..续本文上一页me back right away. I have to leave Wat Chedi Luang tomorrow morning, because tomorrow evening the express train from Bangkok will arrive." I hurried down from the mountain, but night fell as I reached Paa Heo (GlenForest) Village, so I spent the night in the cemetery there. When I arrived at Wat Chedi Luang the next day, Ajaan Mun had already left.

　　I asked around, but no one seemed to know where he had gone — leaving me with no idea of where or how to find him. I had an inkling that he had headed north for Keng Tung, which meant I would have to leave for Keng Tung right away, but I couldn”t yet, because there were two things Ajaan Mun had said to me during the rainy season:

　　1. "I want you to help me in the steps of the practice, because I can”t see anyone else who can." At the time I had no idea of what he meant, and didn”t pay it much attention.

　　2. "The Chieng Mai area has been home to a great number of sages ever since the distant past. So before you leave the area, I want you to go stay on top of Doi Khaw Maw, in Buab Thawng Cave and in Chieng Dao Cave."

　　After staying a few days at Wat Chedi Luang, I left for Doi Saket district, where I stayed in Tham Myyd (Dark Cave) near Myang Awm village. This was a strange and remarkable cave. On top of the mountain was a Buddha image — from what period, I couldn”t say. In the middle of the mountain the ground opened down into a deep chasm. Going down into the chasm, I came to a piece of teakwood placed as a bridge across a crevice. Edging my way across to the other side, I found myself on a wide rockshelf. As I walked on a ways, it became pitch dark, so I lit a lantern and continued on. I came to another bridge — this time a whole log of teak — reaching to another rock. This is where the air began to feel chilly.

　　Crossing this second bridge, I reached an enormous cavern. I”d say it could have held at least 3,000 people. The floor of the cavern was flat with little waves, like ripples on water. Shooting straight up from the middle of the floor was a spectacular stalagmite, as white as a cumulus cloud, eight meters tall and so wide it would have taken two people to put their arms around it. Around the stalagmite was a circle of small round bumps — like the bumps in the middle of gongs — each about half a meter tall. Inside the circle was a deep flat basin. The whole area was dazzling white and very beautiful. The air, though, was close, and daylight didn”t penetrate. Ajaan Mun had told me that nagas came here to worship: The stalagmite was their chedi. I had wanted to spend the night, but the air was so close I could hardly breathe, so I didn”t dare stay. I walked back out of the cave.

　　This mountain was about three kilometers from the nearest village. The people in the area said that at the beginning of the Rains Retreat the mountain would give out a roar. Any year the roar was especially loud there would be good rain and abundant harvests.

　　That day I went back to stay in a village on the border of Doi Saket district. After resting there a few days, I walked on to Baan Pong, where I met a monk named Khien who had once stayed with Ajaan Mun. I asked if he knew where Ajaan Mun had gone, but his answer was no. So I talked him into returning with me to explore Doi Saket district.

　　We went to spend a night in a cave in the middle of the jungle, far away from any habitation. The cave was called Buab Thawng — GoldenGourd — Cave. This was because down in the cave was a place where fool”s gold had seeped through a crack into the bottom of a pool of water. To reach the cave you had to go through ten kilometers of virgin forest. The people of the area claimed that there was a fierce spirit living in the cave. Whoever tried to spend the night there, they said, would be kept awake all night by th…

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