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was why he had to set up a refectory for the meditators and scripture students — the first of its kind in Thailand. Luang Phaw started to provide for the monastic community in 1916 and continued to do so for another forty-three years. In fact many miracles were associated with Luang Phaw’s ability to provide for his temple-goers. One day, in the mid-forties, Uncle Poong collected the remainder of the food left on Luang Phaw’s tray after he had taken his midday meal. Usually an attendant would consider it auspicious to subsist upon the remnants of the food left for him by his master. Normally there would be barely enough food left on the tray for one of the attendants. On that occasion, Uncle Poong was about to take the tray for washing, when almost all of Luang Phaw’s close attendants, Prayoon Sundara, Plaeng, Kela and Orr turned up, also hoping to take their lunch from the abbot’s leftovers. That day, strangely, no regret crossed Poong’s mind as he ladled plateful after plateful from the abbot’s small rice pot. He felt as if the kindly warmth of the abbot never failed his disciples even at times when by all normal circumstances they ought to be fighting over his scraps... When Luang Phaw was asked how he managed to provide enough food for so many monks every day, for so many years and still manage to build institutes and other buildings around the temple, he replied: "We are the sons of Lord Buddha. When body, speech and mind are pure, we have the right to use the legacy of the Buddha — all through this lifetime. If we weren’t truly pure, even if we were to take his legacy and use it, the fruits wouldn’t last for long..."