The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah
Part 1 Understanding The Buddha's Teaching
The Chicken or the Egg?
During his first visit to England, Achaan Chah spoke to many Buddhist groups. One evening after the talk he received a question from a dignified English lady who had spent many years studying the complex cybernetics of the mind according to the eighty- nine classes of consciousness in the Buddhist abhidharma psychology texts. Would he please explain certain of the more difficult aspects of this system of psychology to her so she could continue her study?
Dharma teaches us to let go. But at first, we naturally cling to the principles of Dharma. The wise person takes these principles and uses them as tools to discover the essence of our life.
Sensing how caught up she was in intellectual concepts rather than benefiting from practice in her own heart, Achaan Chah answered her quite directly, " You, madam, are like one who keeps hens in her yard," he told her, " and goes around picking up the chicken dropping instead of the eggs."
Part 1 Understanding The Buddha's Teaching
The Chicken or the Egg?
During his first visit to England, Achaan Chah spoke to many Buddhist groups. One evening after the talk he received a question from a dignified English lady who had spent many years studying the complex cybernetics of the mind according to the eighty- nine classes of consciousness in the Buddhist abhidharma psychology texts. Would he please explain certain of the more difficult aspects of this system of psychology to her so she could continue her study?
Dharma teaches us to let go. But at first, we naturally cling to the principles of Dharma. The wise person takes these principles and uses them as tools to discover the essence of our life.
Sensing how caught up she was in intellectual concepts rather than benefiting from practice in her own heart, Achaan Chah answered her quite directly, " You, madam, are like one who keeps hens in her yard," he told her, " and goes around picking up the chicken dropping instead of the eggs."
