86. Never perturbed

It was after 10 p.m., and I saw that Luang Pu was sitting and resting, so I went to inform him, “Luang Pu, Ajaan Khao has died.”

Instead of asking when or how, Luang Pu said,

“Ah, yes. Ajaan Khao is finally done with the burden of hauling his saṅkhāras around. I visited him four years ago and saw all the difficulties his physical saṅkhāras were giving him. He had to have other people looking after him all the time. As for me, I have no bad karma with regard to the body. But as for bad karma associated with the body, even noble ones—no matter what the level of their attainment—still have to contend with these things until they’re finally released from them and no longer involved with them. The normal state of the mind is that it has to live with things of this sort. But as for the mind that’s well-trained, when these things arise it can immediately let them go and maintain its peace, without worries, without attachments, free from the burden of having to be involved with them. That’s all there is.”