Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Chah

The tortoise who pitied the snake

From a talk by Ajahn Chah, “The Dhamma Goes Westward”

1 min read

A fable he told: A fable or parable Ajahn Chah told to make a point, not something that happened to him.

The story — retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk

Retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk “The Dhamma Goes Westward”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), p. 656. Read the original talk

A forest was on fire and a tortoise and a snake were both trying to flee. The lumbering tortoise saw the snake slither by and pitied it, thinking that with no legs the snake could never escape, and wanted to help it. But as the fire spread, the snake fled easily, while the tortoise, even with four legs, could not get away and died there.

A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Chah's talk)

It is easy to feel sorry for people whose lives look nothing like ours. Ajahn Chah told this fable about those who worried for him because he lived differently. Each of us is ignorant in our own way. Holding our views a little more lightly leaves room to respect paths we do not understand.

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

In brief (our summary)

In a forest fire a slow tortoise pities a snake for having no legs, but the snake slips away easily while the tortoise is caught.

Teaching point

We pity people who do not share our ways, assuming our way is the only way.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Chah in the talk “The Dhamma Goes Westward”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), p. 656

The book is © The Sangha, Wat Nong Pah Pong, offered for free distribution. Read the talk free at ajahnchah.org.

The story text is Being Mindful Stories's retelling in our own words of how Ajahn Chah tells it in this talk, not his own words and not a quotation. Read the talk in the book for his exact words. The title, summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk in the book. Markdown version

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