..续本文上一页 go without sleep. But in spite of my efforts, nothing happened until it was about to grow light.

　　At about 5 a.m. I dozed off for a moment and dreamed: The earth opened wide beneath me, revealing a scattered heap of broken red bricks deep underground. Something inside me said, "This is a spot where relics of the Buddha were once enshrined, but the shrine is now nothing but a rubble of bricks underground. Therefore, you will have to help build a chedi to enshrine relics of the Buddha after the festival celebrating 25 centuries of Buddhism. Otherwise your old karma won”t be done with."

　　This was followed by another dream: Once, in the distant past, the Sangha was planning an important meeting in India, but after we had all agreed to the date, I hadn”t joined in the meeting. The meeting concerned plans for a celebration of the Buddha”s relics. It was to be a very important celebration, but I didn”t join in. So my friends placed a penalty on me: "In the future you will have to gather relics of the Buddha and enshrine them in a chedi at one place or another, for the sake of Buddhists yet to come." With this dream in mind, my thoughts about going ahead with the festival celebrating 25 centuries of Buddhism grew more and more earnest.

　　The next day, in the dim light before dawn, I made a vow: "If my holding the festival celebrating 25 centuries of Buddhism will be a success, may the number of Buddha”s relics I have with me reach a total of 80, equal to the years of the Lord Buddha”s life." (When I made the vow I had just over 60 relics.) When I finished my vow, it was dawn. After my meal I took out my pouch and counted: exactly 80.

　　The following night I climbed to sit in meditation at the base of the great Buddha image on the slope of the mountain. I stayed up all night, sitting in samadhi and doing walking meditation around the image. I set out a tray, along with flowers, candles and incense, and made a vow: "If the festival celebrating 25 centuries of Buddhism is to be a success, may more of the Buddha”s relics come — from anywhere at all." At dawn, about ten tiny relics had come, mixed together with red gemstones. Quickly I put them into a container. I didn”t tell anyone, but thought to myself that the festival would probably be a success.

　　That year — 1956 — I returned to spend the rainy season at Wat Asokaram. After the rains were over I received news that three Bodhi trees had sprouted in front of Phra Sabai Cave in Lampang. At present the trees are four meters tall and very striking — growing out of the jutting rock.

　　* * *

　　Plans for the festival celebrating 25 centuries of Buddhism became more and more firm during the rainy season at Wat Asokaram in 1956. Up to that point I hadn”t decided where to hold the festival, because it was going to be a large affair, but after looking around I decided, "We”ll have to hold it right here at Wat Asokaram."

　　There were going to be two celebrations: the one I would do in conjunction with other Buddhists and the one I would do on my own. The celebration held in conjunction with other Buddhists would succeed on one of three levels, i.e., low, moderate or high. This was a thought I didn”t mention to anyone else, simply an observation I kept to myself. When the festival was over, it turned out to have been only a moderate success. Had it been a high-level success I would have built a ceremonial umbrella for the Buddha image at Khao Phra Ngaam.

　　The celebration I would do all on my own. Celebrating on my own would be very good, but wouldn”t be of any benefit to people at large. This sort of celebration could be done in one of three ways:

　　a) The lowest level: Escape from humanity and hide away in the forests and wilds for three years before returning to be involved with people again.

　　b) The m…

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