..续本文上一页thers came and stayed together with me, and started calling me their teacher." So in this area we all should hold ourselves back.

　　Eventually, when we have been in the robes for a long lime, we need to have developed a strong, firm mind. If we haven”t developed anything deep down in our hearts, we might just wander off into worldly attitudes rather than staying on the path of Dhamma. So now, when you are still young in pansahs, you still have the chance and the time to put forth a lot of effort. You can look at your teachers, Ajahn Jayasaro for example. or every one of the krooba-ajahns. All of them have sacrificed quite a bit in ordor to give all of you the chance to practice without difficulties. For example in leading the monastery, your teacher looks after everything that needs to be looked after, he is the one who takes care of everything and arranges everything so you can use it comfortably and at ease. He invites all of you to develop peace and put forth effort in the practice as much as you can. He wants all of you to gain as much peace as possible.

　　Now, when you set out into the forest, take the chance to compare what your mind is like then to what it is like at Wat Pah Nanachat Examine whateyer your thoughts are, how your practice is going, how much you do, how far it takes you and check yourself whether you are doing as much as possible or to the full extent of your capabilities.

　　No need to fear wild animals or whatever, no need to fear the moskitoes or malaria, really. We just do what we can. If you are worried about malaria, try to be under your glot before it gets dark and come out when it”s light again. You have a lot of lime during the day that you can spend all on your own. There is a lot of private time, so don”t go thinking of other things. Whell you are all by yourself, you can look at your own minds, to see what it is like in certain periods - is it peaceful or agitated or dull and drowsy

　　 Are you thinking something or worried about something

　　 These are all factors that prevent one from attaining peace, so try to cut off these mental states, for example by watching the breath or doing body-contemplation, or reflecting on a certain topic or verse of Dhamma.

　　So try to make the time that you are out into retreat fruitful. Whether you are out there or in Nanachat, if you find your efforts don”t bring fruits, you need to check, whether your practice still lacks certain aspects, which you should strengthen and develop more. This practice is not something that can be done easily, and it takes time and endurance.

　　When I lived with Luang Por Chah, he used to say many times, if we want our practice to attain the best, out of twenty-four hours we have to practice twenty. The leftover four hours are the time we should rest, he said. Still this depends on the physical conditions of each inpidual, we might increase it to five hours or whatever we think suits us, but at least, during the time on retreat, let us determine to sleep only in one go and when we wake up to try to get up and immediately put forth effort. Practicing like this will build up more strength in our minds. Suppose we are already awake but keep thinking: "...well, it”s not yet light anyway, there is no need to hurry ..." -each morning we will be getting up later and later and our efforts will slacken more and more.

　　So, at least, as we are all willing to practice and train, let us be determined to really do what we want to do or hope to reach. Don”t think that what you are already doing now is all there is to aspire to, or think you won”t get as far as you hope, or ask yourself how much you”ll be able to get out of the practice. This isn”t important. But to do what you are doing is important. If we all keep doing it and doing it steadily, whether…

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