The teachings of Ajahn Chah

The teachings of Ajahn Chah

The Buddha once saw a jackal, a wild dog, run out of the forest where he was staying. It stood still for a while, then it ran into the underbrush, and then out again. Then it ran to a tree hollow, then out again. Then it went into a cave, only to run out again. One minute it stood, the next it ran, then it lay down, then it jumped up. The jackal had the mange. When it stood, the mange would eat into its skin, so it would run. Running it was still uncomfortable, so it would stop. 

Standing, it was still uncomfortable, so it would lie down. Then it would jump up again, running to the underbrush, then the tree hollow, never staying still.

The Buddha said, "Monks, did you see that jackal this afternoon? Standing it suffered. Running it suffered. Sitting it suffered. Lying down it suffered. It blamed running and lying down for its discomfort. 

It blamed standing. It blamed sitting. It blamed the tree, the underbrush, and the cave. In fact, the problem was none of those things. The problem was with his mange."

We are just the same as that jackal. Our discontent is due to wrong view. Because we don't exercise sense restraint, we blame our suffering on externals. Whether we live in Thailand, America or England, we aren't satisfied. Why not? Because we still have wrong view. Just that!! So wherever we go, we aren't content. But just as the jackal would be content wherever it went as soon as its mange was cured, so would we be content wherever we went once we rid ourselves of wrong view.

~ Ajahn Chah