About This Teaching
Feeling that teaching standards in Thailand were declining, Ajahn Chah took particular care with the groups of school teachers who visited him. His favourite opening question was whether they taught only others or themselves as well. When teachers complained that children quarrelled, he asked whether the teachers lived in harmony; respect, he said, must now be earned by training oneself.
He cited the Buddha praising Sariputta for answering 'not yet' when asked whether he believed a teaching, since the wise reflect before believing. Teachers, he said, are like the master mould for Buddha amulets, which must be shaped precisely to produce beautiful images. Children are like vines that climb the nearest tree, so conduct in every posture is itself a teaching. He closed with a Jataka tale of a king's fine horse that began to limp by copying a lame groom, and recovered its grace once the groom was replaced.