Untitled : หน้า 155/194

to them being offered to the abbot as alms. No special emotion showed on Khun Yay's face. That night Khun Yay was still stable, and a special bag was added to the gifts — a bag containing all the bank notes Khun Yay had collected from donations. Khun Yay told her attendant to have it offered to the abbot. Inside the bag were wads of light brown envelopes tied together. Each envelope contained bank notes which were neatly arranged. It had always been Khun Yay's habit to fold and smooth bank notes grouping the denominations together with rubber bands. That was Khun Yay's last meritorious deed because at 3 a.m., she passed away peacefully, at the age of 92. At dawn of 10 September 2000, the room turned completely quiet — those present reflecting on her epitaph, "I have been overcoming adversity throughout my life. If we are alive, we have to move on. We rest when we die. If we backslide, we will be defeated by Mara." In the evening, Ven. Dattajeevo, senior monks and Khun Tavorn came with a casket which had been made upon the abbot’s command. It had been designed especially in homage to Khun Yay’s meritorious deeds. Khun Yay’s casket was carved of solid teak five centimetres in thickness. The external surface was completely pasted with gold leaf. The case was panelled on the inside with a three-centimetre layer of fragrant sandalwood. Khun Yay’s body was dressed in her white robe — the symbol of celibacy. Her face showed a slight smile. The body was wound in forty-three layers of soft white fabric. The wrapped body was sprinkled all over with jasmine oil. During the whole process, chanting was done in praise of Khun Yay. Her body was placed in the wooden casket and sprinkled again with jasmine oil. The wooden casket was then closed