- This story was related to the author by Ãcariya Mahã Thong Sak
himself. - Ãcariya Mun was referring to the image of the calf lodged under
its mother’s neck: it appeared as though it was trying to carry her on its
back. - Maw lam, also known as “folk opera”, was a popular form of village
entertainment in the Northeast region of Thailand. Maw lam takes the
form of a contest in extemporaneous rhyming, usually performed on a
public stage between a man and a woman, in which the battle of wits
can become quite fierce. Much use is made of word play: riddles, puns,
innuendoes, metaphors, and simply playing with the sounds of words.
The verses are made up as the singers go along, and the winner is the
one who comes up with the most humorous verses, thus making the
other one look foolish. - He was the same Chao Khun Upãli who later became a senior
administrative monk and a renowned Buddhist scholar. He was the
“mentor” whom Ãcariya Mun always sought out when he traveled to
Bangkok. As a youth his name was “Jan”. (see Note #21, page 470) - By then it was night-time, and the local people were instinctively
reluctant to walk long distances alone at night for fear of tigers and
ghosts. - The Vessantara Jãtaka is one of the more popular of the Jãtaka
tales, which recount stories of the previous births of the Buddha. In this
Jãtaka, Sakka, in the guise of an old brahmin, asked Lord Vessantara
for that which was most precious to him, his wife, in order to test his
joyful generosity. - Mettã appamaññã brahmavihãra is the spiritual practice of focusing
the mind to “dwell in a state of boundless loving kindness”. - A stupa (cetiya) is a dome-shaped monument that usually houses
the remains of a revered Buddhist monk; though some are built by the
Buddhist faithful to act as memorial shrines.
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
#1