About This Teaching
On the last day of a retreat running from the 20th to the 29th, Ajahn Dtun notes that some came for two or three days and others stayed throughout, and that practice went smoothly. In giving their time, participants developed all ten pāramī, the perfections that lead beyond suffering.
He contrasts external wealth, acquired for comfort, with noble inner wealth: goodness that thieves cannot steal, fire cannot destroy and floods cannot wash away. Like a shadow, it follows one, brings happiness now and later, and reduces future births until nibbāna, quoting the Buddha that there is no happiness greater than peace.
He expresses gladness at meeting monks, novices, nuns and lay people, suggesting past associations among them. Leaving, they should not discard their practice: fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters and friends should each fulfil their role well, while keeping precepts, developing concentration and cultivating wisdom.