About This Teaching
Ajahn Chah illustrates wisdom in daily life with a story he heard Ajahn Buddhadasa tell on the radio. As a boy herding cattle, Buddhadasa was terrified of ghosts when passing the cremation ground at dusk, so he would climb onto the buffalo's back.
One evening he noticed that the buffalo kept calmly eating grass while the boy on its back was full of dread. The animal was not afraid; only the one thinking about ghosts was. Reflecting on this, he saw that fear arises from thinking. Ajahn Chah uses the story to show how considering experience with a clear mind keeps us from being swept away by fear and other negative emotions.