It’s Not a Sure Thing

It is the commemoration of Ajahn Chah’s birthday today.

One of the constant refrains in his teaching and training is the recollection of the Thai phrase, mynair—unsure, uncertain, not a sure thing. We can develop the ability to hold experience in this space of not sure and uncertainty.

Often the mind inclines to some sort of story. “It’s going to be just like this; this is going to be really wonderful; that is going to be great.” But the challenge is remembering that it’s just a story, it’s not a sure thing.

The mind can also buy into, “It’s going to be awful; it’s going to be dreadful; how am I going to bear with this?” What can help us with this is thinking, “It’s not a sure thing.”

We develop the ability to hold experience within the framework of mindfulness, reflection, investigation, and discernment, and openly acknowledge that we’re not sure what it’s going to be like.

When we hold experience in this way, we find that everything is bearable, everything is quite all right—we are creating a framework of Dhamma rather than a framework of our own reactions and habits.

This reflection by Luang Por Pasanno is from the book, Beginning Our Day, Volume 1, (pdf) p. 174.