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close, Luang Phaw asked his attendant, Poong Mikaewnoi, who had come to tend him. When Luang Phaw found out that the nurse was female, he said, "That’s all I want to know — take me back to my temple this minute!" Luang Phaw would rather die, forgoing his operation than allow women to come into physical contact with him. Poong didn’t know what to do. He called up Somdej Phra Wanarat and asked him to speak to the hospital manager. The Somdej did as he was bidden and made arrangements for male nurses around the clock. By 1957 Luang Phaw’s condition had worsened. He knew he would not live much longer and arranged his own mother’s funeral in order to return his debt of gratitude to her for the last time. Even when Luang Phaw was severely ill, his mind was still engrossed with Dhamma and meditation research. Every evening he would call the monks to meditate near him for one or two hours. At night he required everyone to meditate. Even while ill, he never asked for special food or treatment. He ate whatever he was offered. He never rested from teaching meditation until the last day of his life. Before passing away, he chided his disciples saying: "Our reach is too short. We cannot beat Mara this lifetime. We are still in his clutches." His words, however, were not meant as an insult to the meditation ability of his disciples. He didn’t mean to accuse them of failure. He simply wanted to make sure they knew that the work was not finished so that no one should rest on their laurels until victory was achieved. Before Luang Phaw died, he made prope- 135