Luang Por Liem: The Ways of the Peaceful - Wat Pah Nanachat

didn’t want us to study anywhere else, but to see what is
happening at our sense bases. This is something that we ought to
know thoroughly.
Another unusual occurance comes along when we experience
a very pure state of feeling and view, a strange or ‘mysterious’
phenomenon arises in the form of gladness and bliss. But it is not
so that we become obsessed with feelings of liking experiences
like this. As I see it, such states of gladness and bliss have to do
with a person’s previous wholesome behaviour (upanissaya).
Whatever it is that we have invested importance into will
eventually manifest at the right opportunity. The Buddha refers to
such an experience as ‘vasana’, a gift of merit from the past. One
can see it like that. Not every monk is equally well-gifted. Even
the noble disciples in the Buddha’s time weren’t all the same.
Just look at Luang Por Chah. When I was spending time with
him, I could see that he definitely had some very special gifts.
From what I observed, it was quite special that the people who
came to pay respects and visit never felt bored or fed up with him
– they wouldn’t even think of these feelings. This is one of the
aspects of vasana.
His special qualities also created good opportunities for him
to be useful to others. Even though his activities mostly took place
in the period of his life when he wasn’t yet old, they were still of
great and long-lasting benefit. It is a fact that we have received
our style of practice from him, and even today, his principles in
the Dhamma are still preserved by various means. We can still
hear his voice. Or, in terms of the monastery regulations,
standards and routines that he guided us in, we still reap benefits.
115