Khanti - Wat Pah Nanachat

the ways that laypeople speak. We frequently recollect this.
I’m not advocating a sense of arrogance here, saying that we’re
special, or, we’re better than laypeople, but we are a small part
of, a noble lineage of samanas. The support that we get from
the lay community is one of the advantages of being
recognized as a samana, but it also entails certain
responsibilities, not least of which is keeping the Vinaya. We
don’t have a Sangha police force, (even if some monks go
through a period when they can be rather officious about the
training…), but the idea is rather that Vinaya has to come from
within us. It is an ‘honour system’. The sila that leads to
samadhi has to come from our full consent. And it’s through
taking on these boundaries voluntarily and being able to live
our lives and conduct ourselves within these boundaries
consistently that that kind of self-respect, self-esteem, and
sense of well being which are absolutely imperative for further
development on the path, starts to manifest.
You may remember that when Ajahn Chah went to see
Luang Puh Mun and told him how discouraged he felt by the
huge number of minor rules and regulations laid out in the
Pubbasikkha’ Vinaya commentary Luang Puh Mun reminded
him that, yes, all these things are there and to be learned, but
that the crucial point is to have hiri and otappa 19 . Now, we all
possess these qualities of hiri and otappa to a certain extent,
but we can’t take them for granted, they need to be cultivated.
How do you do that? How do you cultivate hiri otappa? Hiri is
the sense of shame. It arises through wise contemplation of
conventional responsibilities, roles and positions. For instance
you may reflect on your monkhood. What is appropriate
conduct and what is inappropriate conduct for a monk? What is
beautiful behaviour, what is unseemly? What is the correct and
19 hiri: a sense of moral shame; otappa: the fearful shying away from
anything immoral
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