Page 23 - Little Stories of a Great Monk
P. 23

6th September 2006, Wednesday
 t
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 Dhammic Relationship
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   It was raining heavily. At the cremation ground, thousands of disciples
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 were standing under the rain chanting and performing prayers for Chief

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 Reverend, the late Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda. Rainwater and tears flowed
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     The rain became heavier, accompanied by a fierce thunderstorm. I lit the   The rain became heavier, accompanied by a fierce thunderstorm. I lit the
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        n not feel that. What I felt was that Chief Reverend treated everyone equally. And of course,
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 torch and went around Chief Reverend’s funeral pyre three times before
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 lighting the pyre with the torch. My mind was very calm and peaceful as I         Though Chief Reverend was very compassionate, sometimes he too did get angry. It is Though Chief Reverend was very compassionate, sometimes he too did get angry. It is
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 did that. The emotion displayed when I gave the speech during the eulogy
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 h held in the morning had obviously subsided. .  s strong reprimands from him. I worked with him for more than thirty years, but have never
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     The fire burnt fiercely with ashes flying all over the place. Gradually the   The fire burnt fiercely with ashes flying all over the place. Gradually the   been scolded by him. That was probably the reason some people construed that Chief Rev- -
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        erend loved me very much. But then, a lot of people who have been associated with him for
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 t that the late Chief Reverend was free and peaceful. l .  more than half a decade was also never been scolded by him. .
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     According to Sri Lankan custom, two non-blooded relatives of Chief   According to Sri Lankan custom, two non-blooded relatives of Chief

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            However, I admit that I had a wonderful Dhammic relationship with Chief Reverend. When
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 Reverend should light up his pyre. However, the venerable monks thought
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        my father was very ill, I told Chief Reverend that I was going back to my hometown to
        m y   f a t h e r   w a s   v e r y   i l l ,   I   t o l d   C h i e f   R e v e r e n d   t h a t   I   w a s   g o i n g   b a c k   t o   m y   h o m e t o w n   t o
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 that since Chief Reverend had dedicated his entire life to serve humanity     v visit my father. Chief Reverend, without responding to me, walked slowly to his bedroom

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 regardless of race, they decided that I should take one of the relatives

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 place. I accepted the honour with humility and thought of it as the last     b been chanted for more than ten years, please let your father drink it, hopefully it will  l
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 wonderful Dhammic relationship I had with my teacher in this life.
 w o n d e r f u l   D h a m m i c   r e l a t i o n s h i p   I   h a d   w i t h   m y   t e a c h e r   i n   t h i s   l i f e .  h help him.”  I received it with tears in my eyes. .
               ”
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                I was attracted to Buddhism after reading Chief Reverend’s books and listened to his I was attracted to Buddhism after reading Chief Reverend’s books and listened to his
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        D Dhamma talks. Many people like me had our lives changed by Chief Reverend. Among those
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        p people, many had taken up Buddhist works. As such, Chief Reverend was highly respected
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        for the development of Buddhism in Malaysia. .
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 20                                                                        21
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