# The disciple who would not mend his roof

- Teacher: Ajahn Chah
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/chah-disciple-who-would-not-mend-his-roof
- Themes: letting go, monastic life, wisdom, responsibility
- Life situations: misunderstood letting-go, monastic duties, avoiding chores, teacher-student

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

A monk eager to 'let go' refuses to repair his half-collapsed hut, then protests when Ajahn Chah reminds him of his duties.

## The story, retold in our own words (a paraphrase, not Ajahn Chah's words)

_Retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk “Sense Contact – the Fount of Wisdom”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 358–359._

Ajahn Chah tells of a disciple who was eager to 'let go' and find peace, and from the day he arrived did not want to do any work. When the wind blew half the roof off his hut, he left it unrepaired, calling it an external matter. When rain or sun came in on one side, he simply moved to the other. One day Ajahn Chah walked past, saw the collapsed roof, asked whose hut it was, and spoke to the monk about the duty of looking after a dwelling: letting go does not mean shirking responsibilities. When the talk ended, the disciple protested that sometimes he was taught to cling and sometimes to let go, and that even after letting the roof collapse he was still told it was not right — he did not know what more was expected of him.

## Teaching point

Letting go does not mean neglecting your responsibilities; letting go without wisdom is just indifference.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Chah's talk)

Letting go can be misheard as not caring. Ajahn Chah smiles at a monk who sat dry on one side of his broken roof and called it peace. True letting go still mends the roof, does the dishes and looks after others; it simply stops carrying the worry and resentment.

_Reflection written by Being Mindful Stories with AI help, in the spirit of the talk. These are not Ajahn Chah's own words._

## Source

- Talk "Sense Contact – the Fount of Wisdom", in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 358–359 — https://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Sense_Contact_Fount.php

_The book is © The Sangha, Wat Nong Pah Pong, offered for free distribution; read the talk free at its source link. No book text is reproduced here._

Other tellings of this story:

- Talk "Questions and Answers", in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), p. 90 — https://www.ajahnchah.org/pdf/the_teachings_of_ajahn_chah_web.pdf (Shorter telling in a different talk: grass-roofed hut, rain, wind blows off half the roof; he claims to be practicing not-clinging. Ending in this telling is Ajahn Chah's assessment rather than the later dialogue.)
- Talk "Sense Contact – the Fount of Wisdom", in Food for the Heart (2007 edition), p. 108 — https://www.ajahnchah.org/pdf/food_for_the_heart.pdf (The same talk, reprinted in this book (not a separate telling).)