About This Teaching
This instalment of Ajahn Dtun's account of his life covers the months before ordination. Meditating on the breath with Buddho, his mind settled quickly. When pain arose in his knee, he reflected that if the breath stopped, the air and heat elements would leave and the body would decay, and saw that body, mind and painful feeling were three separate things. The mind then dropped into deep concentration "like a lift falling", body and breath vanished, and he knew a happiness unlike anything before.
Deciding to ordain, he tested himself: would he trade ordination for all the world's wealth, for power over others, or for any women he wished? Each time the answer was ordination. When doubt arose about whether the choice was right, an image appeared of two plates of food, one new and one old, and the old dish tasted far better, which he took as the holy life compared with lay life. Answering a question afterwards, he says deep concentration carries no sign of its level; names come only on later reflection.