# The friend who lifted the Buddha statue

- Teacher: Ajahn Chah
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/chah-friend-who-lifted-the-buddha-statue
- Themes: doubt, superstition, mindfulness, ego
- Life situations: seeking reassurance, seeking an external sign of attainment, spiritual practice

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

An old practice companion tells Ajahn Chah that he proved his own purity by lifting a Buddha statue at a shrine, and has a stone engraved to say so.

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

_Retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk “Knowing the World”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 643–644._

Ajahn Chah tells of a Dhamma friend from central Thailand with whom he had once practiced, before they went their separate ways. When they met again years later, the friend was practising the foundations of mindfulness, reciting the sutta and giving discourses, but had not yet resolved his doubts. He prostrated, saying he was so happy to see Ajahn Chah, and explained why: he had gone to a shrine where people go for divinations, held a Buddha statue, and declared that if he had already attained purity he should be able to raise it, and if not, he should not. He was able to raise the statue, which delighted him. That little act, Ajahn Chah says, which had no real basis, meant so much to him that he thought he was pure, and he had it engraved on a stone: 'I raised up the Buddha statue and have thus attained the state of purity.'

## Teaching point

Don't look for proof of progress outside; look at the movements of your own mind.

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

We all long for some sign that we are doing well. Ajahn Chah's friend found his in a stone statue, and missed his own mind. Signs and certificates cannot settle doubt for us. What helps is quietly watching our own intentions in the present moment, where the real evidence is.

_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 "Knowing the World", in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 643–644 — https://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Knowing_World1.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._