An Upside-Down Basin

Once we’ve abandoned doing evil, then even when we make merit only a bit at a time, there’s still hope that our perfections will grow full.

Like a basin set upright out in the open: Even if rain falls only a drop at a time, there’s a chance that the basin will get full.

But if we make merit without abandoning evil, it’s like putting a basin upside-down out in the open.

When the rain falls, it still lands on the bottom of the basin, but on the outside bottom, not on the inside. There’s no way the water will fill the basin.

This reflection by Ajahn Chah Subhaddo is from the Thai Forest Ajaans book In Simple Terms: 108 Dhamma Similes,” translated from the Thai by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.