by one group of people. Having experienced this incredible out-
pouring of generosity firsthand, I want to express my admiration
to the people of Sakon Nakhon: they possessed a magnanimous
faith that never waned. Their grand hospitality has left me with a
warm feeling of gratitude – an impression that will forever remain
in my heart.
One had to sympathize with the monks and novices, staying
at the monastery, who helped supervise suitable arrangements for
all the people attending the funeral, and with the many lay sup-
porters who toiled so hard, helping with the labor. Well in advance
of the cremation date, monks and novices were already arriving
in large numbers, while the cremation ceremony was expected to
attract a crowd of well over ten thousand people. Several pavil-
ions were constructed to house people, and as many kitchen areas
as possible were set up around the grounds to accommodate the
large crowd that was expected to attend this important occasion.
Begun shortly after Ãcariya Mun passed away, these preparations
were completed just in time for his cremation.
As the day of the funeral ceremony drew near, monks and
lay devotees flooded in from all directions, their numbers swell-
ing until those charged with receiving them were hardly able
to cope. The closer it came to cremation day, the greater the
multitude of people pouring into the monastery. In the end, no
more space could be found to accommodate the hordes of people
who kept arriving. By funeral day, all the huts were full, and the
whole extensive tract of forest within the monastery grounds
was crowded with monks and novices who had traveled from all
over the region. Most of them camped out in the woods, their
white umbrella-tents visible everywhere. A total of eight hundred
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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