The Mango Dharma (Ajahn Chah)

Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

We say that "morality, concentration, and wisdom are the path on which all the noble ones have walked to enlightenment." These three are all one.

Morality is concentration, and concentration is morality. Concentration is wisdom, and wisdom is concentration. It's like a mango.

When it's a flower, we call it a flower. When it becomes a fruit, we call it a mango. When it ripens, we call it a ripe mango. It's all one mango, but it continually changes.

The big mango grows from the small mango, the small mango becomes the big one. We can call them different fruits or all one. Morality, concentration, and wisdom are related like this.

In the end it's all the path that leads to enlightenment. The mango, from the moment it first appears as a flower, simply grows to ripeness. We should see it like this. Whatever others call it, it doesn't matter.

Once it's born it grows to old age and then where? We should contemplate this. Some people don't want to be old. When they get old, they become regretful. These people should not eat ripe mangoes.

Why do we want the mangoes to be ripe? If they're not ripe in time, we ripen them artificially, don't we? But when we become old we're filled with regret. Some people cry. They're afraid to get old or die. If it's like this then they shouldn't eat ripe mangoes.

They'd better eat just the flowers! If we can see this, then we can see the Dharma. Everything clears up and we are at peace.