Sariputta does not yet believe

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• The wandering master he first misunderstood

  In brief: Ajahn Chah listens with inner disrespect to a wandering meditation master, and only years later, walking the path himself, finds every…

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  Retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk “Unshakeable Peace”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), p. 533.

  Ajahn Chah had studied enough Buddhist theory to pass some exams, but he says he was no different from others in not yet bringing the teaching into the heart. One day he had the chance to listen to a Dhamma talk from a meditation master. As he listened, disrespectful thoughts arose; he did not know how to listen to a real Dhamma talk and could not figure out what this wandering meditation monk was talking about. The man seemed to be teaching from his own direct experience. Later, as Ajahn Chah gained firsthand experience in the practice, he saw for himself the truth of what that monk had taught. It was a long time before he realized that everything the wandering monk had said came from what he had seen for himself, not from a book. When Ajahn Chah walked the Path himself, he came across every detail the monk had described and had to admit he was right. So he continued on.

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• Asking Ajahn Mun about the Visuddhimagga

  In brief: Overwhelmed by the endless detail of the monastic texts, the young Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Mun what to do, and is told that there is a lot,…

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  Retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk “Understanding Vinaya”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 282–284.

  When Ajahn Chah had just begun to practice, he could follow the Pubbasikkha reasonably well, but reading the Visuddhimagga — with its extremely meticulous books of precepts, mind-training and understanding — made him feel his head would burst. It seemed beyond human capacity. He reflected that the Buddha would not teach the impossible, yet he felt stuck, at a dead end, and full of doubt. He then had a chance to see Venerable Ajahn Mun and asked what he should do, saying the texts seemed completely impractical and impossible to memorize. Ajahn Mun replied that there was a lot, but really only a little: the detailed rules had evolved from the human mind; if one trained the mind in a sense of shame and a fear of wrong-doing, restraint and caution would follow, and one would be content with little. Whatever one doubted, one should not say or do; if one did not understand, one should ask the teacher. The point was whether one was prepared to admit one's faults. As Ajahn Chah sat and listened, he saw that the teaching fitted the traditional marks of the true Dhamma, and understanding arose.

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• The professor's overflowing cup

  In brief: Japan's greatest philosopher, whom no one will debate, decides to debate the most famous meditation monk. Serving tea, the monk keeps…

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  Is in that old story of the famous philosopher in Japan many, many years ago. He was a professor not just at one university, but of several universities. And he was so well known. He was the biggest intellectual in the country. And just for a bit of fun, but also for a bit of intellectual stimulation, he would hold these debates with all the other philosophers, but he was so sharp, he was so knowledgeable, that no person would enter into a debate with him because he would always win. And so wondering who to debate next, he thought I will debate a Buddhist monk.

  They are said to be wise, but they're really stupid; he thought, I'll go and debate the most famous monk in the country and see who wins so he found this monk, this meditation monk and he arranged to have a debate with this monk. And so he went to the monastery with all of his students to debate with this monk, and being in Japan, before the debate actually started. It was the task of the host, the monk, to serve tea to the guest, the professor, and as he was serving tea to the professor, he poured the tea into the cup.

  And when the cup was full, he carried on pouring and so the water went into the saucer, at which point the professor said to the monk, "My cup is full, you can stop now". But, the monk carried on pouring until it went over to the cup into the saucer over the saucer onto the table, at which point, the professor thought this monk must be a bit hard of hearing or a bit blind.

  So, he shouted, "Monk, my cup is full! You can stop now!" At which point, the monk smiled broadly and emptied the whole teapot until it went not just over the cup into the saucer, not just over the saucer onto the table, onto the floor as well! At which point, the professor said, "You stupid monk! I've come all this way to debate with you. And you don't even know how to serve a cup of tea. What an idiot, what a fraud. I wasted my whole time." At which point that monk said, if you haven't heard this story before, it's a great story.

  He said, "Professor, you are just like this cup. You're so full that no one can pour, any wisdom into you." At which point, the professor went down on his knees and said, "You've won."

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• Why some are born intelligent

  In brief: From a sutta: a man asks the Buddha what karma makes people wealthy, then what makes them beautiful or ugly (Ajahn Brahm breaks off to…

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  And there they tell the story of this man who came up to the Buddha and asked him like a question on karma. He was saying, you know, I've noticed in this world, some people are just born wealthy, and they managed to maintain that wealth and increase it. Now other people are born poor, and sometimes they get wealthy, but you know, there are some people, they're poor, they work really hard, and they try very hard and they work just all hours of the night and still, it's just so hard to make ends meet. Why can't you be wealthy?

  While other people they seem to work much less than you, they just got the gift of making money. It must be some karma from a past life that we're born poor in this life. So he asked, what do I have to do in this life? What karma do I have to make in this life to be rich in my next life?" That's a fair enough question. So the Buddha gave him an answer. He was so happy with it. He asked the second question, he said, I've also noticed that sometimes people are very beautiful, while other people are ugly.

  And you may notice when I mentioned the word "ugly", I stared at the carpet. And the reason for this, the reason for this is I told this story in Singapore once. And I just, I just happened to be looking at a certain woman when I mentioned the word "ugly". Oh, my goodness, did she complain. She said, "Why did you mention the word ugly when you're looking at me?" It's even worse, if I've mentioned the word "beautiful" when I'm looking at someone, they get the wrong idea.

  So anyway, he, the Buddha explained the cause for beauty and ugliness in your next life. But then the killer question, why are some people intelligent, and other people they just have such a hard time at school and university. You've been with some people, they hardly do any of the homework, they just float through school, they get the prizes, and they go to universities, they get double first. You know, for the rest of us. It's just so hard just now just getting the TEE passed. He said, "Why is it? What's the karmic reason why people are born intelligent, and other people aren't intelligent?

  What's the karmic cause?" And the Buddha said, and this was a beautiful answer. "The karmic reason for stupidity in your next life is not asking questions in this life."

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