..续本文上一页o help in the celebration. I”m going to give them the relics you”ve presented to me as a souvenir from Wat Boromnivasa." Saying this, he went to look at the relics he had placed on the altar over his pillow, and discovered that more than 40 had come on their own into the glass bell. I said I would present them all to him. "This is really strange," he said. "Never in my life as a monk has anything like this ever happened before." He said he would send them all to Wat Supat, and had me choose which ones to send in his name, and which ones in mine. When he said this, I decided to go help in the celebration as a token of my appreciation for his kindness.

　　The celebration at Wat Supat turned out to be a major event. The government donated a large sum of money to help, and announced that all those in Bangkok who were going in an official capacity would leave the city together on March 18. The notice announcing this was signed by Field Marshal Phin Chunhawan, Minister of Agriculture, and General Luang Sawat, Minister of Culture.

　　One day, when I was in Lopburi, I learned that there had been a change in plans, so I hurried down to Bangkok. When I arrived, the Somdet called for me. "They”ve changed the schedule," he told me. "I want you to go with them. I”ll give you the relics. They”ll be your responsibility."

　　I didn”t say anything one way or the other, but after I had returned to my quarters and thought things over, I realized that I couldn”t follow the Somdet”s orders. I went to see him.

　　"I can”t go," I told him. "The notice published with the government seal says that on the 17th the relics will be set out for public viewing here at Wat Boromnivasa. Now the plans have fallen through. I”ve already distributed the notice, and on the 17th large numbers of people will be coming. If I leave beforehand, I”ll be in for a lot of criticism. That”s why I can”t go."

　　None of the senior monks, it turned out, were going. The problem was caused by Nai Chao. It seems that Field Marshal Phin had mentioned that he”d like to leave a day early and stop off for the night in Nakhorn Ratchasima, giving the soldiers, policemen, government officials and people in general there the chance to pay their respects to the relics. Nai Chao hadn”t informed the ecclesiastical authorities, and this is why there had been a mistake in the printed schedule.

　　As a result I didn”t go with the first train, because the Somdet had told me, "Stay here. If anyone comes, take the relics and display them in the main hall." I agreed to do as he said. That night I placed three relics, larger than lettuce seeds and the color of pearls, on a glass tray, and took them to display in Uruphong Hall. This person and that person wanted to look, because they had never seen any relics before. When I opened the cotton wool and they saw the three relics, this person poked at them, that person picked them up — and so two of them disappeared, leaving only one.

　　The next day I took the express train to Ubon along with a group of others, 14 in all. Reaching Ubon, we went to help in the anniversary celebration, which included the laying of the cornerstone for the Mahathera building to be constructed there in Wat Supat.

　　One night there was an incident at a little after 10 p.m. A group of about 50 of us were sitting in meditation in the ordination hall when a light appeared, flashing on and off like a fluorescent bulb. We all opened our eyes and two or three people found relics in front of them. As it got later, more and more relics appeared. People both inside and outside the ordination hall were puzzled and one by one began to suspect a fraud. When it got fairly late we stopped for the night.

　　The next day rumors spread through town. A man who had never before set foot in a monastery came to tell…

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