Today is the 100th day after the passing away of the king of Thailand: His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Also, at this time, a good friend of the sangha, Yom Ploen Petchkua, is very close to the end of her life. She was diagnosed with five brain tumours a few months ago and I had the chance to go down and see her with Ajahn Pasanno, and a number of monastic and lay friends in December, in her hometown in Songkla, southern Thailand.

Reflecting on these people – the king of Thailand and Yom Ploen – it is said in our Buddhist way of regarding things that these are people who have created a lot of merit, a lot of puñña in their lives. The king of Thailand dedicated himself, for the 70 years that he was on the throne, through living in a skilful way and endeavouring to establish wholesome principles of conduct in the hearts of the Thai people, to help them in genuine, practical and efficient ways: developing water systems, gardening systems, systems of communication and so forth. Yom Ploen has been very involved in supporting our monasteries and helping to publish many Dhamma books. In the last few days I have been conscious of giving away books that she was directly involved in producing books about the funeral of Luang Por Chah and the foundation of Amaravati. Over the years she has been responsible for bringing into being dozens of different Dhamma books.