Dharma Book Group Questions
Ajahn Chah: everything arises, everything falls away
Part Six – Completing the Path, Chapters 37-40, pages 131-150

Chapter 37. Making an End of Problems

131-132 Our practice of Dharma is for resolving all those problems we experience in the world, both our own and others’ problems, family problems, any kind of the many and difficult problems people face these days.
There are many sorts of problems, but the Buddha taught the real and ultimate way to solve them. The real fact of the matter, the true solution, is that there is no one to solve problems, and there are no problems: there is no one to solve problems, so those problems don’t actually exits. …
In the way of Dharma, we say there is no one to solve problems, and there are no problems. That’s how we can make an end of it; that is the way to peace. If there is someone solving problems, there will always be problems. If we perceive problems, then there is someone solving problems. …
What should we do? Being born into this world, we all face a lot of difficulty. With so many beings existing in the world together, there is bound to be discord and confusion. The Buddha said that when there are problems, there is someone to solve them, and when there is someone to solve problems, there will always be problems. When there is birth, there will be death.

Is facing difficulties different than solving problems? The Collins Dictionary defines problem as “a situation that is unsatisfactory and causes difficulties for people.” If difficulties are a result of being born, how do we make an end of problems? Is it a matter of perception?

This chapter revisits the concepts of anatta, lack of self, and sankhara, the impermanent phenomena of body and mind, as the way to make an end of problems. Ajahn Chah uses many different analogies/examples to illustrate these concepts, e.g. breathing in and out, the monk’s response to the question of where enlightened beings are reborn, a glass, filling a water barrel, a beetle’s pile of earth, a woman selling poison.

Which of these examples resonate with you? Did any help clarify an earlier teaching?

Chapter 38. Seeking a Teacher 141

141 If you seek a teacher, you won’t find a teacher. If you have a teacher, you have no teacher. If you stay with me, you won’t see me. If you give up the teacher, you will find the teacher. …
The real Dharma is to be found within each individual’s heart, and just this Dharma is the true teacher.

This brief chapter has one message. I am both comforted and challenged by it. How do you respond to its message?

Chapter 39. A Wise Crab 142-143

What is the message of this story? The crab, like the fish, went seeking a better pond. So the message doesn’t seem to be about greed.

Chapter 40. Some Final Advice 144-150

The translator has chosen these teachings to end the book. Below are some excepts that resonated with me. What teachings will you use to help you on your path?

Training the mind

144. So it’s taught that we should yank the mind toward the Dharma, to enter the Dharma… If we want to accomplish the Buddha’s way, we should be willing to seek out the Buddha and his teaching and summit to them.

145 [In the tortoise and snake example, the tortoise is concerned that the snake has no legs and will not be able to escape the forest fire. The snake was not worried. ] This is one way to talk to people with confused ideas. They will feel pity for and consider you ignorant if you aren’t like them and don’t have their views and their knowledge. But who is really ignorant?

Ordaining or not ordaining isn’t the crucial point. It’s how you practice.

146. One should be one’s own witness. Don’t take others as your witness. It means learning to trust yourself. …
The teaching others can give you are to show you the path, but that isn’t real knowledge. When people genuinely meet the Dharma, they realize it directly within themselves. So the Buddha said that he is merely the one who shows the way. In teaching us, he is not accomplishing the way for us. It’s not so easy as that. …
If we understand the path in this way, it’s a little more comfortable for us, and we will do it ourselves. Then there will be fruition.

Do the Practice

147. Teachings can be most profound, but those who listen may not understand. But never mind. Don’t be perplexed over profundity or lack of it. Just do the practice wholeheartedly, and you can arrive at real understanding — it will bring you to the place the teachings talk about.

Don’t rely on the perceptions of ordinary people.
The story of the blind men and the elephant is one of my favorite examples. For me, the story is a reminder that the perceptions of others, although totally different from mine, may also be valid. Ajahn Chah appears to be making a different point. What is it?

148. You study with a spiritual teacher, and she tells you to give up greed and anger. …The teacher doesn’t get rid of them for you. She tells you about getting rid of them, but it doesn’t happen just because she tells you. You do the practice and come to realization. You understand these things for yourself. …[W]hen the fruit of practice is realized, there is nothing to add and nothing to remove.

The Dharma

150 Outside of the Dharma, there isn’t anything that will bring peace and happiness to this world. Outside of Dharma, there is only the struggle of winning and losing, envy and ill will. One who enters the Dharma lets go of these things and spreads moving kindness and compassion instead. Even a little bit of such Dharma is of great benefit. Whenever an individual has such qualities in the heart, the Buddha’s way is flourishing.