The Quagmires of Doubt

The Westerners came to Buddhist teachings and monastic life without the cultural conditioning of the Thais. In one sense they had ‘beginner’s mind’. Their open, questioning attitude Ajahn Chah found refreshing and stimulating. As students they were free of the complacency that he considered such a serious obstacle for his Thai disciples.

But their openness was not without drawbacks: the Westerners were often dragged into the quagmires of doubt. Whereas the Thai bhikkhus could usually give themselves to the training in a wholehearted way, fired by an unquestioning faith in the teacher and the tradition, the Westerners were often fettered by doubts.

Ajahn Chah said:

“Once you’ve got them to stop, these Westerners see clearly exactly how they’ve done it, but in the beginning it’s a bit wearing on the teacher. Wherever they are, whoever they’re with, they ask questions all the time. Well, why not, if they don’t know the answers? They have to keep asking until they run out of questions, until there’s nothing more to ask. Otherwise they’d just keep running — they’re hot.”

This reflection by Ajahn Jayasaro is from the booklet, Twain Shall Meet, (pdf) p. 5.