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

Practising One’s Duties
Parts of a talk given on Jan 12 th , 2007 in the ordination
hall of Wat Nong Pah Pong, addressing the yearly
monastic assembly commemorating Luang Por Chah’s
passing away, where almost a thousand monks gather
to express their faith towards their teacher and his
specific way of training.
This ordination hall was built by Luang Por Chah in 1976. It
was ready for use in 1977. One can say that it is quite a durable
structure. It has served its purpose for over thirty years. An
ordination hall is a religious site, a place that specifically belongs
to the Sangha. The Sangha has permission to use this site from the
sovereign of the nation for performing its religious tasks within
Buddhism. A ceremonial site such as this is a fundamental feature
of the Buddhist religion. It marks the physical presence of the
religion, in the sense of material objects (sasanavatthu) being a
testimony to, and representation of it. Religious objects of this
kind are called senasana, the dwelling places of the Sangha. For
this ordination hall we have received permission from the
authorities governing society. We have ownership of it, and have
the right to perform what benefits the Dhamma-Vinaya in
whatever way we wish. This allows us to carry out the ceremony
of ‘Going Forth’ and Bhikkhu ordination, the acceptance of new
people into our community.
The ordination ceremony is meant to ensure that there are
enough human resources for doing the work of passing on the
heritage of the Buddhist religion. Whenever people ordain as
monks the religion gains strength. The continuation of the religion
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