some years ago, sitting very peacefully, but with his eyes open and an emu came up to him. And I've seen emus before, but they're always this very scary. No, they're scared. They run all over the place. But this monk or monk to be one day he was sitting there perfectly not perfectly still he had his eyes open but really calmly and the emu never seen a human being like this before. So the emu came right up to him. The m the anagara never moved and the emu just put its beak on this anagaraka's nose like almost like a kiss just smell it. What is this? Have you ever been kissed on the nose by an emu? A wild one. Nate, you know, not sort of tamed or anything. And of course, then the emu just very hopped away just very gracefully and and and calmly.
- Milk for the vegan catStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Years ago, while vegetarian, Ajahn Brahm stays in a house whose owners are trying to make their cat vegan, feeding it soy milk. When they aren't looking, he slips the cat some…
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I had this when I was a vegetarian many years ago. I was staying in a house with a vegan cat. At least the owners tried to make get their cat to be vegan and they feed it soy milk. I was a vegetarian at the time. So when the owners weren't looking, I slipped the cat some milk. Oh, the cat really loved me for that. You know, some cow's milk instead of soy milk. That poor old cat.
- Penance: a carrot for the rabbitStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A postulant who broke a minor precept is very upset with himself and asks for a penance. Ajahn Brahm tells him to take a carrot from the kitchen to the hungry wild rabbit…
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a beautiful little wild rabbit at our Jhana Grove retreat centre turned up a few days ago. And one of the Anagarika's broken a little precept. And he's really upset about himself. And so I said, I'll give you a penance. So what's the penance? What do I have to do? There's a, there's a hungry rabbit over in Jhana Grove, go and take a carrot from the kitchen and go and give it to the rabbit. It's a wonderful little thing, a little wild rabbit is just hiding there. Because it's really hot in the forest. Next to the wall by the Japanese garden, those of you who know Jhana Grove, he's just been hanging out there to get away from the heat of the forest. And so just go out to him and just give him a carrot. And it's just so cute. And you know, even if you're a multiple murderer, it will soften you just seeing a little rabbit, just twitching its little face, and smelling the rabbit and then really getting into it. And apparently, he eats it really fast. It's a very guzzly rabbit.
- Puppies for young offendersStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm reads that Western Australia gave repeat juvenile offenders, aged 16 or 17 and beyond the reach of counsellors, a puppy each to train. Every session the puppy jumped…
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I read it in the newspaper in the local Western Australia. There's some really smart person here in this state, there're lots of smart people in government. Rare, but there are some. [laughter] Decided to take some of these juvenile offenders who got into all sorts of trouble with the law. Instead of like bagging them up in a jail again, or giving them counsellors because sometimes the counsellors can't do anything either. Instead, they gave them dogs. They assign every one of these really bad juvenile offenders, a little puppy to look after, to train. And the results were incredible. And they were saying instead of like a counsellor, another human being. Yeah, they've been there. They've done that. They went to sort of to that little puppy little dog to train and to get to know and every time they went to this session with their puppy, the puppy would jump all over them and lick them. No counsellor ever does that. [laughter] Not even a monk does that. I'm not going to lick you. But, these dogs would do that. And they just melted some of these really repeated offenders. And they were just only 16 or 17 and gone through just a lot, a lot of therapies, and that really got to them.
- Sanctuary — the temple cat on the monk's lapStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Kitten brought into the meditation hall chooses an adopter; later another cat, seeing its owner arrive to collect it, jumps onto Brahm's lap as if claiming sanctuary.
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gave me this kitten and I brought it into this room here and when I was meditating I let it just go loose and it went on people's laps rubbed past them and the cat chose its new owner actually it was almost a fight because two or three people saw that little kid and said can I I have it please they got any more and they said no it's already chosen you and so they took it back and they adopted it especially Buddhists I must admit you're all such kind loving people so if a cat comes here they really enjoy themselves we do have a another cat who comes here I haven't seen it this weekend but it comes here and imagine a little cat it lives around the back here somewhere it's got an owner but the little cat comes and plays with you and never gets chased away and sometimes you get special food and that little kitten or cat it really likes we found I tried to give it some milk he didn't like the milk he really likes chicken and as soon as I say that people find find some chicken somewhere or other to feed the little kitten and so the kitten comes and if you're too busy to give it a nice stroke of a pat it goes to so many other people it gets patted so much much more than it will ever get patted in its own home that's why little kittens or cats they love this place even here I remember once there was another cat years ago used to come here every Saturday afternoon because Saturday after afternoon after the meditation it would actually play in a reception area here crawl all over people get stroked here stroked there get give him some special treats I remember that little cat because then one day know the secretary in there got a call and it was from the owner of the cat she said she was moving today is my cat there I said yeah it's here he playing with the monks I said well I'm moving today I've got to come and collect it and so I remember her coming in and walking into the reception area and the cat was actually just playing in front of me and as soon as the cat saw the owner to come and collect it you know what that cat did I'm not exaggerating it jumped right onto my lap you could read its little cat mind Sanctuary Sanctuary Sanctuary
- She asked the dog if it wanted to dieStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A committee member's dog has cancer; the vet wants to euthanize. She asks for a few minutes, looks the dog in the eyes and asks if it wants to die — sensing no — and refuses. The…
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There's one of our members here years ago. She had this beautiful dog and the dog had cancer and the dog got such excellent care, expensive, but this uh girl didn't mind sort of spending money on her dog. And of course, he went took her to the do the vet and the vet said, [gasps] "Can't do anything more. Your dog's in pain. Can I sort of uh euthanize it? I mean, kill it. Yeah. And the woman, she'd been here so many times, she's actually one of our committee members years ago. And so he said, "Uh, can I please just have a few minutes with my dog?" And then after spending a few minutes with the dog, she went back to the vet and said, "No, I won't allow you to euthanize a dog." And the vet was shouted at her and scolded her. You Buddhists are just so selfish about your own religious views, not caring about the dog. But she stood her ground and said, "I'm taking it home." Now, what had happened? She'd heard what we taught here so many times that she took that dog in her arms in a quiet space, looked her dog in the eyes, [snorts] and asked the dog, "Do you want to die? Have you had enough? It's not my decision. It's yours. And whatever you tell me, I'll tell the vet. It's wrong to kill another being, but it's okay to ask them what they want to do and tell that to the vet. And she said, "I got the message back from the dog. It's your dog, your cat. You've you've been with them. You love them. If you ask the question, you'd feel what the answer is. It's very clear. No, I don't want to die. And she took the scolding from the vet. But 6 months later, she took the dog back to the vet, was in full remission, all by itself, and the vet said, "Oh, you Buddhists are so wise and kind."
- Six months alone, and the kangaroos ate the pizzaStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Sometime between 2000 and 2008 his year's sabbatical shrank to six months. Instead of touring, he stayed in a hut in the Serpentine forest without seeing or speaking to anyone.…
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I spent six months without seeing any human being, without talking to anybody else. What had happened was, I was supposed to have a sabbatical, a year off, but then it, one thing led to another, I can only have six months off, so you go anywhere in the world, where would you like to go for six months? I could go touring here, visiting this monastery or that monastery, but I said, "No." Why do people always have to seek for happiness somewhere else? Why can't I find that happiness right where I am in that monastery where I worked so hard to build it up? So I said, “No, I'm not going to seek for happiness contentment anywhere else,” I could go wherever I wanted to, but I decided to find the best happiness and truth and freedom and wisdom right here. So I had a hut in the forest in Serpentine and I stayed there for six months, never went anywhere except deeper and deeper inside.. And it was arranged that we had a box…, actually where's that box now? The box which…, I think it's over… Okay, still is there somewhere, anyway, we had a little box there, and in the morning, at a certain time, about 10:30, one of the monks would actually put my bowl with food in the box, and I'd know the time they were coming, so I knew to be in my hut, and afterwards I will go to the box, open it up, eat the food, and then wash the bowl, put it in the box there for the next day. So I never, it's much better than Uber Eats, it was “Monk Eats". I never got charged, I never saw anybody. So there I was, and they knew I was alive because they see my bowl, and the food was eaten, so and it could have been the Kangaroos, I suppose, eating the food, but no it was me, although sometimes, those kangaroos…, you know, that they're really really really smart, and they soon found out that I was, you know, in that hut, and sometimes you'd leave your food outside on the veranda, it's a walking path, and leave the bowl there just for a few minutes to go inside to get something 'cause I liked eating on the veranda at first, and you know what happened? You find a kangaroo with it's head inside my bowl, (laughs) taking the first choice of food before I ever got to it! And so I from that time I decided to, to eat inside my hut, and so even inside, but, you know, the window was open and the kangaroo will come up onto my path, and look at me through the window, and ahh… a poor kangaroo, so you know, you felt sort of some compassion for this poor.. They had plenty of grass, but then, I started by putting some healthy food outside, I remember, like a carrot, or some…, but you know, they weren't interested in that, you know the food they liked the most when I was on retreat? Pizza! Honest! (laughter) Like…, it was, I don’t know if it's healthy for them, but, you know, that's what the Kangaroos decided they wanted to eat, see a little kangaroo with a little pizza in their mouth, they loved that
- The ants and the A-frame hutStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm builds the A-frame hut at Serpentine right next to an ant mound — against the Vinaya — after chanting and apologising to the ants and promising not to disturb them.…
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You know that big A-frame over in Serpentine still there? I built that and it was right next to an ant mount and it was a beautiful place but you're not really supposed to build a monk's hut next to an ant mount to disturb it. That's against the vinaya. But so what I did and I went there did some chanting wishing all those ants well pleased. Look, I'm sorry. I will not try and disturb you at all. I'm going to build this heart without disturbing you. And I managed to do that. I never so touched that ant mound at all. And so that once that hut was finished, I was the first person to stay in that hut. And the ants never bothered me at all. You know, they could climb in if they really wanted to. But they they stayed away from my hut. They went underneath it. They went around it, but never actually in it until one day one of the anagarakers, they weren't being mindful. They drove the tractor over that ant. I felt so disappointed. From that day on, the ants started to come into the kouti. That's no exaggeration. Sometimes your kindness can actually do so many wonderful things if you're kind to the group of ants and the ants will never harm you or hurt you. And that's, you know, afterwards if you break that trust, of course, they'll come in.
- The ants left a circle of kindness around the monkStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A famous Thai forest monk, waiting to give a village talk, sat by an ant mound; red ants bit him until he fled, then he forced himself back and switched to metta — may all ants…
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he found a nice tree and sat down and started meditating then he realized he hadn't been really mindful enough to to to really see where he was meditating cuz there's a big ant mound right next to him and after just a minute or two he You could feel the red ants start start crawling up his legs and as they crawled up they started biting him and they're very painful but he said I'm a monk I can enjoy this [laughter] but after about 20 or 30 bites then [clears throat] there is thousands of Then he's amazing. He said he just he didn't know just jumping up and running, but he was running. He lost his mindfulness and he was running away. And at that point, he said, "No, I am a monk. I'm a forest monk." So he turned around and went straight back to where he'd been sitting and sat down in the middle of these thousands of ants again. Could you do that? So what happened next? The reason I tell the story, he changed his meditation object to loving kindness. May all ants be happy and well. Look, you know, I've got plenty of blood there or flesh. You can take some if you want, but please leave me some [laughter] or something like that. But just real kindness. You know, you've had that sort of feelings of kindness and love towards people and sometimes they're so strong even if someone is hurting you. Just give kindness and joy and goodwill towards them. That's what he did. And then the next thing he told us in his biography, the next thing he felt that the the ants stopped biting him. The next thing you could actually feel them just walking down his body rather than up his body. It's this amazing thing to see when you give kindness like that and the last ant just left him. They went into a very blissful meditation for the hour or so, hour and a half he had. When he came out of the meditation, you know, that's when what disturbed him was the sound of the the villagers coming, you know, they had their dinner and they were coming to listen to a dharma talk from him. And what he didn't really understand in that part of Thailand when they come into the presence [clears throat] of like a monk or a nun to listen to a talk that they dance. He thought this is really weird. Hadn't seen this before. People dancing when they come into the presence of a monk. He opened his eyes more fully and he realized they weren't dancing as a cultural welcome. They were dancing because they've been bitten alive by these millions of ants. And what he said and it's I totally accept this. This is what happened around him. There was a circle about maybe a meter in diameter. There was no ants at all. And then there was millions of ants all around him like protecting him
- The birds queued — and punished the queue-jumperStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Near the Burmese border in hot season he put out a water bowl by a knothole. Birds of different sizes lined up in a queue; when one jumped the queue the others piled on, pecked…
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to see all these birds of different sizes and species line up in a queue. Have you ever seen birds queuing? I have. And it was true. That's what they did. There are maybe eight or nine birds, maybe a dozen at the best, you know, and they were big ones, small ones, and they were sitting there just waiting until the one in front finished and then the next one would actually come in. And of course, it is fascinating. And then there was always every afternoon one bird would come in and would actually jump the queue and try and get in there first. Couldn't wait to have a bath or have a drink. Weird. But you know what the other birds would do? They would all get out of queue, jump on that Q jumper, [laughter] pick him and beat him and whatever. And that Q jumper would fly away. And then all those birds would queue up in exactly the order they were before. [laughter] It's unbelievable. Absolutely true. And so what that really did was, you know, increase your respect
- The blind cats of the closed coal mineStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm recalls a journal article from decades earlier. After Thatcher's government closed a coal mine in South Wales (near Cardiff or Swansea, he can't remember), locals…
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Now, the evidence which uh got me interested in this. Many, many years ago, I saw this article sort of in a journal. And this was the evidence of the the mutant cats. This is a timely one here because we've got a little kitten in the back there. But some years ago, it must have been about um 24, 5 years. No, it must be about 30 years ago. Uh when uh Margaret Thatcher, she was the Prime Minister of England. One of the first thing she did when she came into power was to fight the unions in that country. And one of the things was to close the coal mines because they were uneconomical, so she thought. So, they closed many coal mines and many of those coal mines were in South Wales. Some were up in the north, but this particular one which was closed was I think next to Cardiff or Swansea, I can't remember which. And once it was closed and a fence was put around it, the people in the local area, if they had extra kittens, instead of actually dropping it at a Buddhist monastery and getting the monk to bring it and see if he can find a nice home here, they were far more cruel. They would go under the fence in this coal mine. They'd go to the edge of the pit which went hundreds of meters down and they'd throw these unwanted kittens down the shaft. Just throw them down. They were so cruel. But the only reason I found out this was happening was about I don't know, it was maybe 10 years later. They sent engineers down into that mine to check on its stability to make sure that it wasn't going to collapse. So, they had to do an inspection. And when they went down the bottom of the shaft, that's when they found this whole mound of like, you know, dead cat flesh and fur of all the cats who'd been actually thrown down there. But you also know that cats, especially kittens, that sometimes they do fall, they land on their feet. They're incredibly agile, almost supernaturally agile. Because many of the cats survived. They survived the fall. They knew that because there was a heap of cats underground. But in those 10 or 15 years, I forget how long, but it wasn't that long. They knew when the coal mine was closed down and they knew when they actually like this happened, they found a whole new species of cat underground. Cats with huge ears that they came from rats who were blind, born blind, but huge ears. There was a new species of cat had evolved in the space of 10 or 15 years. How did that happen? It's obvious. Those cats living down hundreds of meters underground where no light came, they didn't need eyes. So, basically, the eyes weren't developed. They needed ears because it was sound which would lead them to their their dinner, sound which would protect them from their enemies, sound which would lead them to their mate so they could reproduce. So, the ears, because the ears were really necessary, they grew grew grew grew grew. The huge ears. Eyes not necessary. They were just blind. And a whole new species. I remember seeing a photograph of them. I'd never seen a cat like that. It had evolved.
- The camel's one more roundStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A man who told Ajahn Brahm the story after hearing the Nandivisāla tale arrived late at a primary-school fete in a park, longing for a camel ride. The organiser refused: the…
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And this guy he he he was helping at like a school fate raising money for the local primary school. I don't know why they have to raise money for the local primary school. They always manage to find enough money for nuclear submarines and other stuff they buy. But you know, schools, you have to raise your own money. But they're raising money in the local park. And one of the things they had, one of the fundraising initiatives was camel rides. Have you ever been on a camel ride? Anyway, this guy always wanted to go on a camel ride, but when he got to the park, it was really late and they're about to close up and it was been a really, really hot day. So, I thought, well, you know, just can I just have the last camera ride, please? And the guy who was organizing it said, I'm sorry, but the camera's been working hard all day, and the poor camel is really tired. It's been very hot. and we've got enough money now for the you know the school so sorry you missed out and this guy looked at the camel and looked at the man and said look you know it's not just for the sake of money but it's something I always wanted to do in life to ride a camel and you know I can pay double triple I don't care about the money just can I please ride that camel and apparently said the man who was organized this looked up in the up at the camel, looked in the eyes. It was, you know, he's almost like a pet, almost part of the family. Looked at the camel and said, "Dear camel, this gentleman's come such a long way. And I know that you've worked so hard and you're really tired. I'm tired, too. Would you mind? Just one more round." And of course, the camel went straight down. And he jumped on its back and the clam lifted up. One more round out of kindness.
- The cat that went to heavenStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: From a little book over 100 years old by a Western lady living in Japan (as he recalls): a destitute painter is commissioned to paint the Buddha's parinibbāna with the animals…
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that book about the cat that went to heaven book. It's one of my favorite little books and I did get the library to purchase a few of them but they all tend to disappear because it's inspiring books. All it is is a story. It's over 100 years old now that book. It says western lady living in Japan about this painter who was really destitute and there was a a competition to actually to do a painting of the Lord Buddha's uh paranana and all the animals who came to worship at the Buddha's feet just before he passed away. That was in the Japanese Buddhist tradition. And this painter got given the contract. It was just a wonderful thing for him. So every day he would meditate and then he would paint. First the Buddha and then an elephant and a horse and a lion. All these animals mentioned in the suitors. But there was also a little cat who would every day sit next to the painter. And every day the cat seemed to get more sad because the cat would never see himself in that painting. And when the pager had finished the very last animal in there, that little cat looked so incredibly sad. He looked at the cat and the cat looked at him. He said, "If I paint you in that painting, you will never be accepted. cat never visited the Buddha. But then he looked at the cat. Oh, what the heck? And he painted the cat in bed. And as soon as the housekeeper saw that he'd broken the tradition and put a cat, you know, in this picture, his housekeeper thought, "We're ruined. You spoiled it all those weeks." But anyway, it was finished. So one of the monks came from the temple, took one look at it. Very well done. What have you done putting a cat in this picture? So the monk said, "We will take it to the temple, but we'll burn it tomorrow morning. We can't use it. It's untraditional." And so the whole little family there. Oh, I should have mentioned as soon as soon as the cat saw its image, the very last um animal on the the line, the cat saw its image on the the painting. It got so happy its heart burst with joy. It died out of happiness, sheer bliss. So they lost the cat. But anyway, the following morning that the the priest and said, "Come to the temple now. You got to come now." When he went to the temple, a huge throng of people there, monks from all the temples in town were there who saw his painting and been burnt. and he saw where he painted the the cat. The cat had vanished. There's no cat at the end of the painting. He followed the line of animals in front of the elephant. The first animal there was the cat and the hand on top of the cat.
- The cow that criedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After a meditation talk at Karnet Prison Farm, a prisoner — a murderer, born in Northern Ireland — asks to see Ajahn Brahm. His prison job is slaughtering animals; they always…
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there was a prisoner over there who came to see me after I gave a a a talk on meditation. He wanted a private interview because he was very upset that he was a slaughterer in that prison, and he was about to slaughter a cow. All the cows would be screaming and hollering and trying to escape, but one cow came in which didn't quiet which didn't quiet at all, which came in I I'm going to tell the story now. I've already started. Of all the cows and the sheep and other animals which this guy had to slaughter, that was his job in Carnat Prison Farm. He was a prisoner. He was a murderer, actually, he told me. And now he got this job of killing cows and sheep, the slaughterer. He said, "All the animals who came in would always cry and struggle to escape. They needed dogs and these electric shock cattle prods to force them into the enclosure into the place where the executioner stood with his electric bolt gun. And he said that every animal would always scream and try and escape. He said on this one day this cow came in without making any noise, head down, and just walked one foot after another slowly and positioned itself voluntarily to stand underneath the platform where its executioner stood. And this cow this cow then lifted its head and looked this prisoner in the eye. Straight eye contact. This was so weird, so unusual, that this man, who was born in Northern Ireland, he told me that he was stabbed when he was 7 years of age. That was his first stabbing. When the school bully came up to him and asked for the money he had for his lunch. He said, "No." And the school bully took out a knife. "Give me your lunch money." He said no a second time. The bully never asked a third time, but plunged the knife into this boy's arm. He was badly wounded with blood streaming down his arm. His first thought was to run to his home, which was just around the corner, where his father was unemployed. He ran into his house, screamed to his father, "I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed!" His father looked at the wound and took him into the kitchen, but not to dress his wound, but to take out another knife from the kitchen drawer, give it to his 7-year-old son, and ordered the son, "Go back into the school and stab the boy back." And he said that was how he was brought up. And that's why he'd been in prison many times. And he confessed to me that he'd killed people. He was a murderer. And now he was killing cows. When you find out where these people come from, their upbringing, sometimes your view of these people as bad people just disappears. Your whole perception of them changes. You think about them in a different way. But anyway, with the cow, as this cow got eye contact with this prisoner, the prisoner couldn't move. He was frozen. He'd never seen such a thing before. He couldn't pull the gun to execute the cow. He didn't know how many minutes passed by, but then something very strange happened. He noticed in the left eye of the cow, just above the lower eyelid, there was liquid welling up, getting more and more and more. And you all know how big cows' eyes are. The water got so much above the left eyelid, bottom eyelid of the cow, that it started to drip over the edge and down the cow's cheek. The cow was crying. He got so confused. Soon he noticed the same was happening in the other eye. On the lower eyelid of the right eye, there was more water coming until that too was far too much for the eyelid to hold. And that too started to stream over the right eyelid and down the cow's cheek. The cow was crying. He swore, threw down the gun, and told and said, "That cow ain't dying." When he came to see me, he said he was now a vegetarian. Here's a murderer who is now a vegetarian cuz he saw a cow cry.
- The day I peed on a snakeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After meditating all night in a Thai forest monastery, the tired young monk goes into the bush at first light and squats to urinate on what he thinks is a stick — until the stick…
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I've been meditating all night in this monastery over in Thailand and in the early morning just of course you went out to go to toilet. But in those jungles just like going out to the ordinary toilet you just go out to the forest, squat down as you've seen Asian's squat down and then you just urinate in the bush. So this is the first light of day so I wasn't seeing very clearly my mindfulness wasn't strong so when I squatted down and started urinating I really did think I was urinating on a stick. (Ajahn is laughing) And then that stick started to move You know what it's like you're a bit tired, look you don't get scared, you think oh! that's a snake. It's like you're really stupid. But of course, afterwards I was a bit afraid because I thought my goodness because when you squat down you're not standing, you're squatting remember, and that was a very venomous snake and as I tell people these days the most sensitive part of a male's body was only a few inches away from the venomous snake. You girls won't appreciate this but you men sometimes that make you squirm. Uh no, but of course it did not bite me. And to this day I always think I know now why it didn't bite me. Because this was in a Buddhist monastery, in a Buddhist country, Thailand. And I'm really sure to this day that that snake never bit me as I peed on it because it thought it was being blessed with holy water
- The girl who had been a pythonStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A photo given to him (he thinks) by a Burmese monk, with the story written on the back: a young girl in Yangon claimed she had been a python in a previous life, one of three…
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It was a snake photo, because the story was, it was given me, I think, by a Burmese monk, and it was an amazing story, that it was written in Burmese on the back but there was a girl in Yangon. When she was young, she claimed in a previous life to have been a python, a snake, in a previous life, which is a weird thing to start with, but then she also said that she was obviously a very special python, because she lived on the shoulder of an old Buddha statue in a cave in upcountry Burma, and with two other pythons, and they were treated with great dignity by the villagers because, you know, they lived actually on a Buddha statue, and in Burma you may know it's a very strong Buddhist country and sometimes people say that's just myth, but their parents were intrigued enough to ask, you know, where that village was, really up country, and to make a visit there, a long trek for several days, and when actually got to this village, it matched. There were still two pythons left, and every moon day, they were taken ceremoniously, handled by the village elders, and taken out to be bathed, and then afterwards brought back to the statue where they lived, and someone had a photo of the three when they were still alive, now there was only two.
- The log that was a crocodileStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Sri Lankan man fed the fish in a lagoon with a slice of bread every morning on his way to work, and when a crocodile appeared he fed it a slice too, every day. One morning the…
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There was a uh a Sri Lankan man who would go every morning to a little lagoon on his way to work with a couple of slices of bread to feed the fish. Then one day a crocodile came. And so he fed the crocodile a slice of bread, too. And this crocodile just came every day from that time on to get a slice of bread from this guy. I don't crocodile alligator, might get that one wrong. But anyway, he went there one morning to feed the fish and this crocodile, and that was when the big wave came. And he got swept out to sea. And he said he tried to hang on to to a chair or something which was floating, but the current was so strong it dragged him the chair away from him. The next thing he saw was a log of wood. He grabbed onto that and he could hold onto it. And he was so incredibly confused. It's a true story. They didn't It took him a while to realize all the other stuff was being swept out to sea, but the log of wood was going the opposite direction to the shore. And it got him so close to the shore he could jump off the log of wood and grab onto the bank and escape with his life. Then he looked at that log of wood. It wasn't a log of wood. It was this crocodile that saved him. Or it could be, for those of you who are cynical, the crocodile realized if that man dies, there'll be no more bread.
- The monastery monkey and the cheeky visitorStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Supporter frees a market-caged monkey into a forest monastery; it joins afternoon tea. Grateful to the head monk, it sits in visitors' laps — until a cheeky Bangkok lady gets a…
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monkey, and he was actually just in a cage in the market. And in order to give this monk monkey a life, one of the late uh supporters bought that monkey and asked to release it in the monastery. At least a monastery, forest monastery, had trees, and the monks could let it swing around where it wanted to go. And so, this monastery joined So, this monk joined this monastery and became a kind of pet. Whenever the monks would have tea in the afternoon, the monkey would also sit in the group and have a cup of tea. It was quite cute. It's a wild monkey, you know, it wasn't really a pet. It wasn't sort of hurt at all, but always was well fed. And this monkey would always be, obviously, just very, very uh grateful to the head monk. So much so that sometimes you had visitors who would come in from Bangkok to see uh the head monk, and sometimes, please excuse me, it's like Thai custom, sometimes you're cheeky. And so, this monk uh this uh one of these ladies from Bangkok was a bit cheeky to the head monk. And this monkey would actually jump on people's laps and let them stroke it. And of course, people loved actually stroking this very docile monkey. And then he would jump into the next person's lap. And when he got to the lady who was being cheeky, he jumped into her lap
- The monastery monkey reborn as a boyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Thai Buddhist buys an abused monkey at a market and gives it to a forest monastery in Thailand. It becomes almost one of the monks — it even sits holding a cup of tea at the…
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If you want a nice story about that, this is one of the little anecdotes you pick up in your life as a monk. In one of our monasteries in Thailand many years ago, a uh Thai Buddhist went to the market and saw there was a monkey up for sale. And this poor monkey was in a small cage, had been abused. And this man took pity and compassion on this monkey and bought it and wanted to release it in a place where it would be well looked after to give this monkey some freedom. So instead of actually taking it to a nature reserve where it wouldn't be able to look after itself, it took it to one of the monasteries. You know, the monks are nice and kind. So gave it to the head monk, let it out of the cage. And the head monk, you know, fed it, looked after it. And it had a bit more freedom, it could run around in the the forest monastery and swing through the trees. But because it was so associated with human beings, it was like half monkey, half human. Now whenever the monks would have their tea time in the afternoon, the monkey would also always also come and look very cute. It would also hold a cup of tea just like all the other monks and sit there while all the other monks were drinking their tea. It was actually basically one of the monks. And after all, there's only a couple of letters uh difference between a monk and a monkey. So there it was enjoying life in the monastery. But you know, it was very protective and you know, the sometimes the monks loved that little monkey and you know, it would just feed it and had good fun with it. But the monkey was very protective and one of the things it would do would be to chase any cars which came outside if they were making too much noise cuz it it liked being in a peaceful place. It realized this was a forest monastery and the monks wanted to be quiet. So unfortunately, one day it chased the a truck and fell under the wheels and got killed. And that was the end of that monkey in that life. But the head monk, who's I won't say who it is, but he's actually been here, he sat in this seat here and given talks some years ago. He had a very good meditator and he told everybody what happened. Cuz he had been meditating, he could see what happened, you know, in his meditation. Soon as that monkey died, the stream of consciousness, what some people call the soul, but in Buddhism we call it a stream of consciousness. There is a slight difference. So you don't need to worry too much about that as far as this explanation is concerned. This uh stream of consciousness of the monkey went out of the monkey's body, went into the village where one of the ladies was pregnant. And he saw it actually entering this woman's womb. And he told the monks what had happened, which is how I can tell you. And so because he told the monks that this woman who was pregnant, they saw this this monkey as he entered the womb was going to take rebirth as a human being. Why that would happen is because that monkey was associating so much with human beings. Basically, it thought it was a human being. It thought that's where it belonged. That's why it's attracted into a human life. Many times, if you have animals, pets, dogs, cats, kittens, whatever, because, you know, you're with them all the time. How many of you have got cats and dogs which actually eat human food? They would refuse to eat Whiskas. They want sort of chicken or whatever you eat. And you give it to them, don't you? And they're so associated with you that they very often they get reborn as a human being. That's what they really think they are. So, he got reborn as a as a human being, a little boy. And when I first heard of that, the baby hadn't been born yet. And all the monks were waiting to see cuz this was a local village. So, you know, you go and ask around over there. These were your local people. So, they would actually they knew exactly what was happening and they would actually see this woman. And they told me that as soon as that baby was born, they noticed an interesting thing. That baby was exceptionally hairy for a baby boy. It was a monkey before and it still had a tiny bit of that monkey character. And of course, you know, probably was a little monkey when it grew up. And it was actually true cuz I knew that came from a monkey before.
- The monkey who knocked on the monk's doorStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An old monk living alone in a bamboo-and-thatch hut deep in the jungle hears a knock one night. At the door is a monkey from the forest holding her dead baby, as if asking him to…
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And there was a story this old monk told me. This old monk was he told some wonderful stories. He was living by himself in a bamboo and thatch hut in the middle of the jungle many years ago. He said even one evening late at night there was a knock on his door and he who's knocking on the door. No one comes here at nighttime. And he said that when he opened the door there was a a monkey who was holding a little dead baby. a dead baby monkey in her arms. And he realized this was one of the the monkeys in the forest around him who had lost her kid. And what does the monkey know what to do? He gave it to the monk or she gave it to the monk almost asking the monk, "Can you do something to bring my baby back to life?" And the monk just, you know, looked at the the baby monk. It was dead. no possibility of reviving it. But at least did some chanting and after doing the little chanting for the baby monkey gave the little baby back to its mom and the m monkey just obviously had very wet eyes just went away. which is like how sort of people live in the forest a long time. Actually, you actually the animals get to know you and somehow other this griefstricken mother monkey thought that maybe the monk could do something but it couldn't.
- The parrot ordered whiskeyJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Passenger and parrot on a cut-price airline; attendant asks for drinks; parrot demands whiskey; attendant shocked; passenger only wants tea.
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there was this guy sitting next to a parrot and then when the flight attendant came said can I get you something to drink the parrot said give me whiskey you who the flight attender was really shocked and really confused and the guy said no can I have a cup of tea please and the flight attendant still in shock you know went to the galley and brought a whiskey back for the parrot and the guy said no my cup of tea
- The parrot that kept vigilStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A gardener coming to Bodhinyana each day noticed, early one morning at the corner of Kingsbury Drive and the South Western Highway, a parrot on a branch looking down at a dead…
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some little time before, we had a gardener who was coming up every day to do some work in Bodhinyana, and he told me the corner of Kingsbury Drive and the South Western Highway, he just noticed as he came early one morning, not much traffic, there was a parrot, was on the branch of a tree, looking down at a dead parrot, which had been hit by a car, maybe early that morning, and when he finished work, he noticed that parrot was still there, looking down, hadn't moved. The next morning, the parrot was still on the tree, looking down. About three or four days, the parrot hadn't moved, looking down at the dead parrot on the side of the road. If that wasn't grief, I don't know what is.
- The Pinjarra girl who fed the tiger snakeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Elder in a Pinjarra home recalls: a little girl takes a saucer of milk under the stumped house each morning for a tiger snake. Mother finds out; father says leave it — next day…
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old people's home in Pinara and because they didn't get any visitors and seeing a monk in there was great you know this old old uh people and one of them told me this wonderful story I don't know how many years ago this would have been maybe 60 or 70 years ago when he saw this he was a young man at the time and this was about 30 years ago. He told me this story and he was you know in the old people's home now so maybe even older but he said that in that area in Pinter one of his friends you know living in one of these simple old houses and saw a um uh he had a daughter maybe four or five years of age and the daughter would ask the mother for a source of milk every morning and the mother you know they thought milk was going to be very healthy for the kid and asking for something We give the daughter a saucer of milk. Now why not a glass? She said no a saucer please. So after a while mom being very busy decided you know what's why does she want a saucer? Why does she drink it you know in the kitchen? Why does she take it outside? And so she followed her little five or six year old daughter and saw the five or sixyear-old daughter place the saucer of milk just on the foot of the house. you know, the the houses on stumps, raised on stumps, just and call out to whatever was living underneath the house. And a big tiger snake came out. And of course, the daughter was only a maybe a foot away from the tiger snake. And the mother freaked out because the tiger snakes were deadly, as many of you know, and her daughter was so close. And the daughter was feeding this tiger snake every day with a saucer of milk. And so she froze and waited for the snake to drink the milk and then slither away and told her her husband the next that evening. And the husband said, "I'll look after this. No need to do anything. Just give our daughter the source of milk tomorrow." Which she did. And so the little girl, five or six years of age, it went outside the house, put the source of milk down, and called out to its friend, the tiger snake. And the tiger snake slithered out. And just before it drank the milk, its head was blasted off by her father's gun, killed right in front of the girl. From that day on, the girl refused to eat. There's nothing they could do to make it to eat. And this old man said, you know, he called it she started ftting. Never heard that word in that context before. Was ftting and ftting. Eventually, she had to be admitted into the local hospital. But even the local hospital couldn't help her and she died in the hospital. Just so much sadness. so much trauma of seeing this snake killed right in front of her. And this old digger said the father might as well shot her daughter's head off at the time
- The preceptor's snake in the lapStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm's preceptor, later acting Sangharaja of Thailand, came out of deep meditation in a Koh Samui coconut grove to find a snake coiled in his lap. He felt no fear, watched…
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he would meditate in a coconut grove. And he said once he had a nice deep meditation in the coconut grove and that when he came out of the meditation he saw a snake coiled up in his lap. Now, what would you feel if you came out of meditation at 8:00 and you find a big snake had been caught up in your lap? How would you react? And this monk, he was was my preceptor and he became the acting sangaraju of Thailand with lots of responsibility. And this coconut grove was in in the island of Got Samoy when that was not a famous place where tourists went to. That was his his hometown in there. But he said the amazing thing was he was so peaceful when he came out and opened his eyes. He saw the the snake in his lap called up very happy and he had no fear at all. And that was really surprising to him. He thought how can this happen? No fear. And of course he just watched the snake for about 10 or 15 minutes and then the snake just uncoiled and just slithered away with you can imagine gratitude simply because he had no fear.
- The Rottweilers weren't chainedStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Visiting a house, he's told not to worry about the two Rottweilers — they're chained up — so he walks right past them. Only afterwards does the owner nearly have a heart attack:…
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I just remember just going to one person's house and she had these two Rottweilers chained up and so he said, "No, it's okay. You don't need to be afraid of the Rottweilers. They're all chained up." So they walk right past them and only afterwards. No, she will. Almost had a heart attack. Oh my goodness, I forgot to put the chains on.
- The snake and the monk eyeball each otherStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: During chanting at a new jungle monastery in Thailand, a snake climbs up a monk's back; its head pops up over his shoulder. Monk and snake eyeball each other, both surprised. The…
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I remember once during one of the ceremonies we're doing some chanting and a snake CRA up this Monk's back and there's a snake I saw it cuz I was watching the Monk and just behind his shoulder a snake's head popped up and this monk looked at the snake and the snake looked at the Monk and they eyeballed each other it was one of those amazing moments that if you have a we didn't have video cameras obviously in those days we' gone on the funniest home movie for sure we'd have won a price the snake and the monk eyeballing each other cuz both were really surprised wondering what to do next and of course what the snake did the monk just very gently because very kind just gently pushed his robe off so the snake fell off without hurting it and just slithered away and we had a very good relationship with snakes in those days
- The three-metre dugite in the shade of his hutStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On retreat at Serpentine, Ajahn Brahm hears kangaroos fleeing as a huge, highly venomous dugite approaches while he washes his bowl. He says hello and carries on; it lies in the…
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that big dugite, he was, I think, 2.7 meters long because it was a hot day, and he just wanted to shade under the side of the hut I was living in, the kuti, and because I built that I knew the dimensions so I know 2.7 meters long, and as soon as he came, the kangaroos alerted me, they were running out of the way, afraid of this huge little, no, huge little, a huge snake, and he came, and he looked at me, and he was, I was in striking distance, he just looked at me, and I looked at him, and wished him well and just carried on washing my bowl, and then the next thing I knew, I turned around, and he was pointing in the other direction, he realised he was okay with me, I was okay with him, and he just wanted some shade, that's all, on a hot day.
- The vet who wept when his dog was hitStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Victorian vet driving to a weekend party is overcome with unexplained grief, pulls over and weeps; later learns his dog was hit by a car at that exact time.
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vet who finished work early on a Friday afternoon and went to somewhere in the Country of Victoria for a nice weekend party with his friends. So, on the way, maybe two or three hour journey, in the middle of the journey, he was overcome with unexpected intense grief. It was so bad he had to stop his car, park by the side of the road and just weep for about 15 or 20 minutes and he hadn't got a clue why. He just felt like crying and when he pulled himself together, and drove off to this house where he's gonna have the weekend party with his friends, the message was waiting for him. His dog had been hit by a car
- The wild horse that kissed the coffinStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Gerald in Hong Kong sent a photo-story: a man tamed a wild horse with only kindness and patience — no hitting or starving — until the horse would greet him with a mouth-kiss.…
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there was a horse which no one could actually tame a wild horse and he decided to give it a try but not training it by hitting it or starving it or punishing it in any which way but just being patient and being kind and of course it took him a long time but after a while this horse you know would allow him to ride on on the horse's back became like an ordinary horse people thought it could never be they used the word broken that's a terrible word to use to break a horse he just used kindness and patience and this horse you know would always you know be this guy's friend would would greet him you know when he would come home from some other business he would greet him by actually putting his mouth on the on the mouth of this owner was actually kissing him but then unfortunately after so many years the owner died and passed away and this guy in hong kong gerald sent this beautiful photograph with the story of when this guy was in the coffin dead the horse came up and kissed his friend kissed the coffin obviously even that horse recognized that this that was his friend i just gave it one last kiss and this is those sorts of stories
- The zookeeper who freed the orangutansStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At the annual John Curtin Medal presentation, Ajahn Brahm (a past recipient) hears about that year's winner: a man with learning difficulties at school who, with help and…
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And I don't mind sharing this about this gentleman uh who won the award this year and he was a person with yeah if I remember it correctly please excuse me if I get some details wrong. Uh he had learning difficulties at school but he pushed through. Now with help with encouragement he got to university to curtain university where he was studied I think animal sciences or whatever applied science and eventually he managed to with a lot of extra work tuition and help eventually to get his degree number one it says that this is agrees with my experience when I was a school teacher there's no one who can't do things. Now, if you want to get your degree in this or get an a a um qualification in something else, if you keep on going, you don't give up, there's many people out there will help you and look after you and care for you and just encourage you. The human capacity in my experience is huge. Basically anyone can do almost anything within reason just as they believe in themselves or sometimes that belief is given by other people. People inspire you. Your mentors if you get a really good mentor an inspirational teacher they take you so far in life. But anyway, eventually he got the job over in uh in Perth Zoo and he was apparently he looks he looked after the the the primates and the orangutan enclosure. And this gentleman, the first name was Leaf something. But anyway, just a person with intellect with learning difficulties looking after orangutans and then seeing what the problem really was. That apparently many of these small baby orangutans were taken to shopping centers cuz they were so cute and cuddly for promotions to sell products or something. And this is what human beings do. But apparently he knew he'd been looking after the orangutans for a long time that that really hurt the mother child bond. And he just know he just used everything he got to to stop that exploitation of baby orangutans. Next, to make sure the cages or the compounds were a little bit less like prisons and more like places where they could relax and enjoy and have some uh similarities to the wild jungles where they came from. But even that wasn't enough. So then he started to return them to the jungles of Bornea and to start a big fund of oh no what was it called something orangutan fund just now worldwide and just millions of dollars in the fund because he was he was producing providing he was actually doing something for some animals who are just really close to homo sapiens, the people sitting right in front of me now. He connected with them and basically freed thousands of them throughout the whole world.
- Two monks argue about the fish tankStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Waiting for lunch: one monk says fish tanks are prisons; the other says tanks protect fish from hooks and alien-abduction fishing — same tank, opposite morals.
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two monks who were in somebody's house waiting for lunch and they were sitting in the room and they had a fish tank I know you may have a fish tank in your house and one of them Mark said that is crol what did the fish do to have to be put inside his prison in somebody's house you know it's bad to keep fish in a tank in your house just for your own amusement the fish should be free to swim in the lakes and the rivers to go where they wanted to it is bad to imprison fish in a tank in your house so be honest how many of you have got fish tanks in your house very good because the other monks said you don't understand he said it's good to put fish in a tank in your house why he said because imagine that you were a fish if you were swimming in the lakes and the rivers you know that people would be fishing for you trying to kill you and eat you and I often thought what it must be like being a fish in the rivers you swimming around riding your own business you see this nice juicy little worm and you wonder has it got a hook in it or is it a real worm because you've seen many of your friends know they see a worm they take it and suddenly they''re yanked out of your existence never to be seen again it's like being abducted by aliens