Luang Ta Ma Wiriyatharo Wat Tham Muang Na, Chiang Mai

Luang Ta Ma Wiriyatharo
Wat Tham Muang Na, Chiang Mai

Q: I went to a fortune teller and since I've returned 3 days ago, I haven't been at ease and I've been unable to sleep...The fortune teller predicted bad things. What should I do? 

Luang Ta: You don't have to believe him, sometimes fortune tellers just predict unfortunate things, it is part and parcel of their profession…

Q: If I chant the Jakkapat katha, and hold the amulet in hand, will it be better?

Luang Ta: Suad mon (chanting) is better than going back to the fortune teller again. Praying allows the heart to stay with the Buddha. Nothing will bother us because we are with the Buddha, with Jakkapat, with the Trisaranakhom. Mara cannot disturb us if we pray regularly. 

Q: Is it true that we can remedy our bad kamma by chanting?

Luang Ta: All of us have kamma as our birthplace (refuge). There is no one who can remove or rectify your bad kamma. Luang Pu Doo taught Luang Ta that the current or stream of energy depends on our thoughts, it is tied to our action. 

If we record virtue, good deeds, boon often, bad energy cannot approach us. If the mind is constantly focused on our virtue, if the mind is really still in concentration when we chant, we can turn away from the tide and currents of our bad kamma. 

Q: Why do we catch hold of Phra's energy? 

Luang Ta: When the mind is with Phra, with Luang Pu Doo, the mind has found the Three Refuges. Luang Pu taught us to recollect the Phra as a strategy to let the mind cling to positive energy and this will stream of good energy will obstruct any bad currents of unskillful kamma from arising and interrupting us. 

Luang Ta Ma Wiriyatharo

Wat Tham Muang Na, Chiang Mai

17th October, 2022

Refuge to the Triple Gem The traveler by Ven. Ajahn Chah

Refuge to the Triple Gem
The traveler by Ven. Ajahn Chah

Naturally people who wish to reach their home are not those who merely sit and think about traveling. 

They must actually undertake the process of traveling step by step, and in the right direction as well, in order to finally reach home. If they take the wrong path, they may eventually run into difficulties, such as swamps or other obstacles, which are hard to get around. Or they may run into dangerous situations and thereby possibly never reach home. 

Those who reach home can relax and sleep comfortably. Home is a place of comfort. But if the traveler only passed by the front of his home or only walked around it, he would not receive any benefit from having traveled all the way home. 

In the same way, walking the path to reach the Buddha-Dhamma is something each one of us must do individually ourselves, for no one can do it for us. And we must travel along the proper path of morality, concentration and wisdom until we find the blessings of purity, radiance and peacefulness of mind that are the fruits of traveling the path. 

However if one only has knowledge of books, sermons, and sutras, that is, only knowledge of the map or plans for the journey, even in hundreds of lifetimes one will never know purity, radiance and peacefulness of mind. Instead one will just waste time and never get to the real benefits of practice. 

Teachers are those who point out the direction of the Path. After listening to the teachers, whether or not we walk the Path by practicing ourselves, and thereby reap the fruits of practice, is strictly up to each one of us.

Source: 

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books/Ajahn_Chah_Tree_in_a_Forest.pdf

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

10 July 2025

Student:  How does meditation reduce the number of rebirths? 

Phra Ajahn:  Meditation slows down your defilements. It reduces your defilements. 

Instead of going to a movie, you spend time meditating, so your defilements cannot grow because you need to keep doing what your defilements want you to do in order for the defilements to grow. So you are like cutting the branches of the tree, not doing what your defilements want you to do. 

When you want to watch a movie, eat something you don’t really have to eat, or drink something you don’t really have to drink, you meditate instead, to make you happy. You use meditation to replace your sensual pleasure happiness because your sensual pleasure happiness will generate more defilements, more rebirths. Your meditation practice reduces your defilements so it’s reducing the number of rebirths. 

Student:  So when we say ‘no’ to sensual pleasures and use meditation as the replacement, we actually cut down the rebirths.

Phra Ajahn:  Cut down your defilements. 

Defilement is the one that is creating more rebirths. 

The creator of your rebirth is your craving and your defilements. The more you crave for something, the more you want to come back again. After you died this life, your craving still remains in your mind which will then push your mind to go look for a new body. 

So do what every Buddha teaches us to do: avoid doing bad kamma, do only good kamma, and purify the mind by meditation practice. 

The way to avoid doing bad kamma is to keep the 5 precepts which will prevent you from doing any bad kamma; and do charity work. 

These are ways to do good kamma. And then go to a meditation retreat or meditate in your room, alone by yourself. 

Student:  You’re talking about the more defilement we have, the more rebirth we will get. 

Phra Ajahn:  That’s right. The defilement is the one that keep pushing the mind to go after sensual pleasures. In order to satisfy your sensual pleasures, you need to have a body, a human body or an animal body depending on your good or bad kamma. If you do bad kamma, you will get an animal body. If you don’t do any bad kamma, you will get a human body, eventually. 

But then, human body doesn’t last forever; your defilement lasts longer than your body. So when your body dies, your defilement is still strong so it pushes the mind to go look for another new body, and this has been going on for millions of bodies, and it will never stop until you come across the teachings of the Buddha. 

The Buddha teaches us to eliminate our defilements, to purify the mind by meditation practice because you cannot use good kamma to purify your mind. Your good kamma will support your spiritual purification practice, but it cannot get rid of your defilements. You have to have vipassanā (wisdom level). 

Even at samādhi level, you cannot get rid of your defilements. 

Samādhi can make the defilements go slower, or less frequent because you spend more time in meditation. 

Instead of watching YouTube, eating hamburgers, cakes or pies, you do meditation. 

But when you come out of meditation, your defilements can still demand for more YouTubes, more cakes and more food. 

So if you want to get rid of your defilements, you have to use vipassanā. You have to contemplate on the loathsome aspect of food. 

Every time you think of food, cakes, or things to eat, think of them when they come out of your body. That’s all what we’re doing. Our body is like a factory creating excrement. 

That’s what it is. There is an input side and there’s the output side. Look at it this way, then it might make you stop eating unnecessarily. 

Eat only to maintain the body, not to eat for the pleasure of it. Not to eat or drink, or see or hear for pleasure. Do it out of necessity. Do it for the maintaining of life. Other than that, if you want happiness, you should meditate instead. 

“Dhamma in English, Jul 5, 2022.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

Buddhism and the Parable of the Mustard Seed

Buddhism and the Parable of the Mustard Seed

~ By christi

This is part of our Diverse Expression of Grief series, written by Hilary Dockray.

Buddha and the Origins of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, more commonly referred to as Buddha, was the founding spiritual leader of Buddhism, one of the world’s major religions. He is presumed to have lived either in the 4th or 5th century BCE in what is either present-day Nepal or present-day India. Born into a royal Hindu family, he was a wealthy, pampered prince. Wishing to shield him from knowledge of human suffering, his father made sure that he did not see anyone who was sick, aged, or suffering.

At age 29, he left the palace to meet his subjects, where for the first time in his life he saw people who were sick, aged, and suffering. Distraught by how he saw his subjects live when he himself led an indulgent life, he soon escaped his palace and began living the life of an ascetic. He begged for alms on the streets and abstained from physical wants and needs, to the point of near-death.

He discovered in his ascetic journey the Middle Way, or the middle ground between self-indulgence and ascetism that would lead him to enlightenment. He sat under what is now known as the Bodhi tree and meditated for a reputed 49 days. 

Then, after those 49 days of meditation, he achieved enlightenment at the age of 35.

Some Basic Concepts of Buddhism

This state of enlightenment, also known as nirvana, is a state of liberation from physical wants and needs. Buddhism claims that those who have not achieved nirvana are still in samsara, or the cycle of life, death, and rebirth characterized by continuous suffering. This suffering is said to be rooted in humans’ attachment to impermanent things.

The achievement of nirvana breaks this cycle of samsara by releasing a person’s attachment to impermanent things. When a person who has achieved nirvana dies, instead of re-entering the cycle of samsara, they achieve what is called parinirvana, or a person’s full passing away. Instead of being reborn again into a new life, they truly die in all senses, dissipating completely as a being.

Buddha formed out of his path to liberation the Four Noble Truths, a central teaching of Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths describe the nature of human suffering, its causes, and how it can be overcome. The fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path, describes the intentional journey one must take to achieve nirvana.

The term buddha, which translates to “enlightened one,” is simply the first person to have achieved nirvana in an era. The Buddha that Buddhism is based upon thus did not become known as Buddha until after he achieved nirvana, and many believe is not the first buddha to have existed. 

After the buddha of each era achieves nirvana, all others who achieve nirvana after in the same era are referred to as arahants.

Kisa Gotami and the Parable of the Mustard Seed

A famous parable of Buddhism is called The Parable of the Mustard Seed. It is found in the foundational texts of Theravada Buddhism. It revolves around a woman named Kisa Gotami, who lived during the time of Buddha’s life when he had already achieved nirvana and was traveling to impart his teachings upon others.

Kisa Gotami

Kisa’s only child, a very young son, had died. Unwilling to accept his death, she carried him from neighbor to neighbor and begged for someone to give her medicine to bring him back to life. One of her neighbors told her to go to Buddha, located nearby, and ask him if he had a way to bring her son back to life.

Bringing the body of her son with her, Kisa found Buddha and pleaded with him to help bring her son back to life. 

He instructed her to go back to her village and gather mustard seeds from the households of those who have never been touched by the death. From those mustard seeds, he promised he would create a medicine to bring her son back to life. Relieved, she went back to her village and began asking her neighbors for mustard seeds.

All of her neighbors were willing to give her mustard seeds, but they all told her that their households had been touched by death. They told her, “the living are few, but the dead are many.”

As the day became evening and then night, she was still without any of the mustard seeds that she had been instructed to collect. She realized then the universality of death. 

According to the Buddhist verse her story comes from, she said:

“It’s not just a truth for one village or town, Nor is it a truth for a single family. But for every world settled by gods [and men] This indeed is what is true — impermanence” (Olendzki, 2010).

With this new understanding, her grief was calmed. She buried her son in the forest and then returned to Buddha. 

She confessed to Buddha that she could not obtain any of the mustard seeds he had instructed her to collect because she could not find even one house untouched by death.

Here is a passionate interpretation of what Buddha imparted upon Kisa Gotami at this point from The Buddha: His Life Retold, by Robert Allen Mitchell:

“Dear girl, the life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and inseparable from suffering, for there is not any means, nor will there ever be, by which those that have been born can avoid dying.  All living beings are of such a nature that they must die whether they reach old age or not.

As early-ripening fruits are in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of dying.  Just as the earthen vessels made by the potter end in shards, so is the life of mortals.  

Both young and old, both those who are foolish and those who are wise – all fall into the power of death, all are subject to death.

Of those who depart from this life, overcome by death, a father cannot save his son, nor relatives their kinsfolk.  While relatives are looking on and lamenting, one by one the mortals are carried off like oxen to the slaughter.  People die, and their fate after death will be according to their deeds.  Such are the terms of the world.

Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind.  On the contrary, his pain will be all the greater, and he will ruin his health.  He will make himself sick and pale; but dead bodies cannot be restored by his lamentation.

Now that you have heard the Tathagata [a term Buddha used to refer to himself], Kisa, reject grief, do not allow it to enter your mind.  Seeing one dead, know for sure: ‘I shall never see him again in this existence.’  And just as the fire of a burning house is quenched, so does the contemplative wise person scatter grief’s power, expertly, swiftly, even as the wind scatters cottonseed.

He who seeks peace should pull out the arrow lamentations, useless longings, and the self-made pangs of grief.  He who has removed this unwholesome arrow and has calmed himself will obtain peace of mind.  

Verily, he who has conquered grief will always be free from grief – sane and immune – confident, happy, and close to Nirvana, I say” (Allen, 1991).

Kisa entered the first stage of enlightenment from her experience. 

She decided to become a disciple of Buddha’s and went on to become the first female arahant.

Reflections on The Parable of the Mustard Seed

What can we take away from this parable? Losing a child or any dear loved one to death is a tragedy no one wants to face. When faced with such painful loss, we can feel like Kisa, with grief so unbearable that we wish for anything to make the death not be real.

But as Kisa learned when she could not collect a single mustard seed, death is universal. Nearly everyone at some point in their life loses a loved one to death. This is part of the impermanence of things that Buddhism speaks of.

Despite the fact that nearly all of us experience the loss of loves ones, this does not make the pain of these losses any easier to bear. How do we cope? It is different for everyone, but we typically find ways to carry on. For Kisa, it was her epiphany that she came to through the Buddha’s lesson that helped her cope.

It is one story among countless throughout human existence of how a person has suffered great loss and yet learned in their own way to move forward. Grief can often leave a person feeling isolated, confused, and as if they will never be able to cope. 

But reading stories like Kisa’s show that even long, long ago, others have felt the same way, and yet they found a way through. For the griever, it is a reminder that you are never truly alone in your experience.

About the Author:

Hilary Dockray came to know The Christi Center through her full-time field internship as a graduate student from The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Social Work. She is expecting her MSSW in December of 2012 and hopes to work in nonprofit administration and management. She is an advocate for the understanding of grief and the support of those who grieve in both her personal and professional lives. 

Her favorite hobby is writing, so she is delighted to be a guest blogger for The Christi Center.

Just a few of the links that I used to research where you can also learn more about Buddhism, Buddha, and The Parable of the Mustard Seed:

Parable of the Mustard Seed

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/noncanon/comy/thiga-10-01-ao0.html

https://buddhismnow.com/2014/03/28/kisagotami/

15th October, 2022

Thanissaro Bhikkhu : About our karma --

Thanissaro Bhikkhu : About our karma --

"When [the Buddha] introduces the topic of kamma, he doesn’t talk about the bad things you’ve done in the past; he talks about good things. 

The first topic he mentions in connection with kamma is generosity. Generosity, he says, is something real. 

It’s a good thing to be generous. He even has you use it as a topic of focused contemplation. When things are going dry in your meditation and everything seems to come to a stop, remind yourself of the ways you’ve been generous in the past.

The other topic the Buddha uses to introduce the topic of kamma is gratitude. Think of all the people who have helped you in the past — the ones who volunteered to help without you’re doing something nice to them first. They helped you out of the goodness of their hearts. That sort of action is worth appreciating, worth emulating. You realize how much you benefited when you were fed by them or clothed by them or taught or helped in whatever way they did. 

And this, combined with the principle of generosity, should inspire you to do good things for other people, to pass on the help.

So when the Buddha teaches kamma, he doesn’t start with the negative side; he starts with the positive side to emphasize that that’s what you want to make the most of. 

As for things you’ve done in the past that were unskillful, he advises you not to get tied up in remorse about them. Remind yourself that they really were unskillful, but you can’t go back and undo what you did. Tying yourself up in knots with thoughts of guilt or remorse, however, is not going to help either. 

What you should do is simply resolve that you’re not going to make those mistakes again in the future. 

That’s all that any human being can be asked to do."

~ "May I Be Happy"

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/ePubDhammaTalks_v2/Section0013.html?fbclid=IwAR0hybBGM1ciAVboXKY-D8HFSFgQ-dWdowSj83gOx5SnF2m5jpjwVHaUYE8

Thanks Antony Woods.

14th October, 2022

Ten steps of Vipassana knowledge and the Ten dangers to Vipassana

Ten steps of Vipassana knowledge and the Ten dangers to Vipassana’.

Ten levels of knowledge of Vipassanā by Sayagyi U Ba  Khin

“There are ten levels of knowledge of Vipassanā, namely:

(i) Sammasana: the appreciation of anicca, dukkha and anattā by close observation and analysis, of course, theoretically.

(ii) Udayabbaya: knowledge of the arising and dissolution of rūpa and nāma.

(iii) Bhanga: knowledge of the fast-changing nature of rūpa and nāma—as a swift flow of current or a stream of energy.

(iv) Bhaya: knowledge of the fact that this very existence is dreadful.

(v) Ādīnava: knowledge of the fact that this very existence is full of evils.

(vi) Nibbidā: knowledge of the fact that this very existence is disgusting.

(vii) Muccitu-kamyatā: knowledge of the urgent need to escape from this very existence.

(viii) Patisankhā: knowledge of the fact that the time has come to work with full realization for salvation with anicca as the base.

(ix) Sankhārupekkhā: knowledge of the fact that the stage is now set to get detached from sankhāra and to break away from ego-centrism.

(x) Anuloma: knowledge that would accelerate the attempt to reach the goal.

These are the levels of attainment that one gets through during the course of Vipassanā meditation, which in the case of those who reach the goal in a short time can be known only in retrospect. 

With progress in the understanding of anicca, one gets through these levels of attainment; subject, however, to adjustments or help at certain levels by a competent teacher. 

One should avoid looking forward to such attainments in anticipation, as this will distract one from the continuity of awareness of anicca which alone can and will give one the desired reward.”

The Imperfections of Insight (Dasa vipassanupakkilesa) [also referred to as The Ten Defilements of Insight / Ten dangers to Vipassana] by The Venerable Webu Sayadaw

“Now when the meditator is a beginner of insight, ten imperfections of insight arise in him. For imperfections of insight do not arise either in someone who has reached Nibbana or in persons with weak morality, neglectful of their meditation subject and idlers. They arise only in a meditator who keeps to the right course, devotes himself continuously to his meditation subject and is a beginner of insight.

But what are these ten imperfections? They are: 

(1) illumination, (2) knowledge, (3) rapturous happiness, (4) tranquility, (5) bliss (pleasure), (6) resolution, (7) faith, (8) mindfulness, (9) equanimity, and (10) attachment.

The Visuddhimagga (XX, 105-125) describes ten such imperfections:

(1) illumination (obhasa)

(2) knowledge (nana)

(3) rapturous delight (piti)

(4) calmness (passaddhi)

(6) faith (adhimokkha)

(7) energy (paggaha)

(8) assurance (upatthana)

(9) equanimity (upekkha) 

(10) attachment (nikanti).

(1) Due to the developed state of his mind at this stage, a brilliant light appears to the meditator. At first he catches a glimpse of something like a lamplight in the distance. 

Even if there is no lamp inside his hut, he seems to see one even with his eyes open. He then discovers that this light emanates from his own body. 

Though his teacher had instructed him to simply make a mental note of everything he sees, the meditator now pays no heed to those instructions. He concludes that the teacher had not foreseen this event and was mistaken on this point. He even presumes that he is now more developed in meditation than his teacher. 

So he continues to enjoy the illumination without making a mental note of it. In such situations as these a meditator must not fall into delusion. 

The teacher's advice stems from the lineage of the Buddha and the Arahants. Therefore the meditator should regard his teacher's advice as if it were given to him by the Buddha himself and be diligent in making mental notes.

A skilful meditator endowed with discretion would be more cautious in a situation like this. 

He, too, first thinks that this illumination is a sign of some supramundane attainment. But he recognizes a desire for this illumination, and wisely reflects that that desire would not have arisen in him if he had actually attained a supra-mundane stage. So he concludes that this could not possibly be the path, and dismisses the illumination with a mental note. In the same way he becomes aware that craving arises whenever he thinks: "This is my illumination," and that conceit arises at the thought: "Even my teacher does not possess an illumination like mine." Also, in conceiving his experience to be a supra-mundane stage, he recognizes that he is holding a wrong view. So he refuses to be misled by the illumination and succeeds in abandoning this particular imperfection of insight.

(2) The same approach applies to the remaining imperfections. The meditator gains a remarkable insight into the meaning of canonical statements, doctrinal points and terms. 

Whatever words he reflects on now reveal to him a depth of meaning he had never previously seen in them. He mistakes this for discriminative wisdom (patisambhida), and interpreting it as a supramundane quality, becomes enthusiastic in preaching. As a result, his meditation suffers a setback. This is the imperfection called "knowledge." The skilful meditator, however, who discerns the craving, conceit and views behind this imperfection, concludes that this is the not-path, abandons it, and moves on to the right path of mental noting.

(3) Because of his progress in comprehension, the meditator becomes transported with joy. 

Uplifting joy arises in him like heaving waves of the sea. He feels as though he is sitting in the air or on a cushion stuffed with cotton-wool. Here, again, the unskilful meditator is deceived. 

The skilful meditator, however, applies the same method of discernment as he did in the case of illumination regarding this imperfection as a manifestation of craving, conceit and wrong view, he frees himself from its deceptive influence.

(4) The fourth imperfection of insight is buoyancy of body and mind. Though the meditator had already experienced some calmness even in the initial stages of meditation, the calmness that sets in at the beginning of the Knowledge of Arising and Passing Away is of a much higher order. At times he wonders whether he has somehow risen up into the air. When he paces up and down, he feels as if the experience is happening spontaneously. The unskilled meditator is misled by these experiences into concluding this to be a supramundane quality, since it is the Arahants who can rise up into the air. The skilful meditator, on the other hand, recognizes the imperfection by the three criteria of craving, conceit and view, and is not misled.

(5) As he is contemplating arising and passing away, a sublime happiness pervades the meditator's body and mind. Uneasiness and pain disappear. Here, too, the unskilful meditator is deceived, while the skilful one recognizes the imperfection and overcomes it.

(6) Sometimes the meditator becomes inspired by an intense faith in the Triple Gem (the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha), in his meditation teacher and in his meditation subject. 

Enthusiasm overwhelms him, like a flood of water gushing forth from a dam. Ecstatic with inspiration, the meditator wants to spend most of his time worshipping and preaching. He feels impelled to write letters to his relatives instructing them in the Dhamma. Due to excessive faith, he even starts crying, which makes him seem ridiculous. This wave of enthusiasm is also an obstacle that must be checked by mental noting. Here, too, the skilful meditator reflects wisely and recognizing the imperfection, returns to the path.

(7) The meditator becomes aware of an intense energy within him. He does not feel sleepy as before. Though he is energetic, there is no restlessness in his mind. He can go on meditating for a long time at a stretch. The unskilful meditator mistakes this, too, to be a supramundane quality and falls into craving, conceit and view. This, again, blocks his progress in meditation.

(8) The meditator also discovers that mindfulness comes effortlessly. Whenever he focuses his attention on some object, mindfulness is already present there, almost automatically. Due to this effortless awareness called "assurance," the unskilled meditator imagines himself to possess the perfect mindfulness of the Arahants; thus he is deceived. The skilful meditator, on the other hand, recognizes the craving, conceit and view behind this idea and passes beyond it.

(9) Equanimity as an imperfection of insight is twofold: namely, equanimity in insight and equanimity in adverting. Here, equanimity means the ability to attend to the meditation subject without much effort. This is different from the equanimity spoken of in connection with feelings. Whereas earlier the meditator had to make a special effort in applying insight to various formations, at this stage he finds that insight is happening automatically, like the turning of a wheel. It is very easy for him now to carry on reflection as the mind almost leaps towards its object. Whatever he reflects upon occurs to him with remarkable clarity. When such mental concomitants as contact, feeling and formations become apparent by themselves from all sides, together with their characteristics such as impermanence, owing to his equanimity in adverting, it is easy enough for a meditator to mistake this for a supramundane insight. What is not so easy is to remain undeceived. But here, too, the skilful meditator succeeds in overcoming this imperfection of insight.

(10) The subtle imperfection of insight called "attachment" is one which is latent in all other imperfections. The unskilful meditator conceives a subtle attachment to his insight which is adorned with such marvellous things as illumination; thus he is carried away by craving, conceit and view. The skilful meditator uses his discerning wisdom and frees himself from the influence.

13th October, 2022

Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo.

Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo.

The affairs of the religion are an affair of the heart. Don’t go looking for them in the dirt or the grass, in temples or in monastery buildings. 

Although people may do good with their words and deeds, it’s still an affair of the world. The affairs of the religion are quiet and still, without any fuss or bother. They’re aimed at a mind that’s pure, undefiled, and bright. With goodness, there’s no need to do anything much at all. Simply sit still, and there’s purity.

Take the example of the little novice with quiet and composed manners who, as he was going out for alms one morning, happened to enter the compound of a stingy moneylender and his wife. Whether or not they would put any food in his bowl, he didn’t show the least concern, and he didn’t open his mouth to say a word. 

When he left—his bowl still empty—he went calmly and unhurriedly along his way. 

The moneylender’s wife, seeing him, became curious and trailed him from a distance, until he reached a point where he suddenly had to go to the bathroom. Carefully he put down his bowl and, using his foot, cleared away the leaves to make a little depression in the dirt so that the urine wouldn’t flow off anywhere. 

Then, after looking right, left and all around him to make sure that there wouldn’t be anyone walking past, he squatted down to urinate unobtrusively in the proper way.^1 

When he had finished, he used his foot to cover the spot with dirt and leaves as it had been before, picked up his bowl and went calmly on his way.

As for the moneylender’s wife, who had been watching from a distance, when she saw the manner in which the little novice was acting, the thought occurred to her that he had probably buried something of value. So she stealthily crept to the spot and, using her hand, dug the earth out of the hole buried by the novice and sniffed it to see what it was—and that was when she realized that it was urine. 

The little novice had taken care of his urine as if it were gold. ‘If it were something more valuable than this,’ she thought, ‘there’s no doubt how well he’d care for it. With manners like this, we should adopt him as our foster son. He’d be sure to look after our fortune to make sure that it wouldn’t get wasted away.’She went home to tell her husband who, impressed with her story, had a servant go and invite the novice into their home so that they could inform him of their intentions. 

The novice, however, declined their offer to make him their heir, and taught them the Dhamma, making them see the rewards of practicing generosity, virtue, and meditation. 

The moneylender and his wife were deeply moved, overcame their stinginess, and asked to take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha from that day onward. 

Eventually, they progressed in virtue, meditation, and right practice to the point where they both gained a glimpse of Liberation. Afterwards, they made a large donation to build a memorial over the spot where the novice had urinated, as a reminder of the goodness that had grown within them from the puddle of urine the little novice had bestowed on them that day.

The affairs of the religion come down to 

‘sacitta-pariyodapanam’

—making the heart entirely clean, clear and pure. 

‘Etam buddhana-sasanam’

—this is the heart of the Buddhas’ teachings.

~~~~~~~

Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/ebook_index.html#food_for_thought

^1. "Not being ill, I will not defecate or urinate while standing: a training to be observed." One of the miscellaneous training rules for monks.

Photo credit: 

สดจากเยาวชน : สามเณรนานาชาติ หยั่งรากพระธรรม

https://www.khaosod.co.th/lifestyle/news_1411424

12th October, 2022