Thank you, Bhante, for writing that article and sharing those excellent resources.
Hopefully others will contribute more of the same here.
I remember I received a printed booklet containing the story of the Weaver’s Duaghter from the Venerable Pesala in London back in 2007, when I went to learn meditation from the Venerable before going to Thailand. The booklet had a very big impact on me.
The following excerpt is from The Shortness of Life:
"Actually, also now there is momentary birth and death of each citta that
arises and falls away. Life lasts as long as one citta and this is extremely short.
The Buddha taught about life at this moment, what life is now. Acharn said: “Life
> does not belong to anyone, it is only one moment of experiencing an object. It is
> extremely short. There should be more understanding that there is no one, only
conditioned realities.”We read in the Kindred Sayings (I, Måra Suttas, § 9, Life Span3) that the Buddha said:
“Bhikkhus, this life span of human beings is short.
One has to go on to the future life.
One should do what is wholesome and lead the holy life; for one who has taken birth there is no avoiding death.
One who lives long, bhikkhus, lives a hundred years or a little longer.”
Then Måra, the Evil One, approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:
“Long is the life span of human beings, The good man should not disdain it.
One should live like a milk-sucking baby: Death has not made its arrival.”
The Blessed One: “Short is the life span of human beings, The good man should disdain it.
One should live like one with head aflame:
There is no avoiding Death’s arrival.”
Then Mara the Evil One…disappeared right there.
Acharn reminded us: “What is there from moment to moment? What has arisen
just a moment ago? It has all gone immediately. Life is nothing. From nothing
there is something and then again nothing, completely gone. After seeing there is
the idea of ‘I‘ from birth to death."
The prefeace points out that this disccusion took place not long after the King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, had unfortunately passed away.
Preface.
Acharn Sujin and her sister Khun Sujit were invited to Vietnam at the end of
October by Tam Bach and other Vietnamese friends for a two weeks sojourn.
They sponsored their flight and hotel accommodation. Sarah and Jonothan were
assisting Acharn untiringly and with great enthusiasm during her Dhamma
explanations. Friends from Thailand, Canada, Australia, Taiwan and myself
joined this journey. In Vietnam Tran Thai made the travel and accommodation
arrangements for all of us.The Dhamma discussions took place in Hanoi. There were Dhamma sessions
before with Acharn Sujin in Hanoi and at that time there were very few
attendants. This time the number of listeners had grown, there were about
eighty of them. They became more and more interested to understand the
present reality. Among the audience were three monks, many “nuns”, that is to
say, women who wear robes and observe eight precepts, and many lay
followers. Some were with their parents. Tam Bach translated into Vietnamese
the English Dhamma discussions and a team of Vietnamese friends translated
the questions from the audience into English. We also were invited to the
mountaineous region of Sapa where the discussions were more informal and
personal.Before going to Vietnam I spent a few days in Bangkok, at the Peninsula Hotel.
The King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, had just passed away and a
period of national mourning was anounced which had been extended to a year.
Every day the daily news paper, the Bangkok Post, was dedicated to all the
achievements of his Majesty. He truly was a man of the people, visiting all parts
of the country to meet people personally in order to see in which ways he could
solve their problems. With dedication and self-sacrifice he set up many projects
to raise their quality of life. He assisted the hill-tribe villagers who lived in very
difficult circumstances. He made people replace opium crops with alternative
crops such as peaches and apples. His Majesty spent several years in hospital
because of ailing health and also during that time he only thought of the
interests of his people.
That last paragraph shows what a great King he was. I wrote a little bit about how his funeral rites included sermons on the Dasavidharājadhamma here:
Thanks again for sharing those excellent resources.
R