ning of the rainy season retreat that year. When it became obvi-
ous that his illness had become very debilitating, we conferred
among ourselves and decided to request his permission for two
monks to be allowed to sit in meditation on his verandah. With
his consent, two monks were always seated on his verandah from
then on, and two more were seated down below. Besides the reg-
ular shifts of monks who kept watch on him, others were quietly
overseeing the whole arrangement throughout the night.
The end of the rains retreat saw an increasing number of
senior disciples begin arriving from their own retreat locations
to pay him their respects and help look after his needs. By that
time his condition was critical, and becoming more and more un-
stable by the day. Eventually, he called all his disciples together
one day to remind them of the proper way to handle his impend-
ing death.
“My illness has now reached its final stage. It is time to think
about what will happen when I die – preparations must be made
in time. As I’ve told you many times, I am going to die – this
much is certain. My death is destined to be a major event affect-
ing not only the general public, but animals as well. I want you
to know that I do not wish to die here at Ban Nong Pheu. If I die
here, it will be necessary to slaughter large numbers of farm ani-
mals in order to feed all the people coming to my funeral. I am
only one dying person, but the death of this one person will in
turn cause the deaths of a great many animals. Crowds of people
will travel here to attend my funeral, but there’s no market in this
village where foodstuffs can be purchased. Since ordaining as a
monk I have never for a moment considered doing harm to any
animal, to say nothing of killing them. Compassion has always
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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