About This Teaching
In the second part of his life story, Ajahn Dtun describes the years before ordination. As a student he planned to study, work and marry, and he wanted to choose a partner by her temperament. Yet each time he pictured a suitable girl, the skin of her face seemed to peel away, leaving only blood and pus. The dispassion that followed removed the idea of family from his plans.
Other reflections came unbidden. Ill one day, he asked why he could not command his own body to be well. On a bus he watched a baby, sick passengers and an old man and saw that everyone aboard was travelling towards death. After reading how Ajahn Mun sent hill villagers looking for "Buddho", he tried the word on his breath, and his mind became peaceful.
He moved from the five precepts to keeping eight daily, sure he would not give them up even for a million baht. Finally, reading the Buddha's last words that conditioned things decline, he resolved to ordain within two months.