The Book "Lohk Nee Lohk Hai Dai, History of Patipada and Dhamma of Mae Chee Kaew Sianglum"

The Book "Lohk Nee Lohk Hai Dai, History of Patipada and Dhamma of Mae Chee Kaew Sianglum"

Mae Chee Kaew revealed that in one of her past lives she was born as a chicken who lived at the temple and was raised on the leftover rice collected on almsround. She was a ash-red colored chicken. 

As a chicken, she managed to raise 7 offspring at a time, with 3 males and 4 females. Some of the offspring died before they hatched. Ya Koo Wat Baa Na Pern was the person who had metta offering rice and water to her. But still, raising 7 offspring was quite difficult. 

As soon as the sun rose, she had to get off from her roost and start to bring her offspring to go around looking for food to eat. Whatever ants, bugs, termites or leftover scraps she could find to feed her offspring and make sure that they are full. 

Some of her offspring were full fast and some were forever hungry. It was because some chicks were faster and stronger than the rest. When she found some food and starts clucking for them to come to eat, the stronger ones would get to the food first and finish them. 

Thus the slow ones never got to eat and she would have to go and find more food for them to eat. Doing this all day made her very tired as she kept having to find food for the chicks to eat. 

But still, as a mother she had to endure to take care of her children. 

Still, it was a miserable and difficult time because she felt exhausted and while she gave food to her children, she herself became thin. Her chicken body got aches all over. She didn't even have the time to lie on the ground to rest or roll around in the dust (dust bath) to keep cool and clean. 

On the days Ya Koo remembered to throw out some rice for the chickens to eat, then she could take a breather and relax a little to recover her strength. But sometimes the temple people forgot and she had to go around scratching the ground and looking for food for herself and her kids. 

Because of the suffering she had to go through while raising her chicks, she adithan-ed that by the merit of raising her children well, by the merit of rejoicing in the sound of Dhamma and chanting from the temple, may she not be troubled by child-rearing in her next life. 

Mae Chee also told her disciples that it is important to recollect the cycle of birth and death because we will then be mindful and know the dangers of committing unwholesome deeds. 

Later on, because of the merit of listening to the chanting and the Dhamma, she was able to break free from rebirth as an animal. 

Due to the presence of her old merit accumulated from previous lives, after she died as a chicken, she took rebirth as a adult/senior tewada in one of the heavens, before taking rebirth as a human in her current life. 

Source: The Book "Lohk Nee Lohk Hai Dai, History of Patipada and Dhamma of Mae Chee Kaew Sianglum"

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