This new Suan Mokkh is two kilometers away on the other side of the Asian Highway. You can go there if you are interested. The idea behind its construction is that we see that the world lacks peace. This is because the religions do not join forces. Instead, they are jealous of one another. Some religions think of undermining other religions so as to gain more adherents. The situation is just like that.

The video tapes are used as an audio-visual aid. As for the slides, I was the first to use them in Dhamma lectures. My first slide projector was made from a car headlamp. I used to make a lot of slides, and others followed my example.

Regarding demonstrative alms offering, this is to show an example of how people in the Buddha’s time offered alms to the monks: the offerers took the alms bowls into the kitchen, put enough food into them, and brought them back to the monks.

To get the view, you have to go up the Nang-E Mountain, about a fifteen-minute walk from here. Look at the scenery around the Ban Don Bay area, which was believed to be the site of the ancient Srivijaya culture. There is a mountain called Khao Srivijaya.

The term bodhisatta-dhamma means ‘the good characteristics of a Buddha-to-be.’ We happen to have a statue of the Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva on the grass lawn next to here. Bodhisatta-dhammas are those dhammas (qualities) of a philanthropist or a selfless person, who, aiming at becoming a Buddha, prepares himself or herself to finish off the ego.

This may seem ridiculous to those who take it literally and do not understand the real meaning. What we mean is that, when we associate with trees or stones in solitude, new ideas or feelings can occur to us as though the trees and stones could talk to us.

A forest monastery has to have characteristics like these here; then people can benefit from the arrangement. As a matter of fact, the terms ‘village monastery’ and ‘forest monastery’ have just appeared recently. In the old days, there were only forest monasteries, and all of them were beyond a village or town boundary.

You have to see this on the top of Golden Buddha Hill before you can understand what it is. I say again that this is ultimately in compliance with the Buddha’s wish, and it is constructed in the best possible way to follow the style of what was built in the Buddha’s time. It is inexpensive, never harming the national economy.

The remains of a brook are on Suan Mokkh’s boundary line beyond the women’s residential area. They start on top of a hill and then disappear below. During the dry season, it’s bone dry. Its remains show that it once had a lot of water because the brook bed was cut into a deep channel. But deforestation has made it dry – not a drop of water remains.

There are two kinds of training offered here, one for general Dhamma principles and the other for meditation. They are two different things, but deserve being studied just the same. This is because, if you don’t know Dhamma principles, you will not know what direction you should travel along.

We intend to build a miniature India, but only the parts that involve the Buddha: the places of his birth, enlightenment, first sermon, and death. Bringing India here can facilitate study. The site has been provided, but the construction has not been done yet, so I don’t have much to talk about.

This aspect has almost nothing to do with Dhamma. Among the exotic things we have here are the sala trees, which are grown in front of the Spiritual Theater. Try to study them.

This is actually the Sculpture Studio, where Venerable Sawai conducts his activities. Narcotics to be abandoned here include those drugs taken into the body through smoking, eating, or rubbing, and the ruin-causing habits.

As for this map, I would like to say only that, if you travel by car along every road of our monastery, you will see many things that stimulate your thinking. But if you travel along only some of the roads, you would not get the idea.

I hardly see anybody who is interested in seeing that the works collected in the Dhammaghosana Hall have been done by just one person. Few people believe that a person could single-handedly create all those books. Why don’t they try to realize that it took me fifty years of hard work and dedication?

The word ‘ship’ is the metaphor for Dhamma. Dhamma is compared to a ship or a raft which carries people across a river or a sea.

These carvings are installed on the outside wall of the Spiritual Theater. It’s a shame and rather disappointing that we invested much but have gained little.

This includes not only paintings but also all kinds of pictures or images that have riddles or hidden meanings inside. Each picture of interest needs some time to be studied.

You can ask for comments and instructions from me at my hut or from some other monks. Every preacher here is knowledgeable in some aspects of Dhamma, and you can ask them about such aspects.

For the skeletons on display at the Dhamma Hall, I have to thank Dr. Praphan Arimit, who sent them here. He bought them with his own money and arranged for their delivery one by one until we had the complete set: skeletons of a male adult, a female adult, and a child, constituting the likeness of a family.

We have tried to make something that would promote profound Dhamma. An example is the Nalikae Pond, in the middle of which there is an island planted with a lone coconut tree. It is in the southern part of Suan Mokkh. Our intention is for the pond to represent a sea of wax.

You have to know that the pictures and carvings contain riddles, that is, there are meanings hidden in them. That’s why they are called ‘Dhamma-riddle pictures.’ This is very good because they are a collection of the wisdom of the ancient people.

Where can you find answers to questions about the Scriptures? At the library, from certain monks or from myself. We will be glad to answer questions about the Scriptures. We have been familiar with them for decades and know quite well about what is said and where to look for answers in them.

If you have any problem in your life, go see Ajahn Sawai at the Sculpture Studio in the southwest area of this Suan Mokkh…Ajahn Sawai has a lot of worldly experience. He used to be a marketing salesman for the Singer Company, so he knows the art of talking and can answer questions, especially those of small children or young people…