The Law of Karma , Dhamma Practice.

LUANG POH'S KARMA

I have had experience with the law of karma, through which we must receive results. When wisdom arises in our minds, from the development of insight meditation, we immediately understand the law of karma. Karmic retribution has followed me, that's why I've understood about good and bad karma. Before, when I lived with my grandmother, I never took any interest in monks. When we went to the Wat to make offerings, my grandmother would always have to collect some lumps of earth to take with us, and put three in each of the baskets she carried on each side of her. When we got to the Wat she would throw them wherever there were potholes or depressions in the earth. She said she was making merit. I said that nobody else carried earth to the Wat, only us, it was embarrassing. Grandma said that when we go to the Wat we tread the earth and it sticks to our feet, making us accrue bad karma. Being in debt to the Sangha, the Order of monks, is very bad karma. But she didn't explain why. It was something that had been passed down from previous generations, she remembered it and practiced accordingly. Not like people these days. They say it isn't bad karma. How can it be bad karma just to tread on the earth? The monks can fill it in themselves, can't they? This is how the new generation sees things. But the old generation really adhered to this. They upheld it. They gave it the benefit of their belief. Believing was better than disbelieving, it made their lives more profitable, so they believed the law of karma.

BAD KARMA--EATING FOOD PREPARED FOR THE MONKS

When I was in secondary school I was still living with my grandmother. She gave me some food to offer to the monks, but I ate it myself. I ate it all, the savories and the desserts, and told her that I had offered it to the Abbot of the Wat. I had to walk to the Wat--there were no cars--a distance of about one kilometer. On my way I met some of my school friends, we had made good times together, running away from school. My friends told me they hadn't eaten yet, so I thought, why should we give it to the monks? I han't eaten either. There were four or five of us, we all agreed, and so we all sat around and ate everything, then washed the trays. When I went home my Grandmother asked if I met the Abbot of the Wat. I said I didn't go up into the kuti(where monks stay), I just left the food with one of the temple boys and came back. Grandma said that next time I have to stay and receive the blessing from the monks, to receive the blessing from the Abbot before coming back. If I did that Grandma would be very pleased. She said to tell the Abbot also that the food was from her.

On another day the same thing happened. She gave me the food again, I met my friends again. The school was closed, and so we did the same thing. When we had finished eating we went and played. Grandma asked, "Did you meet the Abbot?" I said I had met him, and received the blessing before coming back. In fact the Abbot was sitting upstairs in our house. Nobody told me he was there. He had been sitting there for a long time. He had gone to eat in a supporter's house in the sourthern section of the village, and after the meal had come to visit my grandmother. I didn't know, they didn't tell me, I hadn't yet looked inside the house. The Abbot was sitting there smirking. Grandma was a kindhearted lady, the monks liked visiting her, but I found their visits annoying. When the Abbot had gone I really copped it. She said that I had made a lot of bad karma. She asked how many times had I dont this? I said twice already. Grandma said I would have to be reborn as a hungry ghost, with a mouth as small as the eye of a needle, unable to swallow any food. I asked her if hungry ghosts were taller than sugar-palm trees. She said she hadn't seen any. I didn't believe her, I though she was just trying to scare me, but I didn't say anything. I couldn't argue back with her.

CHEATING ON THE BOAT FARE

At a later time I had to catch a ferry to go to school. It cost 25stang(0.25bht)each month. I would cheat on the boat fare and spend the money on noodles instead. I even had enough to buy some for my friends. And then I cheated on the price of the noodles as well.

SHOOTING BIRDS

Later, when the school had closed down for the end of term holiday, the head teacher of the government school asked me to help on a bird shooting expediton. I didn't know anything about good and bad karma, it seemed like a lot of fun. I took a five-shot shot gun, telling my mother that I was going to do some extra studies while the school was closed for about seven days. I asked for about 100 baht, which my mother gave to me. How did I take the gun? I took sleeping gear with me, and rolled the gun up inside the sleeping mat. The next morning after breakfast we set out across the fields and ponds in search of ducks and herons. Any that I shot I broke their necks and put them in my hunting basket. If the birds pecked at me I would skin them. They really suffered. I didn't think that it would be bad karma. Once day I shot a heron, its wing was broken and it couldn't fly, so I chased after it. It was a real chase but I caught it. Then what did I do? I broke its legs. The bird struggled and cried out until it died. In short, I'm telling you that I had made some bad karma.

Later, I ordained in the Buddhist religion. My mother and my father made me ordain, i didn't have any faith and had no idea that I would end up living like this. Before I ordained I went to study in Bangkok. I went to many schools and stayed in many Wats. When my studies were finished I ordained. I intended to ordain for about one Rains Retreat, memorize all the required texts and develop meditation in the forests.

PAYING THE NOODLE DEBT

I began to live here as acting Abbot. In 1956 or 1957 I was officially appointed as Abbot, and I began to repay the debt of my past karma from that time on. In the following year I paid for the noodles. I was sitting in meditation and it happened that a vision arose in my mind of a certain lady named Gloom and Gim both dreamed on the same day that an angel came and told them that if they wanted their son to stop being so naughty, to behave himself and apply himself to his studies, they would have to take him to be ordained as a novice at Wat Ambhavan. Then he would definitely come good. This being the case, Gloom and Gim brought their son to me. I can still vaguely remember the three of them walking up to me and the parents telling me that they wanted to leave their son here to ordain as a novice. I asked them why they didn't take him to be ordain at another Wat, and Gloom told me that they brought their son to this Wat because they had dreamed that an angel told them to bring their son here to ordain, and could I receive him?

I had figured that one day I would have to repay the debt of the stolen noodles, but I didn't tell them. I just said that I would organize it. I sent the two parents back and immediately went about shaving his head. We had a motor boat, so I went to see the Preceptor. On the way I bought a set of robes, shoes, towels, an alms bowl, and an umbrella. Altogether it cost 200baht. Then we raced off to see the Preceptor and asked him to ordain the boy as a novice. When he had ordained I brought him back (and taught him) to do sitting and walking meditation.

After he had been ordained for seven days I told the novice about my past and how "I cheated bowls of noodles from your mother. Your mother doesn't know about it, mind you. You can take these robe and requisites, 200baht worth, and tell your mother that now we are evens. She doesn't have to pay me back for them. Take it that I am paying her back for the bowls of noodles." After I had told him the novice said that his faith had been aroused, and he wanted to really do the practice.

Later on he asked to disrobe to go and continue his studies. That year he gained entrance into a military academy and later on he became an air force officer.

This was how I paid back the debt of the noodles. If I didn't pay it back in this life I would have had to pay it in a future life. There really is a law of karma. But that I have been able to gauge the law of karma and predict its effects in advance is through having mindfulness (sati), being aware of future consequences, and having clear comprehension (sampajanna), which has enabled me to deal with circumstances as they arise. This is sampajanna. I have been able to know these things through constantly developing samadhi (concentration) and mindfulness. You should also try to look into these things for yourselves by developing skillfull qualities (kusala bhavana) at all times. It isn't necessary to try to find spare time. Even while you are working you can cultivate virtue. When your ears hear sounds you can meditate on it, while you are eating you can meditate, establishing mindfulness at all times. Meditation (kammatthana) is important to your work.

Another time I was practicing sitting meditation uninterruptedly and developing thoughts of forgiveness (ahosikamma) and goodwill. All of you should do this also. Before you spread loving kindness you should spread thoughts of forgiveness. If you do not develop thoughts of forgiveness you will not be able to generate thoughts of goodwill. Forgive first, make the mind at ease, not resentful, angry or hateful. Whenever you spread such thoughts they reach their objects immediately, and there is response. It is something each must experience for oneself. I can't explain the ways of karma according to the texts, but only recommend the way to practice, using the mind empowered by mindfulness. It all comes down to this simple method of practice.

As I said, I came to live here, and practiced meditation and generating thoughts of goodwill. There is a principle that when spreading goodwill you should also spread forgiveness. The chanting that we do is very meaningful: kayena vaca, both in body and speech, we ask forgiveness from the Holy Triple Gem: for whatever we have done that is disparaging to the Holy Triple Gem we ask for forgiveness. Then if we spread thoughts of goodwill, we will difinitely get results.

RAPAYING THE DEBT OF GOY'S FERRY

As I developed meditation and my mind became quieter the thought came into my mind that I had to go and repay a debt for a boat ride. I reflected for a while and sure enough, I had cheated on this as well. I hadn't been to their house for a long time, up until the time I had ordained and become and Abbot. I took some milk and ovaltine and an envelope with 200 baht in it (taking the price of the noodles as my standard). His name was Goy. He was old. When I landed the boat at this house he got a fright, why was a monk coming to see him? He was very ill, paralyzed and at death's door. I put the money into his hand and whispered into his ear, "Patron Goy, when I was a child I cheated you for some boat rides, 30 stand each month. Can you remember? I've brought some milk and ovaltine for you, and told your daughter to mix it for you. Now we are evens, right? I was only a child, I didn't know what I was doing." Oh, what a blessing. He was so surprised as he had been to many Wats before, but the monks he saw only told him about collections that were being taken--this monk was rice to offer to the monastery. It seemed my merit had flowered. One who has a good heart must encounter Mara(the Devil) and must repay his debt, there are always obstacles. One who had goodness will definitely encounter obstacles, it isn't all easy going. We tend to think that when we are trying to make merit bad karma is an obstacle, but the fact is paying back your karmic debts is a kind of goodness.

REPAYING THE DEBT FOR YAI NUAM'S BOAT RIDES

About two or three months later I was sitting in meditation when I recollected that I had cheated a boat fare from another person, named Yau Nuam. I went and she was also at death's door. I went up and whispered in her ear, "Patron, when I was a kid I cheated you of a boat fare. I have come to ask your forgiveness." Then I gave her 200 baht together with some milk and ovaltine, as before. Later on they came to make offerings for sever days at the monastery, and they offered money, too, more than 200 baht, as two days after I visited her Yai Nuam passed away. I have always been paying back my debts, my karmic debts.

Another time I was going to visit the shop Be Tek Seng at Bahng Pa-in. I had often visited and eaten there. Eventually they didn't take any money because every time I went I would pay for the food. They said that from the time I had gone to eat at their shop their business had really boomed, so they wouldn't take any money from me anymore. We liked each other. One time one of them had an operation at the health clinic, first floor, Bahng Pa-in, on the banks of the river. I intended to go and visit her.

That night I was spreading loving kindness and forgiveness when my mindfulness once again informed me that I had to repay the debt of previous karma, this time for boiling turtles for one baht each for the drinkers to eat. It turned out that the turtles knew about team work, as they all struggled so hard that the earthen bowl broke and they all fled into a bamboo clump. I had forgotten about this karma, but now my mindfulness was saying, "Be careful, tomorrow don't take anyone with you." I went with only the driver of the pickup. If everybody went they would have all surely died. I made excuses but they were all very angry. Why had I invited them and then refused to take them along? I just said to the driver, "We are going to visit this person who is sick. Keep an eye on the time, make sure we stay no longer than fifteen minutes, warn me when the time is up." I had to rush back because I had figured that if i didn't go right on fifteen minutes the car would overturn at Ayudhya and we would all be killed. That's why I took nobody with me but the driver. As soon as we had visited the patient for fifteen minutes, I said to the owner of the shop, her name was Srinuan, that i had to go. I said I had some urgent business and had to rush back. Once we got into the care we sped off, doing. 120 kph. We really drove along. The Asia highway was just newly finished, there was rain and thunder. When we reached Ang-tong the rain stopped. At Amphur Promburi it was still raining and the road was slippery. At the bend at Wat Khu the car was speeding along and just went into a spin and out of control. The steering wheel turned uselessly, we rolled over eight times. My head was battered from above and below. The doors were locked. My robes were all torn, the car battered and smashed. I had to put up with the pain for over a month. I didn't dare go to the hospital because I was ashamed. The car was all dented, we had to use a crow bar to open it up. The passing cars all stopped to have a look. It was just a good thing that there wasn't a car coming the other way, otherwise we would have all been killed. We had to spend thirty, forty thousand baht on repairs and suffer from our painful injuries. I was all grazed. This was how I paid for boiling the turtles, but it wasn't all finished yet.

PAYING THE DEBT OF BROKEN BIRDS'S NECKS

As time went on, I sat meditation for a full six months, I received a vision of my death. A voice told me, "Venerable Sir, on October 14,1977, at 12.45 PM you will have to leave the Wat and die to repay for the karma of having broken birds's necks." The 16th of October was the last day of the Rains Retreat. I thought to myself that I would have to take leave of everybody, so I convened a meeting of the Sangha and bequeathed all my requisites, I gave it all up to the monks. I left all the monastery funds in the care of the Wat stewards and appointed who was to act as Abbot in my absence. I told the upasika (female lay devotees) to come and practice meditation for a month in the Wat, and when they had all gone back, for the male devotees to come and practice meditation. Later on there would be no-one to teach them, I was difintely taking my leave on the 14th October.

It's possible to know in advance. Meditation is so beneficial. If you know in advance you are not so put out. Mindfulness is the factor that organizes your work, clear comprehension (sampajanna) is that which does the calculations. Mindfulness and clear comprehension told me these things, so I took my leave of everybody, passed on all my duties and responsibilities.

I reflected that according to the Buddha's teachings we all have to die anyway, so I though I would take leave of everybody. I could tell all the people who came to the Wat, but what to do about those who did not come? I developed meditation, sitting meditation and walking meditation.

The Photograph of King Rama V offered by His Majesty to Wat Ambhavan on the occasion of his Royal Visit in Dynastic year 125.

There was one man named Chan Kornsritipah who knew me through the company of Sumedh Tejaphaibool. Khun Chan Kornsritipah had a sugar factory in Singhburi. He once dreamt that King Chulalongkorn entered his dreams and told him to come to this Wat. He was able to describe the picture of King Chulalongkorn(King Rama5th) which His Majesty had left at the monastery here when he made a Royal Visit in the Year 125 (Chakri Dynasty). The picture His Majesty had left was a photograph of him at this coronation. On that visit, the Abbot was here also.

That day, Khun Chan, together with Khun Sumedh, walked into the Wat. I didn't know, I said, what brings you here? When they saw the picture they told me about the dream, and so I have known them ever since, for many years. Later on I figured that this man is an important man for the Wat, and that if ever something was to happen to me I should tell him. This is a way in which sitting meditation and spreading thoughts of goodwill can be of benefit. The flow of mental energy is a kind of force, I've experimented with it. For example, if you take a pile of white cloth, then place a piece of colored paper on top of it, by using the power of sunlight or an electric current the color of the paper can be imprinted on the cloth. In the same way, when spreading fruits of skillful actions, make your mind good, and it can go (to others). But it's not easy to do. You have to bring your mind to the right level first.

A GOOD-BYE SENT AS A PSYCHIC CURRENT

As 14th of October approached, I began by chanting then spreading thoughts of goodwill to Khun Chan and taking leave of him. I thought, "We have been friends for many years already, now I take my leave. On October 14 I will definitely have my neck broken, and die at Singhburi Hospital." That's what I told him. I took my leave. Later on Khun Chan was working at his office, and sat down to write a not. But it turned out that what appeared on the note he was writing was the words I had spread to him in my meditation. It was in my own handwritting, too, exactly as I had thought in my meditation.

Take good note of this method of spreading merit. It is posible for it to even become written words, appearing in other places!

Come the 14th October, at 12.45 PM I had to go to a meeting at Wat Kavisraram, in Lopburi Province. Luang Poh Dhammanana, the ecclesiastical head of Lopburi Province, had written to me advising of a meeting of the ecclesiastical heads of all the districts in Lopburi. It so happened that on that day a group of doctors from Siriraj Hospital had come for the offering of the midday meal. As soon as the meal was finished I got ready. I knew that I would not be coming back to the Wat, as I had been advised in my meditation six months before. I had to pay the debt for the birds. How I was going to pay it I wasn't quite sure, but I problably wasn't going to come back. I passed on all the Wat business. The female supporters had come to practice for one month in the Wat, then teh male supporters. The laymen could help get the body and embalm it in the main hall, prepare the kitchen arrangements, and so on.

Having taken my leave of everybody I got into the car. It was 12.30 PM I had put on a new set of robes and collected my books into the car with me. I was sure I wasn't going to come back. Colonel Wad Keskaew was going with me. He had put on a white jacket and whire pants. He was problably going to die with us. We left the Wat and turned right towards Lopburi. When we got to just behind the Pak Bang market, at the petrol station, a car had put on its indicator and turn right, three cars coming behind it were overtaking it on the left, when a tour bus from the Tunjitt Tour Company pulled out of the petrol station and immediately crashed into them. It was exactly 12.45 PM. Colonel Wad Keskaeew floated over the back of the tour bus. The people in the market, seeing his white suit, thought it was a newspaper blowing over the bus. He got a broker back.

My shoulder was smashed against some metal and broken. The wind screen scraped the skin of my skull right back to my neck. My head was white. My neck was bent down to my chest. I could turn it around. My nose was full of blood, the wind screen had cut me up. I flew through it like a bird and landed about forty meters away from the car. But it seemed I was lucky, I could still move one arm, and raise it up. I touched myself to see whether my neck was broken. My eyes weren't taking anything in, neither were my ears. I was in a state of paralysis, but I had one good hand and good mindfulness. But I had to breathe from my stomach, "rising,falling". Yes, I could do it. If you want to know whether it's posible to breathe throught the stomach try breaking your neck. The driver was unconscious. I could still speak because my mindfulness was still good, I estaglished it at the chest bone and so doing was able to breathe through my navel. How did I do it? Think of a baby in the mother's womb, it eats and breaths through the navel. So I could breathe. "Rising, falling," all the time. I had discovered a new technique. But you have to have already developed this previously, you have to have already trained you mindfulness. You must have mindfulness, mindfulness when you sleep, mindfulness when you wake, really be aware. I said, "Some-one help me up," but none of the spectators standing around dared touch me, a mangled, talking head. They thought my head was mangles because it didn't have any skin on it. Eventually the highway police arrived and announced that I wasn't dead. If they hadn't arrived on the scene I would problably have been left for dead.

RETURN OF THE KARMA OF BOILING TURTLES

Just by was a brick factory. The owner drove up. I had propped my chin up with my one good hand, but I couldn't feel anything. As the car reached the Agricultural College I heard a faint sound from afar, "Serves you right, serves you right." I heard it continually, "Now you're going to get it again. Your neck may be broken but you don't get our pity, you're going to get some more." In a moment I could see the turtles, and right then the car's radiator boiled over and spilled all over me. What a mess, I was wet through. Now my one good arm could feel the heat. The water splashed off me onto the driver. The man holding me up screamed out, "Stop,stop, the guy behind you going to die!" The turtles were adding their revenge. It seems I hadn't paid my debt in full the last time. By the time the car reached the hospital the radiator was dry.

I determined to myself, "May I go peacefully, I know now, I understand, I ask for forgiveness, and spread forgiveness to all in the human world. If I haven't spent all of my pst karma in this human world may I spend it in the next life. Secondly, if I have spent all my karma in the human world, may I pass away from it right now, may I not ahve to suffer any longer." That was my second determination.

It so happened that that day the supervisor of the hospital was not in, he had gone home near Wat Ges, but the Chief Surgeon was in, Doctor Sommai. He had come rushing from his home when he heard that I had been involved in a car accident. He took me into the room for an X-ray. They spoke softly together, I could hear them talking. "No way," the Chief Surgeon was saying. He ordered me to lie down straight on the stretcher, which had wheels on it, and the male nurse wheeled meinto the intensive care unit. They were going to do an urgent job, stitching the skin back onto my head, before anything else.

I kept on determining to myself. I had one good hand, but apart from that everything seemed to have died. Still I could breathe through my stomach, "rising and falling" constantly. The two nurses had put me onto the stretcher and were wheeling me in when the wheels got caught in the doorway and I came crashing down! The wheels had collapsed, one of the doctors cried out, "Now he must be gone for sure?!" My neck gave a crack and seemed to click into place! I opended my eyes and could see, but I couldn't breathe. My throat seemed to be blocked, my backside was in so much pain it seemed it was going to fall off. So I learned another two things: What two things? I refer to the nervous system, how the nerves for the throat are connected to the nerves in the posterior. I went into the emergency ward and they began pulling my skin back and stitching away. The doctors were wondering whether I was going to be paralyzed and wouldn't get better. One of the male nurses said to the other, "It's because of you. If you didn't let the trolley slide off the floor his neck would be allright." I just thought that I was paying for old karma. Eventually the doctors found it impossible to treat me because I kept kicking at them. The doctors and nurses had me try to squeeze their hand to see if I had any control, and it seems I was lucky.

Come morning Khun Chan arrived on the scene holding my "psychic telegraph message." He said, "Sir, wy did you write this message to me? I had just seen you a few days previously, why didn't you tell me then? Why write a letter and send it to me?" I said that I didn't write any letter, but he said "Here, it's in your handwriting!"

The supervisor of Singhburi Hospital didn't know what to do, so he telephoned to the Lert Sin Hospital. His teacher was Doctor Pradit. He said, "This Venerable monk's neck is broken but he's not dead yet, what should we do?" Doctor Pradit said, "I've never seen such a thing, wait till I get there."

The next morning he came to see me and put me on an ambulance to the Lert Sin Hospital. They carried me in, I couldn't even turn over. I could lift my legs and arms but still couldn't get up, so they carried me up to the second floor. Doctor Pradit came to examine me with a number of doctors to help diagnose the situation. Doctor Pradit said, "Leave it to me." He put a plaster on me and in fifteen minutes I could get up and walk around. I go into a car and came back to Singhburi Province. It was strange, a great number visitors came to see me, even from other provinces. They had heard they story of the monk who got a broken neck and didn't die. There was such a great amount of sweets and rich food. I thought to myself, "When I'm healthy and have a good appetite why don't they bother coming to see me, why do they bring such things when I'm on death's door? They know I can't eat them, and yet they bring them, but they don't give them to me when i'm well."

When I got back to the Wat I chatted all day because there were so many visitors. Doctor Pradit had ordered that I was not to talk too much because if I did the wound would heal slowly. He had given me sedatives but I couldn't sleep. One of the nurses said I was fighting the medicine. Doctor Pradit conceived a plan, and got me to back into hospital. He said, "Come to Lert Sin Hospital and we will take off the plaster." I was so pleased at that I rushed over to the hospital. When I got there they took off the caste all right, and I fainted, but then, after a short rest, the Doctor said, "Wait a moment, Luang Poh, we are going to put on another caste. I tricked you into coming because I knew that if I told you we were going to put on another caste you wouldn't come." They put on another caste, weighing and extra four kilos. Fifteen minutes after they had put it on I couldn't open my mouth and had become a reluctant hermit!

THE HUNGRY GHOST WITH A MOUTH THE SIZE OF A NEEDLE-EYE

Getting back to Singhburi I was in a real state, I couldn't open my mounth. Eventually I got terrible thirsty. I couldn't eat, they had to feed me with a plastic straw. I couldn't suck it in myself. For the morning meal they had to slowly feed the food in. I was reminded of how my grandmother had said I would have to be a hungry ghost with a mouth the size of a needle's eye. I couldn't eat regularly for fifty days. Not only that, I couldn't speak either. If i tried to open my mouth wide the upper jaw would clamp down and blood would start to flow. If i moved while I was eating the blood would flow again. I had to be spoon fed all the food so I had to suffer like a hungry ghost, just like my grandmother had said how I wuld have to be a hungry ghost for eating the food made for the monks.

After I had returned from the hospital for fifty days I thought to myself that I had to pay for the karma I had made in the human world, so I began filling in the earth around the monastery and bulding this large meeting hall for giving teachings. That is how I have resolved myself--to pay for all the bad karma I have made in this human world by teaching the Dhamma, the teaching of the Buddha. I won't be building any more material constructions. Finally there was a merit making ceremony for restoring my spirit ("rup kwan"), and many law people participated. On the last day Chan Kornsritipah and Sumedh Tejaphaibool came along to "restore my spirit", and brought with them the note "I" had written. He had folded it up nicely. After the merit making ceremony and the sharing of merits had been duly conduced, he took out the piece of paper to read it to the other people there, but it turned out that there was no writing on it, it was empty. Now he has put it into a frame as a memento of the occastion.

Do not regret the past, the future you cannot see

The present is the important thing plan and act in the present

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THE LADY WITH TWO BODIES

This is the story of the meditation rooms (kuti) built by the lady with two lives. I used to think "How can there be such a thing as Heaven and Hell?" but I've had some experiences of them at this very Wat. When I came to live here in 1956-57, there were no meditation rooms. I hadn't yet begun to teach here. I had taught meditation since 1952, for a long time, before coming to live at this Wat and becomeing the Abbot here. It was only after the case of the lady with two lives that I was able to being building meditation huts, as I have done ever since.

I'll tell you the story of Mr.Pune and his wife Sa-ing. Pine had ordained as a monk for two or three Rains Retreats, he could chant the Patimokkha and had practiced meditation. When he disrobed he married Sa-ing and they had two children together. Pune was a wealthy man. He lived in Amphur Ta-tako in Nakornswan Province. He had a kind and virtuous heart, he liked to chant and pay respects to the Triple Gem, but Sa-ing was coarse and deceitful. In her picture she is wearing the "jong gaben" (sarong drawn up between the legs and attached at the back) and a cloth wraped around her chest, her hair close cropped, and a big necklace around her neck. Wherever she went she would steal something. One day she went to a party for one of her nephews who was going to ordain as a monk, and she stole some gold from the house. Then she accused a relative of Pune, who was poorer, of taking it. They beat him until his jaw was broken and accused him of being a thief when in fact it was Sa-ing herself who had stolen the gold. But no-one would believe that she had done so because she was already quite well off. This was how bad her mind was, she had made a lot of bad karma. She couldn't chant, because she couldn't read. Pune did all the chanting for both of them. He was a good husband to her, he wouldn't look at her in a bad way. He wouldn't criticize his own wife and children. This is one part of her story I would like to mention.

The second is that they were farmers, they used to go to the fields. In those days you didn't need a title deed, whoever was diligent could take as much land as they could work, clearing the forest for themselves. They had many hundreads of rai of land because they were hard working. Their forbears had bequeathed a lot of land to them too, and they had continued to work it. Pune had a twin Thai-style house and another house he had built for the marriage. He had everything he needed. Every year they would plant rice and build a hut out in the middle of their fields. With such a lot of land they hired five people to help them, people from the northeast who would work for twenty baht each. In those days, rice was 40 or 80 baht for a cart load, I can't remember exactly how much. When it was time to go to the fields, Pune would stay with his mother in the main house, while his wife went out to the fields until the harvest was done. In those days they used ox carts. To thresh the rice they had to use pestles and make use of the wind in the fields to blow the chaff away. Before doing the threshing she would get her hired hands to go and steal some of the rice from the neighboring fields and mix it with hers. She was really bad. Nobody suspected her because in that village Pune and Sa-ing were the wealthy ones who made loans to other people. The husband didn't know his wife was a thief.

During her last year Sa-ing had two gold waist chains weighing 8 baht each. That years she was with child. She felt anxious and restless and had a feeling that this year something bad was going to happen, that she would be visited by illness. She went out to the hut in the fields to harvest and sell the rice, and while she was there she buried her gold waist chains under the hut. She had developed the notion that her hired hands wanted to steal them, and she was afraid they wouldn't safe in the house. That year, as usual, she had the hired hands go and steal rice from the neighboring fields, but they hadn't threshed it when she went into labor and died together with her child. After she died, Pune organized her funeral.

Sa-ing later recounted how she had knew exactly what was happening to her, how she fell into Hell and was to stay there for 100years. On Observance days a monk (Phra Malai) would come to teach the Hellbeings. In Hell they made the Hell beings chant and pay homage to the Triple Gem. Sa-ing had never chanted in the human world, but after being in Hell she could recite all the chants fluently. Phra Malai went there to teach them about karma. He taught that in the Hell realms you have to chant and practice vipassana meditation just as in the human world.

Back in the human world, Pune missed his wife and child. Having harvested all the rice, he sold part of it and another part he used to make a "cetiya of sand," as an act of merit in the name of Sa-ing. As a result of his act of merit, it happened that back in Hell his wife's punishment was mitigated. She had been making good karma in Hell by chanting and paying respects to the Triple Gem. The Guardians of Hell told her that her husband had taken some of the rice which they had harvested together and made a cetiya of sand from it and dedicated the merits to her. This meant that her punishment was reduced 20 years, leaving only eighty.

Later on, everytime Pune looked at the house he had built for the marriage he couldn't help thinking of his wife, so he decided to offer it to a Wat to use as a kuti in the Thai style. The Abbot agreed to his idea and so Pune went about building the kuti. When it was finished he celebrated it with a troop of Mor Lum singers and some shadow puppets. On that day everybody heard of his merit making. When the celebrations were over, he formally offered the kuti to the Sangha of the four directions, as Sanghadana, offerings in the name of the Order rather then an individual monk. Having down that he dedicated the merits of his offering to his wife. This reduced her sentence a further twenty years, to sixty.

Pune reflected that now that his children were grown up, he was free to ordain as a monk. He ordained in order to dedicate the merits of his action to his wife. After he had ordained he disrobed and remarried. When he conferred with the Abbot, the Abbot told him, "It's not necessary for you to learn the Patimokkha, you've already learned that. Take on the ascetic (dhutanga) practices." He ate one meal a day, lived in a charnel ground, and developed insight meditation as an act of merit to be dedicated to his wife. He ordained as a monk for one Rains Retreat, developing insight meditation and dedicating the merits arising from it to his wife, even though he didn't know whether his wife had fallen into Hell or gone to Heaven. After the Rains Retreat he left the monkhood and got married to his new wife. After he disrobed the fruits of his actions went to Sa-ing in Hell.

The Guardians reduced her sentence a further 40 years. They told her that her husband had ordained as a monk and developed meditation practice and dedicated the merits to her, so they were reducing the sentence a further twenty years. The remaining twenty years could not be reduced as she had made such bad karma: firstly stealing and then accusing someone else of doing it, and secondly--the heaviest karma-stealing the rice from the neighboring fields. These could not be forgiven.

But they offered her and option: she had been of good conduct in the Hell realm, chanting and paying respects to the Triple Gem and developing meditation. They would let her go back to the human world for twenty years to repay her debt to her husband, and then she wouldn't have to come back to Hell. But she had to promise to observe the eight precepts every Observance Day. Could she do that? Scondly, she had to build a meditation room for 80 baht, no more no less, as an act of merit making. Otherwise she would have to come back to Hell. She agreed to this.

She was born in a house about two kilometers from that of Pune, the daughter of an Old Chinese man who had been married to a younger girl for fifteen years. They didn't have any children. The wife was young, but the husband was already fifty years old. They got a child after being married for fifteen years. That child was Sa-ing. The original Sa-ing looked like a demon, with spots and blemishes all over her face, her hair close cropped, her ears black, wearing a sarong in the jong-ga-ben style, then. I know from the picture of her wedding with Pune.

When she was eleven years old she recalled her previous life, and said to her father, "I'm not your daughter, I'm Sa-ing, the wife of Pune in that other hamlet." Her father couldn't understand it, and sought advice from nearby hamlets. He decided to leave her alone and let her forget about it. He didn't know whether it was true or not. He tried feeding her eggs that had strayed from the nest and eggs that had gone bad, but nothing made her forget.

When she was fifteen she demanded to be taken to Pune's house, she couldn't stand it any longer. She was fifteen years old, pretty and smooth-complexioned because her father was Chinese, but her mind was still that of Sa-ing. When she reached Pune's house, she said "Pune,"-- he was 78 years old by this time--"don't you remember me? It's Sa-ing!" Pune figured that the old Chinese man was trying to use his daughter to embezzle his wealthy out of him, he was a wealthy man. The Chinese man wasn't wealthy, he just had enough to live comfortable. He bought and sold rice. She tried to tell him but he wouldn't believe her. She said, "Pune, don't you remember, when I lived with you we went to the ordination celebration for your nephew--I was the one who stole the gold and went to blamed him for it. In fact I stole it myself. I've only understood this in this life." But he still didn't believe her, it could have been a fabrication.

Then she told about the second thing: "Pune, when I died with child while giving birth, I went down to Hell for 100 years. You took rice and offered it to the Wat, making a "cetiya of sand" from the rice again. I had a reduction in my sentence because of that. Then you took our house and offered it to the Wat. I found out about it on that day. You hired troop of Mor Lum singers and shadow puppets to celebrate the occasion."

The next thing she spoke of was how Pune had ordained as a monk: "I received merit for your actions, my sentence was gradually reduced. Apart from that, my taking birth now is through reducing my punishment, but there are twenty years that cannot be reduced because I made a lot of bad karma, stealing the gold and stealing the rice from the neighbors's fields. They could not forgive this actions, so I have to come back to live with you. I promised the Guardians of Hell that I would observe the Eight Precepts on every Observance Day and build a meditation kuty for 80 baht."

Pune just listened to her, but he couldn't yet bring himself to believe her. Sa-ing, in her new body, then asked him, "Pune, is my engagement dowry of gold still here?" "What gold?" "There were two waist chains, weighing eight baht each." Pune couldn't remember them, he couldn't remember whether they were still there, but he said that they were no longer around. He couldn't remember. Then Sa-ing said, "Pune, is our hut in the fields still there?" "The hut in the fields isn't there anymore because I have divided the fields up between our children, they are all married now." Then Sa-ing remembered, "Is the kratum tree still there?" "Yes, it's still there." So they went off to the fields, walking out many kilometers. In the end they got the two gold waist chains, weighing eight baht each, so Pune had to admit that the girl was indeed Sa-ing. She didn't go back to her family, she stayed on with Pune.

Sa-ing told me how the three of them lived together, the new wife, who was 72 years old, and Pune, who was 78, and they all agreed that as Sa-ing had agreed to build a meditation room, the three of them would travel around to find a meditation Wat. They took the gold waist chains with them. They went to Pak Nam Pho and caught a red boat from there to Bangkok, looking for a meditation Wat. They wanted the Devas to guide the way for the three of them. They got off the red boat at Singhburi. At that time I had come to stay at this Wat. They asked the people in the market where there was a meditation centre in Singhburi. It just so happened that they met a relative of Sume, carrying things to sell in the market. I had just moved here and become the Abbot of Wat Ambhavan. They said "Go and ask whether you can build a meditation room there. He has been teaching meditation for a long time." So the three of them caught a mail boat and got off just in front of the Wat, walked in and told me what had happened.

Do you know what part of the story I was shocked by? The part where she stole the rice. I had actually stolen more rice than Sa-ing had! I got a real fright. When I was a kid and the school was closed ... don't forget that I used to live with Grandma Mao. She was a midwife. I asked her how much stray rice she managed to collect each day, she said only a smidgen a day. I said that I could collect more than ten buckets a day. She said how can you manage to collect so much rice? I said, "Why are you so simple? Where they have the rice plants bundles up, I collect the grains and put them in a sack. The rice that they have threshed in the fields, just collect it and put it in a sack." That's how I stole rice. I had stolen more than Sa-ing had stolen. It seemed that stealing rice could lead to rebirth in Hell, and that gave me quite a fright, but I didn't say anything. Sa-ing turned out to be very useful. When the monks did the morning chanting in the old uposatha Hall she would go along, she stayed in the Wat many nights. "Yo so bhagava ..." She could do morning and evening chanting better than the monks, she had learned it all in Hell. At that time she was 16 years old. Pune was 78. I was still young. Why did Sa-ing live with that old man? She would ahve been much happier, it would have been more appropriate, with a young man, because she had changed a lot: she was more beautiful, gentle, and polite.

Sa-ing built the meditation room next to the uposatha hall, and that was the first one. She said that it had to have water around it to prevent ants from getting in, so I put water around it. Now I've changed the style. That was the first meditation room in the Wat. When it was finished it cost 80 baht. They had to stay in the house of one of the nearby lay people, her name was Lek Sukhsayaopong. She was the same age as Pune, 78 years old. They had to stay in that house and eat there as at the time there was no kitchen in the Wat. It cost 80 baht, no more, no less.

Later on, when the room was finished, they want back to their house. I went to see their house and I saw the gold waist chaings, and touched them. After that Pune began to come down with paralysis, and he had to be spoon fed and washed down. It was Sa-ing who looked after him. The second wife didn't do anything, she went to live in another house. Sa-ing looked after him very well, even though she was a young lady living with such an old man. After four years she reached twenty years of age, the time her "contract" in the human world was to expire.

I kept track of the events, and it turned out that the day she reached twenty years of age, (Pune had not yet died, she had looked after him all that time) she made some food and took it to the Wat. Having offered the food, Sa-ing collapsed and died right there. She was exactly twenty years of age. I led her cremation ceremony.

This is a true story. When Sa-ing died, Pune was already more then eighty years old. As soon as Sa-ing was cremated, Pune passed away, and in another two years his second wife died. Now their family is scattered around. Just recently I went to give a talk at Ta-tako hamlet. There was still a man there who knew of this story, he was 91 years old. He was the old Ecclesiastical Head of the Amphur, Phra Khru Pundhammaguta. He was a Chao Khun, he passed away a long time ago.

From this story we can see how the lady with two bodies, the miss with two lives, had a lot of bad karma. It seems that even in Hell there is chanting and paying respects to the Triple Gem. Sa-ing died in accordance with her contract, at twenty years of age. And this Wat had a meditation room built by her. I was afraid that bad karma would follow me also, and maybe I wouldn't be excused, so I had a lot of meditation rooms build, I made a row of them for people to stay in. I tell all the children also, "Do you want to be smart? Wash toilets! I guarantee you will be wise." This isn't a lie. I went to buy some windows and doors from Kampaengphet Province, and I met a young boy. The parents said, "This son of ours is useless, he always fails his exam. We want him to study, what can we do?" I advised them to have him ordain as a novice at my Wat. Once he was ordained the novice got down to washing the toilets. He told me at home he had never washed toilets. At home he would get up late, at eight o'clock in the morning. I asked him who gave him his good, he said his mother did. He washed the toilets and after a while he developed an appreciation for cleanliness. He stayed on a little longer then disrobed. After he disrobed he went to study, and after studying away he eventually became a judge, and finished at the top of his class. From washing toilets!

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PAST LIVES ( T. Liang Phibul )

At a certain society, after the usual Thursday morning meeting, there was still some time left over to debate the nature of reality. The subject of karma is one that many people in the present day and age are interested in, and many believe it, but there were many members of this society who had doubts about it, particularly karma from past lives, or previous karma giving fruit in this life. Some people in the present life seem to be of good conduct and not at all likely to receive the heavy karma results they do receive. Thinking about it makes one feel like one is pounding one's fist into the earth: "If no other reason can be found for it then it mush be the result of karma in a previous life." Thus there were these two sides to the question, one saying, "There is karma (and karma results) from previous lives," while the other side still had doubts. Some even went so far as to disbelieve the matter altogether, and they got into arguments with those who had read my books on "The Law of Karma"

When my friend, who was the secretary of this particular society, told me about this, I explained that it was normal for unenlightened beings to have differences of opinion, and that debate in the cause of finding truth was a good thing, as it would lead to wise reflection and wisdom. At some future time the matter will problably be clearly resolved, and seen in clear black and white, and then all the doubts will swept aside.

But by strange coincidence, later on the author received a letter containing a record of experiences pertaining to karma from past lives which was supported by hard evidence. It was an event that is very credible, and cannot be doubted. Once the reader learns of it and reflects on it carefully he will no doubt resolve some of his doubts on the matter, because it is an event that really happened, not so long ago, and there are still people around who witnessed it. As such it is supported by strong evidence. It just so happened that this "miracle" or "coincidence" came just at a time when the arguments about karma from past lives were occurring.

In the letter sent to me, the recounter said: "I (the writer of the letter) have a friend who is an army officer and likes to go hunting. It is a sport that he enjoys and derives a lot of pleasure and excitement from. It is his life. I had wanted to ask him to stop and point out the bad karma involved, and explain the law of karma, but I reckoned that my words and reasons would not yet have enough weight to be effective and my friend would not listen to me. So I tried to find a chance to take my friend to a monk who was of high virtue to point out the right and the wrong, the good and the evil, an so become more morally well-behaved, as befits one who adheres to the Buddhist religion. If people would just stop siding with their own personal preferences and look at things according to reality I am sure that they would see that all beings that are born in the world, from the highest, the human beings, down to the most lowly crawling creatures, all have a certain instinct within them, and that instinct is fear. Domestic animals, such as dogs or cats, exhibit it clearly if we take a piece of wood and make as if to strike them with it: they immediately take fright and run away. They run in accordance with their instinct of fear. Wild animals live constantly in fear because they have seen what human beings can do. But the humans that hunt them are very different from some of the monks who constantly spread thoughts of good will and kindness to all beings. Thus, wild animals are not afraid of monks, their instinct tells them that the monks present no danger to them. This shows that in spite of the fact that all animals have fear, and fear of danger is a very important force in them, they are able to recognize whether a person has kindly thoughts or not. If those who like hunting thought about this they would recall having seen with their own eyes, when they go into the forest in search of game and the sound of their guns makes the animals scatter in all directions, how afraid they are: the young flee from their mothers, the males forsake the females--all run as fast as they can to save their own lives. Some of them are unlucky. If the bullet kills them that's the end of the matter, but if they are only wounded they stagger to the nearest hidden clump of trees. They can't leave to search for food; their limbs, wounded by the hunter's bullet, are deformed, and they suffer untold misery until they either heal or die.

If you want to be a hunter you should look at yourself first, ask yourself whether your actions are right or wrong, whether you are making merit or bad karma. If you still cannot resolve the matter, then try putting your own feelings into the body of the hunted animals. Suppose that you were being hunted by animals or people for fun, just as you seek pleasure by hunting other animals. If we pinch someone else, they feel the pain but we don't; what if they pinch us? How do we feel? Don't forget that we are Buddhists: are we transfressing any of the training rules? Don't allow your feelings to force you into making bad karma, don't deludedly make bad karma in the name of "sport." Be fair. Don't exploit other beings. They live in the forest, they have their limits, they have their own kind of pleasure in accordance with their nature. Even though the government has made laws against hunting wild animals, there are still selfish people who seek them out and destroy them so that they are almost extince. If we were to look at the matter carefully in accordance with moral principles we would feel compassion and pity for them, we would not be able to shoot them, we would allow them to live in the forests as they have done, in accordance with nature. We would not disturb them, but let them live in peace in the forest, and we would be at peace also. When we are older we wil not have to fear the arising of bad karma as we will have not made any from the time we were young.

The letter stated:

One night, at the beginning of the month, 2nd April 1969, I set out with the retired army officer who liked to frequent the forests and hunt as the sport of a man. There was also another officer who was an expert marksman, who had received, as far as I know, six gold and silver medals. We had been arguing about whether game hunting was bad karma or not. That night we got into our car, with the driver, and set out. It was the night after the full moon, the moon was still unblemished, shining brightly in its full beauty, as it was the month of May. Even though the weather was muggy during the day, at night it had cooled down considerably. Since the moon was casting its light over the land, we could see the mountains and forests bathed in its light. Such a sight is a feast for one whose mind is normal, but a hunter's thoughts go further into the forests, they turn to the animals. At the least they think of the rabbits which like to come out and play in the moonlight. At such times they can really enjoy some good shooting practice. Different people perceive the moonlight differently. For young unmarried people, such times are full of dreams of their beloved, full of sweetness and romance with their sweethearts under the bright moonlight. The time and the place, the mountains and forests in the moonlight, will produce dreams in everyone: for young men and wemen it is of love, for the old it may be of sweet memories of past moonlit nights.

But my journey out of the town of Lopburi with my friends and our driver was not for the purpose of entering the forest and hunting the rabbits that had come out to play in the moonlight, because that is not my fancy, nor was it to seek out our lady loves out of ramantic mood. Our departure from our place of rest was in order to go to Singhburi province, to go and pay our respects to Phra Khru Bhavanavisudhe, the Abbot of the meditation centre, Wat Ambhavan in Singhburi. It turned out that we were in luck as we mangaged to meet the Venerable Phra Khru on his own. It is diffecult to find him on his own as he has so many visitiors. It is hard to find time to be with him. After we had approached and paid our respects we had a chance to talk with him under his kuti. Venerable Prasidh offered us hot tea as usual, the same as happened every time I went there.

Having chatted with him for a suitable time, we began to ask him about the "fruition of karma." The Phra Khru kindly explained the matter and gave examples. Some of the examples he described got some of us thinking, about the things we had done when we were young and reckless. We were proud of showing off our expert marksmanship. We were weak in morality but strong in making bad karma. In those days we never thought of good and bad karma, virtue and vice, or marality. Wherever our friends invited us to go we would gladly follow in search of fun. Pity or compassion never arose within our hearts. If the unfortunate animals we shot didn't die immediately, they would be trembling all over with terror, but we thought it was fun, we would be thrilled and excited. Now that we were listening to the Dhamma, and the Venerable Phra Khru's explanation of the law of karma, thinking back on those times made us feel uneasy. We never thought of ourselves as cruel and violent men who exploited others in this way, because we had forgotten ourselves.

When my friend the expert marksman asked, "Hunting is a sport that human beings enjoy. Would ie be bad karma? Some teachings say that it is not bad karma to kill animals because in so doing we are helping to send them on to a human birth."

The Phra Khru answered, "According to Buddhism it is against the first precept. The animals in the forest just go about their business of looking for food according to their natural instincts, they stick to their area, we should stick to ours. But in fact human beings turn around and carry their guns into the forests in order to disturb them, to destroy and exploit those animals. And then we make excuses for ourselves, saying that we are "helping them onto a human birth." How do we know that the animals we kill are being reborn as human beings? We just decide that for ourselves, but the animals can't talk, they can't voice their opinions. Only the human beings can speak, so the argument is one-sided. People reason according to their personal desires. For example, many years ago the forested areas surrounding the Wat were flooded, and the rabbits fled the water in search of refuge, otherwise they would have died. In the end they fled the water and came to live in the Wat. Because it was on high land, the floodwaters couldn't erach it. Even though they knew that living close to human beings, who were cruel, was putting their lives in danger, the rabbits had no choice, there was nowhere safer than here to run to. They were forced to choose the Wat as their sanctuary, knowing full well that if they encountered humans that were cruel they would certainly die. It was a chance they had to take; better than drowning. If we humans thought about it, we would understand and feel sympathy for the animals, we would generate thoughts of good will for them. They had no refuge, they were forced to struggle into the Uposatha Hall. Seeing as how the rabbits had fled from distress (heat) seeking refuge (coolness), I felt sorry for them and made an announcement to the local people asking them not to harm the rabbits. They were already afraid enough as it is, being forced to come and live so close to human beings. Rabbits are naturally afraid of humans. I asked them to please refrain from harming the rabbits and instead help to protect them. Helping them to escape from the floodwaters was an act of merit making. It is skillful to help other beings from suffering. They had no where else to go.

"But it turned out that one of the local people took no heed of my plea, and instead took the opportunity to hunt the rabbits and eat them. It saddened me to hear this, because I felt that anyone who harmed these rabbits would surely receive more heavy karmic retribution than ordinary hunters who go out in search of game into the forests. In the forest the rabbits still have somewhere to run to , but here there was nowhere for the rabbits to go, they were trapped. Later on it turned out that the man who hunted those rabbits died from a strange and painfull illness. It was the results of his karma: he had refused to listen to my words. What he couldn't escape was the retribution of his actions.

"As my friend the hunter was listening to this he began to feel uneasy, as he had killed many animals in his life, and had never thought about good and bad karma. He had thought only of seeking pleasure as is the way of a young man. So he asked the Phra Khru, "Venerable Ajahn, I have shot many animals but I never thought about karma and the retribution that would be in store for me. I feel that my actions were a result of a young man's recklessness, one who has no moral training. Now that I know about right and wrong, what ways are there for me to wash away this bad past karma?" The Venerable Phra Khru said, "Merit and wrongdoing cannot be washed away. Merit is merit, wrongdoing is wrongdoing. They are like oil and water. But just to have the awareness of what is right and what is wrong, to realize that we have made bad karma, is a good sign. It means that we will begin to change our ways and make more good karma. A person who realizes this is more praiseworthy then those who try to justify their bad actions. If you know that you have made bad karma, and then continue to make it, it is like falling down one step and then jumping the rest of the way. You think, "Well, I've made so much bad karma already, I may as well continue to make it," instead of gaining awareness, changing your ways and making good karma in compensation for the gad karma you have already made. The Buddha praised those who give up evil and become good. If we do make a lot of good karma and merit, while it cannot actually wash away our bad karma, at least our bad karma will become less than the good, and less effective in giving results; good karma will carry more weight. As we make more and more good karma, we can begin to dedicate it to other beings, to those we have wronged or have wronged us. Whenever we make good karma, we can always dedicate the merits in this way. If your bad karma is not too heavy it will dissipate, because the good karma that we dedicate to others serves to atone for the bad karma we have made. As we make more and more good karma, while bad karma doesn't get diluted it does get further and further away and the chances for it to give fruit are reduced. If we stop making good karma and revert to making bad karma, our bad karma closes in on us and gives fruition much faster. The heavier the karma is, the harder it is to escape its consequences. No matter how much good karma one makes, if the bad karma is still heavier than the good karma one makes, if the bad karma is still heavier than the good karma one is making in the present life, one must receive the fruits of the previous bad karma. Until one's bad karma is used up and the good karma gives fruit later, or in a later life, the debt of one's bad karma will not be paid up.

"For example, there was an incident that happened here about year 1962. The person who received the results of bad karma at that time was a devout follower of Buddhism. He had a virtuous mind, always helped out in merit making ceremonies and had helped me out in many of the functions in the Wat. He was also interested in practicing insight meditation with me. His name was Chalor Gertsuvan. Because in the past he had been a soldier in the Guard (Senaraks), and was a kind and benevolent person, always helping out the villagers when they were sick, never reluctant to help them, he was much loved by the villagers. They called him "Doctor Chalor." He was originally from Salah Loy village in Ayudhya. He got married to a young lady named Tongbai, who lived in the village next to the Wat. Then Doctor Chalor came here to study and practice meditation. He practiced regularly, so he was able to develop a good degree of concentration.

"One day Doctor Chalor told me that while he was sitting in meditation a vision of a past life arose very clearly within his mind, as clear as if it had happened only recently."

"The vision showed him a life in which he was 16 or 17 years old, and had an older brother. His mother and father were Vietnamese who lived in Rachburi. They sold earthenware jugs, taking them by boat and selling them along the banks of the river. At that time one of his older brother's friends invited Doctor Chalor to join them in plundering the village of Morng Rai, close to the Erawan Waterfall in Kanchanaburi. As young people tend to do, Doctor Chalor saw the evil action as a form of excitement and, throwing all mindfulness and restraint to the winds, joined the group. At the appointed time he went with his older brother, and they took their guns with them. When they reached a certain house in an isolated area at the outskirts of the village, they quickly closed in before the owner had a chance to find out what was happening. When the man who owned the house saw them coming he was taker completely by surprise. He realized immediately that bandits were coming to rob him, but he had no chance to fight back. Doctor Chalor's older brother shot him and he fell in a heap onto the ground. The older brother's friend was the leader. He ordered Doctor Chalor to kill the owner's wife who had been sleeping on the "smoking platform", having just giver birth to a child, because she was screaming so loudly for help. Doctor Chalor did not hesitate. He killed the woman and threw her new-born baby, together with its bedding, into the fire. He did it unflinchingly and cruelly, with no trace of kindness or fear of bad karma. His mind was completely devoid of pity for his victims, and was not at all shocked at his actions. He saw the killing of the woman and her child as perfectly normal, he was merely acting under his brother's friend's orders, with earnestness and daring. He wanted to show his mettle, to show that he was brave man, as is common for a young man who doesn't know the difference between good and evil.

"His brother's friend collected all the wealth that he could, and then set the house alight, and the three of them fled as quickly as possible for fear of being discovered when the neighbors came to put out the fire."

"When they got back to their village they all connived to suppress the matter of their raid from their parents. Later, Doctor Chalor and his parents set out on their barge to sell pottery as they had always done. Doctor Chalor was poling the barge along when he suddenly fainted and collapsed into the water, where he died.

"This is karma in the past, which manifested as an image in his meditation practice. Doctor Chalor told me about it in detail. I considered the matter and figured that his past karma was so heavy it would probably give results in the future, and no matter how much he practiced the Dhamma in this present life he would not escapre its results.

"I told him to forget about the vision, not to think about it, to forget about the images that he saw and make his mind equanimous, then to sit in meditation, and no longer to think of the past.

"But no matter how much Doctor Chalor tried to sit, the images of his past kept arising. When he came to tell me about it, all I could do was comfort him and tell him to try to forget them, not to think of them again, and try to make as much merit as he could, dedicating the merits to his enemies. The important thing was to try to make as much good karma as possible and to dedicate the fruits. I wrote this down on July 8, 1955, in order to see what would happen to Doctor Chalor in the future.

"But I didn't do anything because it happened that Mr.Charoen Gertsuvan, Doctor Chalor's older brother, who lived in Ayudhya, came to see him, and invited Doctor Chalor to join him in the bamboo trade in Kanchanaburi. At that time bamboo was becoming a valuable commodity for export, and bamboo sellers were making a lot of money because the investment was little money--he wanted to be a rich man just like any other ordinary person. He looked on the chance to make money with excitement and zeal. Doctor Chalor came to ask my advice about becoming a bamboo trader and moving his whole family to Kanchanaburi so that he wouldn't have to worry about them and waste valuable time travelling back and forth between his present home and his place of work. I asked him where he was planning to live in Kanchanaburi. He said that his brother wanted him to live in Morng Rai in Kanchanaburi. When I heard that name I felt ill at ease, but I could see that if I tried to prevent him I would not be successful. Doctor Chalor had his sights set on becoming a rish man. He breathed bamboo. It was like a strongly flowing current of water, nothing could get in its way. Even though he respected me it would be very difficult to change his mind. It seemed that unskillful karma had caused this greed to arise in him. I couldn't remind him of his visions of past karma as I had already told him to forget about them and not to think about them anymore, but simply to make as much good karma as he could.

"Thus, after reflection, all I could do was to recommend that on his first journey he not take his family with him, because he was not yet sure of the situation over there. I said he should go by himself first. Once he had been and seen the place and made a place for himself then he could move his family there with ease. If the bamboo trade wasn't as fruitful as they understood, he could always come back to Prohmburi and live there as before. Doctor Chalor agreed to my suggestion.

"Then Doctor Chalor set out together with his older brother to join the bamboo trade in Kanchanaburi. I couldn't help feeling worried about him and was on the watch for any news that may come, but there was none.

"After Doctor Chalor had been away from Prohmburi for about one year he came back to visit his family and dropped in to visit me at the Wat. I asked him about the bamboo trade, and he said that it was very profitable. In only one year he knew all about it, he had got hold of a piece of land deep in the forest, where he had built a little hut in the area of Ban Morng Rai in Tah Gradan District, close to the Erawan Waterfall in Amphur Srisawat, Kanchanaburi Province. This time he had decided to take his family back with him so they could live together and he would not have to worry about the house while he took the bamboo by raft, selling it along the banks of the rive Kwae, and in Kanchanaburi. He had alerady built a big and comfortable house for his family. I listened calmly and gave him some encouraging words, saying that if he had found a good means of livelihood, I was pleased for him. But within my heart I felt a strange sense of foreboding. All I could do was warn him to be wary of misfortune and not to forsake the monks, then maybe he could mitigate things. I also told him about the law of karma, but it seemed that Doctor chalor had changed. He said that if his time was up he would die wherever he want, but at least he was happy that he had made a lot of good karma. I felt that I couldn't restrain him or bring him back to his previous self. It was probably because of the influence of his past karma. After we had talked for a while, Doctor Chalor took my leave, and he took his family, together with a niece, Urai, and nephew, Chaveng, Cheuasrikaew. They had asked to go with him to make a living in Kanchanaburi. They were excited at the prospects of riches that lay in store for them. All I could do was warn them not to neglect the religion.

"About four years passed by and still nothing had happened. I was very interested in this family because the events of past karma that arise in meditation practice are particularly heavy, and I could not see any way that they could be alleviated apart from practiceing the Dhamma and dedicating the fruits of the practice to one's enemies in order to ask their forgiveness. In this way it may be possible to decrease the effects of past karma. But I heard that when Doctor Chalor went to Kanchanaburi he had no time to practice meditation or make merit, he was so busy making money. I was saddened by this but all I could do was look on and listen for news, As time passed I heard that a tragedy had struck his family. The news came from one of Doctor Chalor's wife's relatives, who had travelled back and forth between there and this area. She told me the news. It seemed that the heavy karma from Doctor Chalor's past life had finally given fruit. On that particular day, Doctor Chalor had gone on business into Kanchanaburi town with his wife and children. His older brother was left alone to mind the house. When Doctor Chalor got back home he heard that his house had been robbed, and that his brother had been shot by bandits on the steps of the house. All the wealth had been stolen. When Doctor Chalor, his wife and children heard the news they raced back home. Seeing the sight, he almost fainted on the spot.

"Doctor Chalor raced to report the matter to the authorities and asked them to come and check his brother's body, but they were slow in getting there and the body had begun to fester.

"Some days later a stranger came and told Doctor Chalor in a threatening tone to take his family and get out ot the area fast and get as far away as possible, otherwise he would die like his brother. Doctor Chalor didn't like people threatening him, he was proud and wanted to defend his honor like a man. People normally don't like being threatened, expecially when the threat is coming from bad elements. Even though he knew he couldn't beat them, his anger, pride, and resentment deprived him of his sense of reason. His older brother had only recently been killed, and his resentment and desire for revenge filled his heart and incited his pride. If there was going to be any killing around here, they would have to shoot it out first and see who was the one to die. Thus, with anger and vengeance guiding his heart, Doctor Chalor refused to heed the threats or leave the area that had made him rich. But he was careful, he didn't let down his guard. He practiced his shooting, both short arms and long arms, and he kept gun close by him at all times, ready for use. In the event of an emergency he could grab it and use it immediately. He was fully ready for fighting, like a true man. He thought of the words of the Phra Khru, and told his nephew that if anything should happen to time, to look after the house after him.

"Only fifteen days after his brother had been shot and killed in the raid on his house, at midday, there was the sound of a long tailed boat landing at the boat landing in front of the house. From the boat a man shouted out for Doctor Chalor to come down to the landing. Tongbai, Doctor Chalor's wife, came down from the house and went to the boat landing where the boat was docked. She saw about fifteen men in military uniforms and guns, looking much like policemen. They shouted up to Tongbai, asking whether Doctor Chalor was in, as they urgently wanted to see him down at the boat landing. Tongbai rushed up to the house and told her husband that some officials wanted to see him urgently. Doctor Chalor thought that they must be the officials from the police wanting to ask him about the robbery and the murder of his brother, so he let down his guard. He walked down to the boat landing. His wife, standing higher up on the bank, could see them talking about something or other, but she couldn't hear what they were saying as it was too far away. Then Doctor Chalor turned around and began heading back to the house, but just at that moment one of the men in the boat close to Doctor Chalor took out a gun and shot him in the back of the head. Doctor Chalor was completely unprepared, he didn't have his guard up. As soon as the shot was fired he collapsed in a heap, dying instantly. His wife, seeing the incident, fainted on the spot. The murderers, dressed as policeman, having made sure that he was dead, sped off in the long-tailed boat. This incident took place on 4th September, 1961.

"As for Tongbai, when she regained consciousness, she raced down to the boat landing, wailing distractedly, and threw her arms around her beloved husband. When she was sure that the husband she loved so much was already dead without so much as a chance to say good-bye to his wife and children, she hugged his body and cried so much she almost collapsed and died on top of him. He was too heavy to lift up from the boat landing, their hired hands were still far off in the forest, only her children were at the house, and they were too small to do anything. She had to find a rope and tie the body to the boat landing, as she was afraid that if the waters rose the body would be carried far away or would sink down into the river far from the boat landing. She raced of to report the matter to the authorities to come and inspect the body according to the routine.

"Tongbai, having lost both her beloved husband and his older brother, found herself a woman alone. She didn't know what to do. She was both terrified and grief stricken. The more she thought about her husband the more desperate she felt. Her husband had only just been brutally murdered right before her eyes, she was shattered. She had never before experienced such tragedy. It was impossible for her to continue living on in the forest with her children, nephew and niece. She decided to give the bodies of her husband and his brother cremation, right there in the grounds of the house, as quickly as possible. There were witnesses of the cremation. When it was finished, she immediately collected all her things, put the few remaining ashes from the cremation into a white cloth, and without hesitation took all she could with her and her children down to a barge to begin the journey down the river and back to her home village. But the bad luck was not finished yet, it followed Doctor Chalor's family.

"Barge travel is dangerous. If the punter is not really skilled, it is easy to crash the barge into the rocks and smash it to pieces. Such was the barge that Tongbai and her children rode on. The man punting the barge was not very skilled and he smashed into some rocks, the barge fell apart, and everybody, including the children, were thrown into the water. They were lucky in that someone helped them out of the water, so no-one was killed in the incident, and they all made it safely back to the bank. But the bad karma continued to dog Doctor Chalor's family as they made their arduous way back. By the time they got back to Ban Samrong in Prohmburi District, Singhburi, they had to endure such intense hardship they almost cried blood. It was one of the most pitiful stories I ever heard.

"When they got back to Ban Samrong, the relatives came to visit and gathered round to show their condolences at the death of Doctor Chalor and the suffering his family had had to go through in travelling back home. They all designated and appropriate to make merit for the ashes and dedicate the merits to Doctor Chalor and his brother. They invited me also but on the day of the funeral I had another appointment. However I did go to give a talk two days before the cremation, telling them about how there really is such a thing as karma from past lives, how it can easily come back and give fruit in the present life.

"After I had given the talk before the merit-making ceremony, many friends and relatives came to Tongbai to ask her about the events of Doctor Chalor's death. This got Tongbai thinking back on those events, of her beloved husband who had to die so cruelly and miserable, and she began to be oversome once more by grief, crying and sobbing so much that she left her body and went to join her husband. The people who listened to the events that led to Doctor Chalor's death couldn't help feeling sorrow also, and all felt for Tongbai, who loved her husband so much. She cried as she sat recounting the events among the crowd of relatives and friends. Many of them couldn't hold back the tears from their own eyes. Tongbai was so overcome by grief that she collapsed and lay prostrate for a moment, and her relatives had to help revive her. But once revived Tongbai had still not recovered: the more she thought, the more she cried, and the more she cried the more she thought of her late husband's goodness. She couldn't subdue the suffering that welled up inside her, she had lost her sense of reason and just let her mind completely follow her moods. Soon she fainted once more and became unconscious. The grief was too much for her. She lay prostrate once more, and, amid the astonishment of her relatives and friends, who tried in vain to revive her again, she dided of a heart attack right then and there, on October 8,1961, leaving her children to fend for themselves in the world.

"Not long after that, news arrived that the authorities had not been idle. Police Superintendent Colonel Yongyuth Gesornmalah led a squad of police to capture the band of bandits that had terrorized the local people for so long. Karma followed them as well, as the police surrounded their holdout. The bandits refused to surrender, and it the end the bandit leaders, Sawat Udom and Pee Piyapan, who led the raids on Doctor Chalor's house and had killed Doctor Chalor and his brother, got in the way of some of the police squad's bullets and died in accordance with their karma. Their accomplices surrendered. Altogether 38 men were captured. After interrogation, they were sent for trial.

"I think this is a good example of how major bad karma in a past life can follow one into the present life.. It's old karma giving fruit in the present life. May you all reflect on this. All people are fruit in the present life. May you all reflect on this. All people are born to pay the debts of their old karma, be it good or evil, it will always follow you, no-one can escape the effects of karma. May you all reflect on this matter intelligently, looking at the example I have given here."

When the Phra Khru had recounted the story, we talked to him a little longer, and then it was midnight. The moon was bright in the sky, We looked each other in the eye and nodded, then paid our respects to the Phra Khru, Ajahn Phra Khru Bhavanavisuddhi, in order to let him go and have some rest. It seemed that he always ahd visitors coming to see him.

We got into our car and made our way out of Wat Ambhavan back to Lopburi. THe moon was shining bright in the sky, as it was only one day after the full moon. But we all sat quietly, no-one saying anything; we were all thinking. The few words we did speak were about past karma. There was only the sound of the car's engine as we sped through the night, among the fields, hills and forests in the bright moonlight. It was getting toward morning. Eventually we made it back to our base in the military compound. That night we had found out about "past lives", with no room for doubt to remain about the matter. The only doubt remaining would be among those peoople whose minds are on a different level.

The author has compiled this story from the letter kindly sent to me by a senior army officer. If the reader is still unsure about the past lives recounted in this story, please go and see Venerable Phra Khru Bhavanavisuddhi, at Wat Ambhavan, Phrohmburi District, Singhburi Province, and you may get a more detailed account. The Venerable may tell the story more profoundly than I have. I would like to respectfully thank Venerable Phra Khru Bhavanavisuddhi for allowing me to include his real name and address in this story, in order to assuage any doubts among those people who are unsure whether the story is true or concocted. This relieves the writer of the duty of answering any questions about the story. The story should be useful in some way or other. I would like to dedicate any goodness arising from the recounting of this story to the people who were its main characters, who have all since passed away. The compiler cannot omit to thank Colonal Sawat Phanich and Colonel Tiand Konoknuwat, who kindly wrote down the story told to them by Venerable Phra Khru Bhavanavisuddhi and sent it to me in order to be made available to a wider audience.