..续本文上一页 they wouldn”t go away. One night I sat up in meditation almost till dawn. At about 4 a.m. I fell half-asleep and dreamed, "My disease is a karma disease. There”s no need to take any medicine." That is, while I was sitting in meditation, I felt absolutely still, almost as if I had fallen asleep, and a vision appeared: a birdcage containing a thin, famished dove. The meaning was this: I had once kept a pet dove and had forgotten to feed it for several days running. This karma was now bearing fruit, causing me to have gastritis. Therefore, there was only one way to cure it — to do good by way of the mind. I decided it was time to go off alone.

　　After the end of the Rains Retreat I went off wandering, teaching and preaching to the lay people as I went, by way of Thaa Mai all the way to Paak Nam Prasae, Klaeng district in Rayong province. There I stayed off to one side of the town. A lot of townspeople, mostly Chinese, came to make merit and donate food. There was one Chinese woman about 40 years old who came and said she wanted to shave her head and become a nun. "I want to go off wandering with you," she told me. She was already dressed in white and ready to be ordained. But an incident occurred: two of her sons came and pleaded with her to go back home. It seemed that she had another child, only two months old, but still she wasn”t willing to go back. This created a big disturbance.

　　All that while it seemed that the lay people wouldn”t leave me in peace. During the day, I had no time for myself. At night I had to preach.

　　One day I crossed over to the west of town, hoping to evade the Chinese woman, who had gone back home to gather her things. As I was going through town I passed one of her sons heading in the opposite direction. After I had finished my meal that day I decided to get away from people by going deep into a thorn-infested cemetery. Under the shade of a low tree I spread out a reed mat and lay down to rest. Before closing my eyes, I made a vow: "If it”s not yet 2 p.m., I won”t leave this spot."

　　After a moment or so there was a rustling sound up in the top of the tree. I looked up and saw that a nest of larg, e red ants had broken open. This was because there was a vine wrapped around the nest. I had sat down on the base of the vine, and so now red ants were spilling out onto my mat, swarming all over me, biting in earnest.

　　I sat right up. They were all over my legs. I made up my mind to spread thoughts of good will, dedicating the merit to all living beings and making a vow: "Since becoming ordained, I”ve never even thought of killing or harming a living being. If in a previous lifetime I”ve ever eaten or harmed any of you all, then go ahead and bite me until you”ve had your fill. But if I”ve never harmed you, then let”s call an end to this. Don”t bite me at all."

　　Having made my vow, I sat in meditation. My mind was still — absolutely silent. The rustling sound of the ants disappeared. Not a one of them bit me. I really felt amazed at the Dhamma. Opening my eyes, I found them swarming in huge numbers in a line around the edge of the mat.

　　At about 11 o”clock I heard the voices of two people coming in my direction. As they came nearer, they suddenly started crying out in Chinese, "Ai Ya! Ai Ya!" I heard them beat themselves with branches. Laughing to myself, I called out to them, "What”s the matter

　　"

　　"Red ants," they answered. "They”re biting us." As a result, neither of them was able to get anywhere near me. When 2 p.m. finally arrived, I left my resting place and came out to where I had originally pitched camp. There I learned that the two Chinese who had come to see me were sons of the woman who wanted to go with me, so I sat and talked with them. They pleaded with me to help them, not to let their mother go wit…

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