Being Mindful Stories

Story · Ajahn Chah

The wild chickens and the rice

From a talk by Ajahn Chah, “The Two Faces of Reality”

1 min read

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

Retold in our own words from Ajahn Chah's talk “The Two Faces of Reality”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 36–37. Read the original talk

Living in the forest, Ajahn Chah says, he was able to teach the wild chickens and learn from them as well. At one time he began throwing out rice for them to eat. At first they were very frightened and would not go near it. After a long time they got used to it and even began to expect it. They had originally thought there was danger in the rice, that it was an enemy; in truth there was no danger, but they did not know it was food, so they were afraid. When they finally saw for themselves that there was nothing to fear, they could come and eat without danger.

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

The chickens were afraid of the very thing that would nourish them. Ajahn Chah saw the same in meditators who treat their own senses as enemies. Given time and a closer look, what frightens us may turn out to be food. Patience and seeing for ourselves turn fear into understanding.

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 the forest, wild chickens fear the rice Ajahn Chah throws them, until they see for themselves it is food, and come to eat without fear.

Teaching point

What we fear as an enemy can become a teacher once we see it truly.

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Chah in the talk “The Two Faces of Reality”, in The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2007 web edition), pp. 36–37

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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