การทำสมาธิและการพัฒนาตน : หน้า 40/126

๔๐ กัลยาณมิตร portantly there should be dialogue among reli- gious institutions in order to cease some of the conflicts in the world, many of which are reli- giously motivated. So I think meditation might be another way to solve some problems; in the mean-time we need to concentrate on other solutions as well." Achieving Main Objective "Yes, I have achieved my main objective which was actually to see Buddhism at work instead of simply listening to lectures and reading books on Buddhism. It's been very helpful for my understanding of Buddhism, seeing and practising much in the way we can learn about riding a bicycle I'm sure you want to get on the bicycle and try ride it, for you never know anything about it until you do it yourself. So it's essential for any student of religion to actually go to a country where the religion is practised on a wide scale... and see... see how it works. And of course, visit the people who're used to practising medita- tion-you'll never understand it until you practise it. So it's the same sort of idea. Having Been to Many Temples "I'd love to visit other temples. In fact, I've been to many temples. In Thailand already simply by following the monks on their journey to Marble Temple, to Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen..also to see ordination. I have been to see some Wats in Kanchana- buri on the day we went to release fish into the River Kwae, to make merit. Moreover, I've been to see some Wats in Ayuddhaya, and there is one called Nives Dhamma Pravat, looking a Christian church." Existence of Wat Phra Dhammakāya is Most Impressive "Naturally, I'm most impressed by Wat Phra Dhammakaya's devotion to meditation---this temple is fundamentally about meditation. And a part of this ad- herence to and faith powers of meditation is the "World peace through meditation" programme, an effort which I find both im- pressive an unique. Secondly, I respect the abbot, the vice abot and the other senior monks, whose dedication and intelligence have, with the invaluable assistance of laypeople, upāsakas, upäsikäs, and other monks, taken what was once an infertile, forgotten piece of land and transformed it in the space of eighteen years into such a massive and successful temple. But Wat Phra Dhammakaya is only a means to an even greater end, namely spreading and establising dhamma and medi- tation throughout the world. So you might say what impresses we most about Wat Phra Dhammakaya is its very existence, which in itself is testament to the power and potential popularity of meditation." The Unique Temple "Is there any thing should be improved? Well, it's not really my place to say what might or might not be improved at Wat Phra Dhammakāya. Besides, the hospitality and genuine happiness shown by the monks and laypeople makes me wonder if any thing could be improved! It's an immaculate, meticulously planned temple. To discover inadequates require me to be both an expert in Buddhism and an expert in structural plan- ning and engineering and since I'm neither of น า น ๒๔๓ Kalyanamitra.org