Stories about human nature
2 Buddhist wisdom stories about human nature from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- The mouldy hay outside the fenceStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A stingy farmer wants to get rid of last year's mouldy hay. His cows won't touch it in the paddock, and when he mixes it with good hay they nose the bad hay aside. Then he…
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the farmer with moldy hay. A long time ago, this Aussie farmer had a whole lot of hay, which was from last year, which was moldy. And of course, trying to save costs, he wanted to give it to his cows before he would give them the new hey. But the cows they knew that was moldy old hay. So, would they eat any of it? No, they refuse to eat it. So, plan number two - let's mix it up with the good hay, the new hay, the moldy hay, and the new hay, mix it all up together and the cows won't know what's what and they'll eat it all. That way he gets rid of the old hay. And the cows were much smarter than the farmer, they just with a nose pushed the old hay to one side, pushed the new hay to the other side, and ate the new hay. It is just like the kangaroos in Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine. Because when we go on retreat, we take food, the food that is given to us, we got all this food, the monks give us far too much, and a lot of time we put the excess food out for the kangaroos. Now people might say oh, that's bad for the kangaroos. Ask the kangaroos! They don't think it's bad, they love it. As I remember the first time I did that. You care for the animals, so you give them some healthy food, some carrots and lettuce and some apples and stuff. But I couldn't believe the first time I did that, had this really healthy food there for the kangaroos, they, with their nose, they pushed aside the carrot, they pushed aside the lettuce, you know what they went for? The pizza! They did! They left all the healthy food, they loved pizza. And I think this is the only kangaroos in the whole of Australia who get pizza. The kangaroos in a Buddhist monastery It is their good karma to be reborn in a Buddhist monastery. They get pizza, no other kangaroos get that. And they like it, they love it, so good on them. And some of those kangaroos that they know the monks now. Because the monks are just so kind, you know, and so sort of gentle. I remember that happened to me once - you put your bowl just outside the door, you just go inside to get something, and before you know it, the kangaroo has got his nose in your bowl. That's your one meal of the day. And he's getting the first choice - going to bowl, looking what he wants. It is nice to be with animals, but anyway. So the cows pushed aside the hay that didn´t want and ate the hay they did want. So, he was still left with all this moldy hay and didn't know what to do next. Until he got a brainwave, an insight; he should have done this to start with. If ever you go into the countryside, and you see cows in a field or sheep in a field, have you ever noticed there's always a fence around to keep the cows away from the road. But the cows or the sheep love putting their head through the fences. And eating the grass just on the other side of the fence. You always see that well eaten, well grazed. So, what he did? Very simple solution: he put all the moldy hay, not in the paddock, but outside of the paddock. Away from the fence, but just far enough, if they really stretch, they could just get it. And the moldy hay was gone in a day. Anything which is forbidden, anything which you don't know, anything, which is just on the other side of your fence.... is very delicious. I know that people did once say that hunger is the best sauce. No, that's not the best sauce. Being forbidden is the best sauce
- 'Urinal for dogs'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: When Ajahn Brahm was a young monk, the town of Ubon had too few public toilets, and tuk-tuk drivers and passers-by all urinated against one wall until it stank. The council put…
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when I was a young monk in Thailand there was a problem in the local town of ubon that's you know in Northeast Thailand where aan Cha's Monastery was there was not enough public toilets so there was a place in that town where taxi drivers you know they took took drivers and anyone else who was passing would urinate it was against a wall and everybody would go there to urinate so much the place stack so the local government put a sign up please don't urinate here did that work no they put signs up saying you will be fined if you urinate here did that work no the place got smell it and smell it until one bureaucrat and there are some smart bureaucrats surprise surprise put up the sign which works he just put up a simple sign urinal for dogs and no one would use that place ever since