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I HAVE NO RELIGION REALLY. BUT I THINK BUDDHISM IS THE STRONGEST BELIEF I HAVE. ๓๐ กัลยาณมิตร Seeing his Inner Body On the first day of meditating, the novice was not even able to visualize a crystal ball at his centre of gravity; whenever he closed his eyes he could see nothing but complete darkness. His teacher had to think of multifarious tech- get very badly upset by anything. Always, I think I can calm myself and am soon fine again...er... it improves my understanding of the world, it makes me have better memory. I hope when I go to university, I intend to use medita- tion to help my study." Novice's Daily niques to teach him successfully. Routine Surprisingly, after only two days he made such good progress that he did not feel excited. He said, "I saw a crystal ball after two days. It was very bright and clear. On the fourth day I saw myself inside. I've been told I've made good progress, but I don't know how much is good how much is not. However, everyone I spoke to of exactly what I had achieved was very pleased." Strongest Belief in Buddhism. Novice Shane is similar in attitude to contemporary youth, having been trained to think scien- tifically. He, therefore, does not believe in irrationally-based religion. Having experienced meditation, he has become greatly realised in Buddhism. He disclosed, "New Zealand is Christian. But I don't believe in God... I have no religion really. But I think Buddhism is the strongest belief I have." Meditation is the Highest Virtue Before coming to Thailand, Novice Shane never studied Buddhism at all. When he practises Dhamma, he accepted its great worth, es- pecially, the Right Meditation. He said, "It relaxes my body. I don't Kalyanamitra.org A visitor who stays at Wat Phra Dhammakaya is supposed to follow its rules and daily schedule, talking part in all the different daily activities. While Novice Shane was staying there, his daily routine is almost identical to that of other novices. He told us, "I get up early in the morning, and go to the meeting room at five for morning meditation and chanting. At six the other novices go out for alms-gathering or do some chores, stay to do a bit more meditation. I went for alms once, but my feet got seriously hurt, so I stopped. I can't walk with bare feet! Then we walk in line to get breakfast. We finish that and go back to the temple grounds where we stay. Because I can speak Thai, I go to learn the Pāli language. I think there's never a time when I haven't been either going for more meditation or seeing what work I can do. Then, go for lunch, and come back again. Every one does another an hour of meditation. After that everyone else studies. I either go on meditating or go to sleep..." He smiled and continued, "Then, at four-thirty we'll go back to work where we cultivate new plants all around the grounds, doing some watering and digging. After that it's time to take a bath, get changed and go for more medita- มกราคม ๒๕๐๒