Chapter 02: Movable Assets

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Phra Dhamsinghapuracariya

…Sustainable happiness, pure happiness and spiritual happiness have to be achieved by oneself. Money cannot help obtain those. When a person has a joyful mind or pure mind, money is a trivial matter. When we have a sanctified mind as our asset, external assets will come of their own. Both tangible and intangible assets will flow in, providing us with sufficient residence and property.

As for the tangible assets, when the mind is meritorious, they will enter your home. The more you have, the more come.

In a poor home, money will not enter because there is desperation and a lack of sanctified assets inside. Money enters the house of those who are rich in mind, in qualifications, in ground for mental culture and in wisdom. Money will be drawn toward that kind of people.

The poor do not make any merit. Merit or money cannot enter their homes. They usually say, “We are poor. Money runs away from us.” That is right.

Sometimes the assets handed down from parents vanish too, simply because the poor are desperate and at their wit’s end. The vanished asset will collectively be at the home of the rich because the rich are rich in assets, in qualifications and in sanctified mind. This kind of home attracts money from other places to make the owner of that home even richer. Money will not flow into a poor home because the owner is poor. The poor are baffled, at their wit’s end. They lack virtue and qualifications. They have never made merit or given alms. Money cannot enter the home of this kind of poor.

Assets are morality, concentration and wisdom. Asset is faith. Asset is endeavour. Asset is a person’s intention to be meritorious. These can be called internal assets. Such assets attract worldly assets. All good things will be compiled in the place of those who are rich in money and good spirit, continually making merit. Money and all worldly assets will greatly accumulate in such places because happiness is there.

All good things will move away from a home that accommodates suffering and dirty- minded owners. Old folks called this occurrence ‘gold aflame’. I witnessed it with my own eyes. That is why I believe this. The gold flames like fireworks and moves away. Thus assets are movable. They move to stay with those who are fortunate.

When I was in Mathayom 2, I lived with my grandmother. She had plenty of silver coins, two gold-sashes, plenty of gold necklaces and bracelets. There were so many silver coins that they had to be kept in a number of jars. My grandmother usually went to stay the night at the temple to observe the Eight Precepts every Uposoth day. She came back the morning after. Before she went to the temple, she usually prepared food in a container. The food was offered to the monks and some kept for her lunch for that day. She stayed the night in the temple. I went to pick her up the morning after, to help take her used clothes home.

But I had a bad thought, stemming from my demeritorious mind. I did not have money. So, I thought of stealing my grandmother’s silver coins to sell and get copper coins to gamble. After grandmother had gone to the temple, a lot of friends in the neighbourhood usually came to ask me to gamble. I then pinched grandmother’s silver coins to exchange for copper coins in order to play. One baht of silver could not actually be exchanged for a lot of copper coins, though. This was when I was young.

I was so glad every time the Uposoth day came, because I would have a chance to do some bad things then. When grandmother went to spend the night at the temple, she did not pay attention to her money or assets. She had never counted them. I used to steal a lot when I was young, 10 coins each Uposoth day. There were plenty of silver coins, old coins used in the reigns of King Rama IV and King Chulalongkorn. I exchanged those for gambling, at which I usually lost because I did not really know how to play.

Later, grandmother told me that there had been a robbery in Bang-MuangMoo and also plenty of thefts in the area. She thought of putting the money and valuables in a safe place. Like older generations, she decided to bury them in the ground under the house. I did whatever she pleased. One evening when we are sure that no more visitors would come that day, I dug a hole in the ground under the house and put in 2 jars. One of them contained silver coins – flat and round.

In the other, there was gold – bracelets, bangles, two gold-sashes weighing eight baht each and bracelets weighing four baht each. I also buried a gold net, hardly found nowadays. Grandmother had all – gold, silver and gold-bronze nets. In the old days, even the net shield was made of gold. But those who were not selective should not use it. Otherwise, there would be misfortune, according to grandmother. Having buried them, I camouflaged the place with mud and buffalo manure. Then I used a woven bamboo container to cover the place.

Later, grandmother said that there would be a Recitation of Mahajati for 3 days and nights at Wat Saddhapirom. She would stay the night at the temple. I asked, “How many nights will you stay at the temple?” She said, “Two nights.” I thought it was a good time for me to dig up the jars to sell the contents. I was brooding over this thought every day, not really chanting the Buddhist verses at all. I knew how to chant the verses well because grandmother had taught me. But after chanting, I made a wish that I would be successful in stealing grandmother’s gold. That was my evil thinking.

Then came the day when the Recitation was to take place. I accompanied grandmother to the temple early in the morning, knowing well that she would spend 2 days and nights there to listen to the Recitation. Having taken grandmother to the temple, my friends came to play. Once they had gone home, I intended to dig up the buried jars.

I took away the bamboo container and started digging. There was nothing there. No jars. Everything was gone. In the place where the jars used to be, there was a large burrow in the ground leading toward the back of the house. Very strange! I wandered who had stolen them. I covered up the place to make it look untouched.

Grandmother forgot about all that burying of her treasures because she had plenty more. The buried part was just extra. Thus assets can disappear like this. Now I think of the old belief not to walk too noisily in the house. Grandmother used to beat me for that, saying, “Do not walk too noisily because the assets will run away. ” I had to walk softly. Even when making noise during the meal, I was scolded by grandmother. She said a person who lacked good manners would not have assets. He would not have money. Gold would run away from him.

People who lacked good manners did not observe morality, did not practice the Doctrine. How could assets remain with such people? So my grandmother said. I did not get what I had dug for either. I did not know where they had gone. There was only a burrow to be seen. The jars were gone entirely. I did not suspect that her treasures could run away, thinking that they had been stolen. But only grandmother and I knew about the burying. Others, even my aunt, did not know about it. Why had they gone? They could not be found by digging.

Toward her final days, grandmother was ill. She had no particular disease, just weakened. She was 99 then. I nursed her carefully. Seven days before she died her soul went to see my aunt, Aunt Liam Saduakdee, in a dream. At that time, grandmother had not passed away yet. She still lay in bed and had to be hand fed. But she was conscious. She weakened gradually every day. Relatives prepared a coffin for her funeral ceremony. In my aunt’s dream, grandmother told her, “This nephew was dirty-minded, thinking of making my assets disappear. The assets ran away to stay at the herb bush.” They could really run away. I thought of selling them, wasting them and using them to gamble. They actually did run away.

When grandmother passed away we had a funeral ceremony for 7 days. Then we kept the body for two years before cremation. At the cremation ceremony, we had a mask dance, drama and traditional entertainment for 2 days and nights at Wat Saddhabhirom – called Wat Mai Saddharas.

At this temple, there was a puzzle, which was a clue to the hidden treasure, stating “At the new temple named Kaitia, there is a water monitor climbing on the eggs. Do not scrub the bricks. Do not dig up the temple ground. Only the pure can obtain.” There was a bottle of magic oil. I saw that clearly when I was young. This was the old folks’ puzzle. Finally, do you know where it was? It was in the hollow of a large mango tree of the ‘water monitor egg’ type, in front of the Uposoth. It was so large that no one knew how long it had been there. Ancient people were very clever. Some came to dig up the temple ground without getting anything.

My uncle was a monk. He made a wish that he would find it and he would return it to the same place. I was very young then. He found it at the mango tree. Well! Ancient folks were very clever! When people came to make merit at the temple, my uncle applied the magic oil on his eyes and mine. I had to laugh when I looked at the people because I could see under their clothes. This is the old story retold.

Finally, having entombed grandmother’s corpse after the funeral ceremony for cremation two years later, Aunt Liam called me and said, “Now, come here. I dreamt that you planned to steal your grandmother’s money to gamble. Was it true?” I was quiet for awhile before saying, “How could that be true?” My aunt said, “I dreamt that they were under the herb bush. Can you come to help me dig them up?”

I went to help her. Before digging, I tricked her into getting drunk. She liked drinking. So I served her favourite drinks. Then we went to dig. We really found the jars around 10 meters away from the house under the herb bush that I had helped grandmother plant. We got everything, silver and gold. I then took them to my aunt ’s house.

My aunt said, “I will let you have part of it. You should not be so dirtyminded as to waste your grandmother’ s assets. ” She was still drunk then. I pinched some gold without telling her. I retained two gold-sashes, bracelets and nets; giving her the silver. When she was sober and in a good mood, I told her, “Aunty, there are more assets than what you’ve got. I nursed grandmother for a long time. Can you let me have them?” My aunt was stunned. I said, “I’ll take them even if you don’ t agree because I’ve retained them.” So, she pardoned me. I kept the gold. I had an opportunity to use it to build the Uposoth at Wat Promburi (previously called Wat Kudi Loy). I sold those two gold-sashes weighing eight baht each, donating the money to build the Uposoth and transfer the merit to grandmother. This demonstrates that assets are movable if you have an evil mind.

I would like to leave this with you. If you are children, do not think badly of your parents and grandparents. Do not steal. If they are assets of quality, they can run away. Assets can run away from some poor homes to stay with the rich homes. Assets always come to stay in homes that are rich in spirit and merit. The aforementioned is the Guardian of Assets. That is why I have said the gold is aflame. It glows and goes. It would not stay in the home where the owners are evil doers, quarreling with each other or speaking to each other with rude words. Try it. The assets will run away.

I had to wash my feet before going into the house every time. I had to walk softly too. Grandmother forbade stomping in the house lest the assets ran away because we did not have good conduct. I remembered this since I was young. I would like to leave this with you. I confirm that assets are movable.

My aunt has passed away. I will also pass away one day. I was glad I had kept the assets until I could use them for a good cause. I sold them to build the Uposoth for grandmother, at not a very high price. It was just enough to buy steel wire and cement to build the Uposoth at Wat Promburi, which is still in use at present. That is probably why the assets remained with me until I could use them for a good cause. I think my grandmother has received a lot of merit.

Thus I would like to re-iterate to you that those with good conduct will have money. Those who do not have money also do not have good conduct. Assets will not flow into the poor because the poor may sell them for gambling or boozing.

I, myself, also lost at gambling a lot. The stolen money vanished. Assets also ran away. Come to think of it, it must have been my fortune to be able to build an Uposoth. Finally, two gold-sashes remained with me until I was ordained.

I would like to repeat to you that assets are movable. The poor who do not make any merit will remain poor because assets will run away. Just as I was thinking of selling grandmother’s assets, they ran away to the herb bush – making a large burrow. Jars could move.

People can also move. Good people cannot live with the bad. They have to move. The bad cannot live with the good either. For example, bad employees will leave on their own accord, without having to fire them. They cannot stay with a good boss because they do not have good conduct; therefore, they are not fortunate enough to stay in that place. They will automatically move away like the movable assets as described.

This is the law of karma. Thinking of stealing is the law of karma. Assets are movable. They can run away from those who do not have good conduct. Those whose mouths are assets gain money every time they speak. Those who do not have good verbal conduct, lose money every time they speak. I would like you to reflect on this point.

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