Praise and Blame

 ~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

One day I was attending on Ajahn Chah as he sat underneath his kuti receiving guests. At one point, a group of people from Bangkok arrived. During the course of his conversation with them, Ajahn Chah pointed to me, ‘This one’s only been here for a short time and he already speaks Thai and Isan dialect really well.’ He turned towards me, ‘Don’t you?’. ‘Yes, sir’ I replied. He beamed at his guests, ‘You see!’ I don’t think that ever in my life had I felt as proud of myself as I did at that moment.

After all the laypeople had left, Ajahn Chah took out his false teeth – now stained red with betel-nut juice – and told me to scrub them clean with sand. As I worked, he spoke to me in rapid Isan. Even with his teeth in, I would have struggled to understand more than the gist of what he said. Without his teeth, I couldn’t understand a word. Scowling, he grumbled about my language skills to the other monks. I don’t think that ever in my life had I felt so deflated as I did at that moment.

This is how Ajahn Chah taught me about praise and blame.

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"Food for the Heart", a series of Dhamma teachings handwritten weekly is posted on the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives page with Ajahn's kind permission.

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For other teachings by Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro, please visit the Panyaprateep Foundation website:
https://www.jayasaro.panyaprateep.org/