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37. Those with no fault by way of speech
On February 21, 1983, when Luang Pu was seriously ill and staying at the Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok, Luang Pu Saam Akiñcano came to visit him in the hospital room. At that time, Luang Pu was resting. Luang Pu Saam sat down near him and raised his hands in respect. Luang Pu responded by raising his hands in respect. Then the two of them sat there, perfectly still, for a long time. Finally, after an extremely long time, Luang Pu Saam raised his hands in respect once more and said, "I”ll be leaving now."
"OK," Luang Pu responded.
For the entire two hours, those were the only words I heard them say. After Luang Pu Saam left, I couldn”t help but ask Luang Pu, "Luang Pu Saam came and sat here for a long time. Why didn”t you say anything to him
"
Luang Pu responded,
"The task is done, so there”s no need to say anything more."
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38. The perfection of endurance
During all the many years I lived near Luang Pu, I never saw him act in a way to indicate that he was bothered by anything to the point where he couldn”t stand it, and I never heard him complain about any difficulty at all. For example, when he was the senior monk at a function, he never made a fuss or demanded that the hosts alter things to suit him. Whenever he was invited any place where he had to sit for long periods of time or where the weather was hot and humid, he never complained. When he was sick and in pain, or if his food came late, no matter how hungry he was, he never grumbled. If the food was bland and tasteless, he never asked for anything to spice it up. On the other hand, if he saw any other elder monk making a fuss to get special treatment from other people, he would comment,
"You can”t endure even this little thing
If you can”t endure this, how are you going to win out over defilement and craving
"
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39. No trouble through his words
Luang Pu was pure in his speech, for he would speak only of things that served a purpose. He never created any trouble for himself or for others through his words. Even when people tried to bait him so that they could hear him criticize others, he wouldn”t fall for the bait.
Many were the times when people would come to say to him, "Luang Pu, why is it that some of our nationally renowned preachers like to attack others or denounce society or criticize other senior monks
Even if you paid me, I couldn”t respect monks like that."
Luang Pu would respond,
"That”s the level of their knowledge and understanding. They say what comes easily in line with the level of their knowledge. Nobody”s paying you to respect them. If you don”t want to respect them, then don”t respect them. They probably won”t mind."
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40. Monks who victimize spirits
Generally speaking, Luang Pu liked to encourage monks and novices to take a special interest in the practice of wandering in the forest to meditate and observe the ascetic practices. Once, when a large number of his students — both senior and junior — came for a meeting, he encouraged them to search for seclusion in the wilderness, living on mountains or in caves for the purpose of accelerating their practice. That way they”d be able to release themselves from their lower states of mind.
One of the monks said thoughtlessly, "I don”t dare go to those places, sir. I”m afraid that spirits might victimize me."
Luang Pu shot right back,
"Where have there ever been any spirits who victimize monks
There are only monks who victimize…
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