..续本文上一页ceived a whole bowlful of food. That night I meditated on what I had seen. It seemed that my mind was regaining its strength and, bit by bit, becoming more and more disenchanted with worldly affairs.

　　The third event: It was a holiday. I had started out on my alms round before dawn, going down to the Sra Pathum Watergate market, and then up the lane behind the temple. This was a dirt lane where horses were stabled. Rain was falling and the road surface was slippery. I was walking in a very composed manner past the house of a lay person I knew who frequented the temple. My bowl was full of food and I was thinking very absent-mindedly of worldly matters — so absent-mindedly that I slipped and fell sideways into a mud hole by the side of the road. Both of my knees were sunk about a foot into the muck, my food was spilled all over the place, my body was covered with mud. I had to hurry back to the temple, and when I arrived I warned myself: "See what happens when you even just think of such things

　　" My heart was slowly becoming more and more disenchanted with worldly matters. My old opinions had reversed to the point where I now saw marriage as something for kids, not for grownups.

　　The fourth event: The next morning, I went out for alms taking my usual route down Phetburi Road. I came to the palace of His Highness Prince Dhaninivat. This prince made a habit of donating food to monks in general every day. It so happened that someone had set up a bowl of rice across the street from the palace that day, so I decided to accept rice from the new donors first. After accepting their rice, I turned around to cross the street, when one of Nai Lert”s white buses came whizzing past, less than a foot from my head. The passengers on the bus started yelling and screaming, and I myself was stunned: I had just missed being killed by a bus. When I finally went to accept rice from the prince, I had to exert a great deal of self-control because I was shaking all over. I then returned to the temple.

　　All of these events I took to be warnings, because during that period my thoughts about worldly matters would start flaring up anywhere and at any time.

　　Now we come to the end of the Rains Retreat, 1930. During that third rainy season I had told myself, "You”re going to have to leave Bangkok. There”s no two ways about it. If your preceptor stands in your way, there”ll have to be a falling out." So I made a wish: "May the Triple Gem and all the sacred things in the cosmos help me find another way out."

　　Another night, towards the end of the rains, I had been lying on my back, reading a book and meditating at the same time, when I fell asleep. I dreamed that Ajaan Mun came to scold me. "What are you doing in Bangkok

　　" he asked. "Go out into the forest!"

　　"I can”t," I answered. "My preceptor won”t let me."

　　Ajaan Mun answered with a single word: "Go!"

　　So I dedicated a resolution to him: "At the end of the rains, may Ajaan Mun come and take me with him out of this predicament."

　　It was just a few days later that Chao Khun Upali 4 broke his leg, and Ajaan Mun came down to pay his respects to him. A short while after that, Lady Noi, the mother of Chao Phraya Mukhamontri, passed away, and the funeral services were to be held at Wat Debsirin. Since Lady Noi had been one of Ajaan Mun”s supporters when he was staying in Udon Thani, he made a point of attending her funeral. My preceptor and I were also invited, and I met Ajaan Mun up on the crematorium. I was overjoyed, but had no chance to have even a word with him. So I asked Chao Khun Phra Amarabhirakkhit where Ajaan Mun was staying, and he answered, "At Wat Boromnivasa." On the way home from the funeral I got permission from my preceptor to stop at Wat Boromnivasa to pay my respects to Ajaan Mun.

　　In the four ye…

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