The Teaching of Ajahn Chah.

 The Teaching of Ajahn Chah.

Another example I could mention is that a young novice I once encountered wanted to practice living in a cemetery completely alone. As he was still more or less a child, hardly into his teens, I was quite concerned for his well-being, and kept an eye on him to see how he was doing. In the morning he would go on almsround in the village, and afterwards bring his food back to the cremation ground where he would eat his meal alone, surrounded by the pits where the corpses of those who hadn’t been burned were buried. Every night he would sleep quite alone next to the remains of the dead. After I had been staying nearby for about a week I went along to check and see how he was. On the outside he seemed at ease with himself, so I asked him:

‘So you’re not afraid staying here then?’

‘No I’m not afraid,’ he replied.

‘How come you’re not frightened?’

‘It seems to me unlikely that there’s anything much to be afraid of.’

All it needed was this one simple reflection for the mind to stop proliferating. That novice didn’t need to think about all sorts of different things that would merely complicate the matter. He was ‘cured’ straight away. His fear vanished. You should try meditating in this way.

~ Ajahn Chah

26th October, 2022