A ‘moving’ story

“What was your teacher like?”
“You mean Ajahn Chah?”

“Yes your Thai teacher. Once you said he was confusing. And he used to act in quite unexpected ways.”

Ajahn Brahm smiled with Aravinda. Did he smile over what he said?
“This happened when I was still a young monk.”
Aravinda sat in a comfortable position to listen to Ajahn’s story.

Like every monastery, Ajahn Chah’s monastery too had a ceremonial hall, not only to accommodate lay people, but also the monks themselves. They would listen to their teacher in the ceremonial hall.

The path to the ceremonial hall was built by monks.

This had a reason. In most rural areas the monks had to look after themselves. In the beginning, when Buddhism was little known, things were quite difficult for monks. They had to do all those things under the sun from carpentry to masonry. Even after the ceremonial hall construction was over, there had been much earth left over.

Ajahn Chah is known for his strict discipline. He was a good master too.

So he called the monks together and gave instructions. He wanted them to move the remaining earth to the back of the ceremonial hall. It was no easy task. It took three days. The poor monks had to start in the morning and work well towards dark.

“We shovelled and wheel-barrowed that great amount of earth to the very place that Ajahn Chah wanted. I was happy to see it finished.”

Ajahn’s happiness did not last long. The following day Ajahn Chah left for another monastery. He was scheduled to stay there for a few days. In his absence, Ajahn Chah’s deputy took charge of the monastery. He could see earth was moved to a wrong place. He wanted it righted, immediately! The monks were asked to move the earth back.

Obviously - quite fair enough - Ajahn Brahm was annoyed. He tried his best to control his fault-finding mind. They had to labour hard for another few days. It was strenuous, but over at last. Ajahn Brahm was happy, again.

Ajahn Chah was back in the monastery. He was not happy with what the deputy abbot has done. He took it on the monks. He ordered the monks to move the earth to where it was earlier. Ajahn Brahm’s thought stream was so hot.

“Can’t those senior monks decide among themselves first? Buddhism is supposed to be an organised religion. But this monastery is so disorganised, it can’t even organise where to put some dirt! They can’t do this to me!”

It was a matter of just another few days. But those days loomed large before Ajahn like a monster. He was cursing, luckily in English so that Thai monks would not get him. But they were smart at reading facial expressions.

Ajahn Brahm was getting angry and angrier. He felt that.

He felt the heaviness of wheelbarrows full of earth. He saw one of his fellow monks approaching him. He came smiling, Ajahn noticed with a slight loathsome feeling. He was mumbling something too.

“Your trouble is that you think too much!”

How right he is! Ajahn Brahm relaxed his thoughts and feelings. Then the wheelbarrow became lighter. The heaviness was getting lighter. Yes, work is not that strenuous.

“I learned my lesson,” Ajahn remarked with his usual smile, “thinking about moving the earth was the hardest part. Moving it was easy.”

As silence ensued, Aravinda knew it was the time to voice his comment.

“It was a moving lesson, isn’t it?”

“It is. I have a feeling that Ajahn Chah and his deputy abbot planned it as it happened from the very start.”

“I think so too. It looks so dramatic. I mean, pre-planned.”

“So keep this in your mind. We all do that. We all think too much, when what we have to do is actually almost nothing. So don’t think too much, just move.”

Aravinda listened, nodding his head in silence.

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