Perseverance in Meditation Practice
until True Peace is Obtained

In order to fully grasp and understand the answers, he had to seriously dedicate his life to the study of Dhamma.  His daily life revolved completely around meditation. Everyday at 6 a.m., he would make his daily trek from Kasetsart University to Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, which required him to take three different buses.  Whether he sat or stood in the bus, he would always close his eyes and meditate until he reached Wat Paknam Temple at around 8 a.m.  He would then go straight to Khun Yay in order to continue the next lesson on meditation practice, until 8 p.m.  He returned to Kasetsart University at around 10 p.m.

Even during the late hours of the night, at 3 a.m. when most of his friends slept, Chaiyaboon would wake up to meditate because it was quiet, and his body had just enough rest.  He would meditate in an area where none of his friends would see him. But, sometimes his friends would wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom.  When they saw him covered under a blanket, they would be startled.  Once they knew that he was meditating, they did not make fun of him or tell anyone.  Once his friends became more familiar with this, he started inviting the ones he was closest to, to go meditate with Khun Yay at the Wat Paknam Bhasricharoen.   Later, as his group of friends grew larger, his friends who were seniors and juniors followed him to the temple.

When it came to studying at the university, an educated graduate tends to believe that well rounded study needs to combine both worldly knowledge and Dhamma knowledge.  Worldly knowledge is necessary to help one earn a living, and Dhamma knowledge is to instruct the mind to be virtuous and to ease any doubts about the secret of life such as, “Where do we go after we die? Do heaven and hell exist? How do we prove it?”  This profound knowledge was not taught at any university, but it was derived from the Lord Buddha’s wisdom. This caused Chaiyaboon to lean towards the study of Dhamma more than studies in the classroom.  Even on the day he had an exam in the morning, he would take the bus to go to meditate in the afternoon.  He did this regularly until he graduated.

With a determined attitude towards meditation, along with his respect for the teachings of his teacher, young Chaiyaboon excelled in his progression when it came to meditation.  This pleased Khun Yay greatly.  Even people, who practiced meditation with Khun Yay before, acknowledged his proficiency.  Hence, Khun Yay was comfortable in allowing him to lead the meditation for patrons and supporters.

Once he meditated deeply and attained inner peace, Chaiyaboon’s confidence in the knowledge found in Buddhism continued to increase.  He saw that the fruits of meditation could release humans from their suffering, and had indisputably answered the many unresolved questions he had in his mind.