# Searching the mountains for a teacher

- Teacher: Ajahn Chah
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/chah-searching-the-mountains
- Themes: meditation, teachers, searching, contentment
- Life situations: searching for meaning, searching for a teacher, exhaustion, spiritual practice

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Afraid of practising wrongly, Ajahn Chah wanders from mountain to mountain looking for a teacher, until, exhausted, he stops and finds what he sought inside himself.

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

_Retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk “Toward the Unconditioned”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 266–267._

Ajahn Chah says that in the past he travelled all over looking for a teacher because he did not know how to practice and was always afraid he was practicing wrongly. He would constantly go from one mountain to another, from one place to another, until he stopped and reflected. He concludes that he must have been quite stupid: he went all over looking for places to practice meditation, not realizing it was already there in his heart — birth, old age, sickness and death were right there within him. He had said the Buddha's words about the wise knowing for themselves, but still did not know their meaning. He travelled until he was ready to drop dead from exhaustion; only then, when he stopped, did he find what he was looking for, inside himself. So now, he says, he can tell others about it.

## Teaching point

The place of practice is already in the heart; it can be done anywhere.

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

Searching can wear us out, especially when we fear doing it wrong. Ajahn Chah laughs at himself for crossing mountains to find what was already within him. You do not need the perfect place or teacher to begin. Practice can start right where you are, at home, at work, in a crowded room.

_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 "Toward the Unconditioned", in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 266–267 — https://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Toward_Unconditioned1.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._