..续本文上一页 of the Buddha and his arahant disciples.

　　Phaa paa: A gift of cloth and other requisites placed on small tree and presented to a monk. This is a remnant of an old tradition — from the days when monks were not allowed to accept gifts of cloth, and could make their robes only from thrown-away cloth — in which donors who wanted to give new cloth to monks would "throw it away" by placing it on the branch of a tree near a path where the monk was sure to pass.

　　Sa, la: 1) A public meeting hall. 2) An open pavilion where travelers may rest.

　　Samadhi: Concentration. Centering the mind in a single preoccupation.

　　Tripitaka: The Buddhist Canon, consisting of three "baskets”: Vinaya (disciplinary rules), Suttas (discourses) and Abhidhamma (abstract analysis of categories and terms).

　　Vinaya: The disciplinary rules for Buddhist monks.

　　Visakha Puja: A Buddhist holy day, on the full moon in May or early June, commemorating the Buddha”s birth, Awakening and parinibbana (see above).

　　Wai: A gesture of respect in which the hands are put palm-to-palm over one”s heart, in front of one”s face or, in extreme cases, over one”s head.

　　Wat: Temple; monastery.

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　　Notes

　　1. A traditional custom in Thailand was for a woman to lie by a fire after giving birth, for any number of days up to a month. In simpler households this meant little more than that: lying next to a fire that was kept burning day and night. In more elaborate households, it involved herbal steam baths and massages as a way of restoring the woman to health.

　　2. Monks are not allowed to eat food during the period from noon until dawn of the following day. There are several reasons for this rule, one of them being that it helps keep the monks from being burdensome to their supporters.

　　3. A major event in rural Thai villages at the end of the rains was to have monks deliver the Mahachaad, or "Great Birth" sermon, a narration of the Buddha”s next-to-last life as Prince Vessantara, telling of the hardships he endured in living by the principle of generosity and of the rewards he ultimately won by being true to this principle. The recitation of this sermon lasted an entire day, and was given in thirteen installments. There are a few places where this tradition is still observed, but it is fast dying out.

　　4. Chao Khun Upali Gunupamacariya (Jan Siricando), a childhood friend of Ajaan Mun”s, was one of the highest ranking monks in Thailand in the early years of this century, although he was once temporarily stripped of his title and placed under "monastery arrest" for making public remarks critical of King Rama VI”s request that monks encourage their followers to donate money for a battleship for the Royal Thai Navy. He was also the preceptor and teacher of the Somdet Mahawiarwong (Tisso Uan) mentioned later in this book.

　　5. Funeral services in Thailand may last for many days — even months or years — before the actual cremation takes place.

　　6. Many of Grandfather Phaa”s activities — wearing lay man”s clothes, planting and gathering crops, buying and selling goods — are forbidden by the monastic discipline.

　　7. There are not a few people in Southeast Asia who, like the father and daughter in this incident, regard well-behaved monks as ideal eligible bachelors. It is thus up to each monk to decide whether he wants to devote himself full-time to his meditation, and thus remain celibate, or to oblige such people by becoming an eligible bachelor after all.

　　8. There have been cases where people with a grudge against a monk have arranged for a woman to visit him frequently, get on familiar terms with him, and then accuse him of having molested her sexually. Since Buddhists are very concerned that relationships between mo…

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