unperturbed – probably because he was so accustomed to seeing
these creatures wherever he went. Peering into the cave, the tiger
spied him just as he was looking up at it. Instead of showing alarm
at the sight of him or roaring out in a terrifying manner, it just
stood there passively, as though it were a house pet. It showed no
signs of fear and made no threatening gestures. Looking casually
about, the tiger leapt onto a large, flat rock at the entrance to the
cave, about eighteen feet from where Ãcariya Chob stood. Sit-
ting nonchalantly, licking its paws, it seemed uninterested in him,
though it knew perfectly well he was in the cave. It sat there calmly
with the air of a pet dog sitting in front of the house. Growing
tired, it flopped down, stretched out its legs, and lay there com-
fortably just like a pet dog, continuing to lick itself as though feel-
ing right at home.
Since Ãcariya Chob’s meditation track was right in front
of the cave, he didn’t dare go out and walk there – the proxim-
ity of the huge tiger made him feel a bit nervous. His uneasiness
was compounded by the fact that he had never before seen a wild
tiger behave like a household pet in this way. So he continued his
sitting meditation on a small bamboo platform inside the cave,
though with no sense of fear that the tiger might try to harm him
there. Once in a long while it casually glanced at him in the non-
chalant manner of an old friend, while lying contentedly with no
evident intention of moving. Ãcariya Chob expected it to even-
tually wander off, but it showed no interest in going anywhere.
At first, Ãcariya Chob was sitting outside his mosquito net;
but once darkness fell he moved inside the net and lit a candle.
The tiger remained impassive as the candlelight illuminated the
cave. It continued lying contentedly on the rock until late into
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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