The Salmon of Mindfulness

Many Irish people are familiar with the fable of An Bradan Feasa. This name is most commonly translated from the Irish language as The Salmon of Knowledge or more rarely The Salmon of Wisdom. Fables such as this originated as teaching stories, long before written materials became the norm, and these stories carry many different layers of meaning. The best-known interpretation of the story of the young Fionn MacCumhaill, the poet Finnecas and the magical salmon can be found on Oisin MacSuibhne's website at

 http://www.suibhne.com/gallerybradan.htm 

(I am also deeply indebted to Oisin for his permission to use his beautiful stained glass piece as a logo for this initiative.)

There is another, somewhat more mundane but no less powerful, meaning to the myth. It is this; Fionn's wisdom comes not from the external magical effect of the hot salmon oil which falls on his thumb but rather arises inside Fionn from the burning itself and the instinctive placing of his thumb in his mouth to ease his pain.

In much the same way as the enlightenment of the Buddha followed his release from the suffering of his ascetic lifestyle and the divine resurrection of Jesus Christ is preceded by his agony on the cross, so the burning of Fionn's thumb symbolises the human suffering necessary for people to let go of their imagined selves and so embrace their true nature of wisdom/enlightenment/divinity.

While such attributes may appear to be beyond the capacity of the average individual, the great teachers tell us that this is not so..... and the trials and tribulations of everyday life provide us with enough burned thumbs to constantly remind us of the need for reflection on our own unique and special place in the world, the need for mindfulness.