94. Answering questions with questions
Because I had been on familiar terms with Luang Pu for a long time, when I would ask him a question he would tend to answer by asking a question in return—his way of getting me to think out the answer on my own.
For example, when I asked, “The minds of arahants are clean and bright. Can they predict the next lottery number accurately?”
He answered, “Would arahants be interested in knowing stuff like that?”
When I asked, “Do arahants dream in their sleep like ordinary people?”
He answered, “Aren’t dreams an affair of the aggregate of fabrication?”
When I asked, “Have there ever been any run-of-the-mill people still thick with defilements who have nevertheless been able to teach other people to become arahants?”
He answered,
“Haven’t there been a lot of doctors who, even though they themselves are ill, have been able to cure other people of their illnesses?”
