..續本文上一頁nd secluded – a place where we can take time to be on our own. So, when we finally have time to be on our own, we shouldn”t look at what others are doing. Only look at yourself, at your own heart. What is your mind like in this period of time, what are you thinking of, what is your strongest fear

　　When you are staying in the forest, maybe the food you get isn”t as good as it is in the city. Some people might miss the food at Wat Pah Nanachat – but keep in mind, that you have gone out for the sake of training, and to be able to bear with some trouble for the body is part of the practice. To face up with physical hardship in some way also helps each one of us to find his own level of balance on behalf of the mind. Maybe, generally we think we have already found where the balance lies, but it is only when we actually face real life situations and see how they affect us, that we can tell whether we already know what is just right or not. For example: food. Generally to say how much is appropriate for each inpidual is very difficult. There are people with huge, strong bodies that certainly need more food than small, thin people – of course this is a fact, but speaking in terms of the practice that Luang Por Chah recommended to us, each and everyone should follow the standard of stopping to eat just five mouthfuls before he is full, and then drink some water instead. This practice will help to find just the right amount of food. Although on days when we plan to do a lot of walking meditation, we should try to eat a little more, so we are strong enough for long hours of walking. On the other side, on days where we think we will be sitting for most of the time, we try to reduce the amount of food a little bit in order to feel light.

　　Food really plays a role concerning our physical constitution. For some people that say they are always drowsy, this may be partly due to the food they take. Sleepiness, drowsiness or fatigue is one of the obstacles that can prevent us from attaining peaceful states of mind.

　　Everyone of us should get to know and experience at least an initial state of peace in meditation. You should all deeply implant in your hearts, that the reason for going out into seclusion is the search for peace. This search for peace you need to do wholeheartedly, not just playing around. If you practice laxly, the efforts put forth won”t bring the full results and you won”t see the benefits of going into a solitary retreat like this. You”ll find that it is just the same as living in the wat. We may think that these practices don”t bring results because we have done them before and they have not yet led to peaceful states equanimity or unity of mind. But all things take time.

　　All of us have good intentions, we are motivated to persue good aims. In the search for peace and happiness as it is seen in the Buddha-Dhamma there are two aspects: there is the side of studying the transmitted teachings (pariyatti), which we all know well, and there is the side of practice (patibatti), which is on a different level than what is written in the books. Remember how Luang Por Chah used tu tell his disciples frequently that, when one reads about anger in a book, the word ”anger” that one reads doesn”t give any experience of how the anger that arises in ones hearts feels in real life. We have read the word ”love” before, but what is love, when it really arises in our hearts actually like

　　 To which extent do we actually think, suppose and imagine things

　　 This we have to know inpidually for ourselves. Maybe in the beginning we can”t yet stop the thinking mind. We still keep proliferating with these two aspects [the abstract and the applied]. But let us not become disheartened - we can remind ourselves that this process too, is not unchangeble, it …

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