After almost everyone had ordained as Bhikkhus in the Buddhist tradition and received
the guidelines for practice, they returned to their respective hometowns. Achita’s
group, who had now become Achita Bhikkhu, returned to Master Bavari’s hermitage,
desiring to share the Buddha’s teachings with their own teacher, Master Bavari.

“Uh, Lord, can I witness when Achita returns to share the Dharma with his old master?
I want to know how he will communicate, since his master is considered to be very
knowledgeable and well-learned,” I asked Lord Phoche.

“Of course… you can perceive this yourself because it is your own experience already,”
Lord Phoche replied.

On the final evening of their nearly two-year journey, Achita Bhikkhu, along with the
16,000 newly ordained Bhikkhus, returned to Master Bavari’s hermitage. Upon arrival,
Achita went directly to Master Bavari because he was concerned about his well-being
and health, as he was very old. As soon as he stepped onto the hut, he was strongly
greeted by the scent of boiled herbal medicine mixed with the aroma of medicinal
balm. On the porch, there were two or three earthen pots, a grinding stone, and
medicine preparation tools. Achita Bhikkhu immediately knew that Master Bavari was
ill. He saw candlelight seeping through the slightly ajar door of the room, so he gently
peeked inside to see if Master Bavari was there. When he saw that he was asleep, he
slowly crawled closer and sat quietly.

“Have you finished bathing, Vajiravit?” Master Bavari spoke with phlegm in his throat,
without opening his eyes.

“It is I, your disciple, Achita, Master,” Achita spoke softly.

“Oh… you have returned?” Master Bavari said, opening his eyes and trying to reach out
with difficulty because he had no strength.

“Yes, Master,” Achita said, prostrating himself on the floor by Master Bavari’s hand,
then taking his hand and placing it on his head.

“Hmm… how was it? Did you meet the Great Being?” Master Bavari asked.

“Yes, Lord…”

“Has Master Achita returned?” a voice greeted from behind, the voice of Vajiravit, a
physician skilled in Ayurveda, along with a clean scent carried by the wind after
bathing in the river.

“What is wrong with Master?” I turned to ask Vajiravit.

“Master has been weak lately, due to a deficiency of the fire element, causing
indigestion,” Vajiravit replied.

“It has been almost two years; you must have mastered the teachings from the Great
Being,” Master Bavari assessed based on the time.

“No, Lord. I only met the Great Being a few weeks ago,” Achita replied.

“Oh… then you must not have attained the truth yet,” Master Bavari said with difficulty,
his voice still hoarse.

“Not at all, Lord. I was able to attain the truth after conversing with the Great Being on
the first day we met,” Achita replied.

“You are saying that you were able to attain the Dharma within a single day?” Master
Bavari asked.

“That is correct, Lord. In fact, I should say within just a few hours,” Achita replied.

“How can that be? Tell me what you know, just as you came to know it,” Master Bavari
said.

“What the Buddha taught was not knowledge, because if he chose to teach knowledge, I
might still not have learned all of it by now, as there is so much knowledge. But what he
taught was the method of accessing knowing, especially from the storehouse of
knowledge within myself, Lord.”

“And you were able to do it immediately?” Master Bavari asked, his voice a mixture of
excitement.

“In fact, I should say that I was already capable of it, but because I did not know that I
could do it, I never paid attention. Instead, I focused on knowledge from elsewhere,”
Achita replied.

“You are quick-witted, and you have accumulated much knowledge already, so it was
easy for you,” Master Bavari observed.

“Not at all, Lord. On that day, nearly a hundred people who heard the conversation and
understood it were able to attain this truth,” Achita replied.

“Tell me what that is, so that I may know,” Master Bavari said.

“I will use an analogy, Lord. Before, I was like a firefly flying in the darkness of the
night. Every time I saw the light of other fireflies, I would fly towards those lights. The
brighter and stronger the light of a firefly, the more I would chase after it, just to
admire it up close. The conversation with the Buddha that day was like him telling us
that we all have light within ourselves, but we have never seen it and never known that
we have it, because we are accustomed to seeing only the light of others, until we forget that we also have it. So, the first thing he told us was to stop chasing after the
light of others and turn our attention to our own light, or in other words, to stop
prioritizing knowledge received from the outside and turn our attention to the wisdom
within.”

“As long as that little firefly continues to fly in the darkness, it will never see its own
light, because there is nothing to reflect its light. But if it stops flying and lands on
something, when it lands, it will discover that it has light within itself that is reflected
from various things, revealing things it has never known before. And this is the time of
experience, when we will personally know what is what. We will see what comes after
knowing that we have light within. It is the time of realization or knowing from our
own wisdom.”

“When the little firefly realizes that it has light within itself, from then on, it will begin
to explore various points to get to know the world of reality, such as landing on a leaf to
know what a leaf is like, landing on a branch to know how it connects to the leaf,
landing on a fruit to know how it connects to the branch, landing on the trunk to know
how it connects to both the branches and leaves, and landing on the base of the tree to
know how it connects to the earth, the world.”

“When the little firefly has experienced everything as it truly is, and it realizes for itself
what that thing is, without asking anyone for this knowledge, because true wisdom
must be wisdom that comes from knowing for oneself. Knowledge from others is
merely ‘knowledge,’ not wisdom,” Achita explained.

“Why should I waste time knowing from within again, when I already know
everything? I know the sciences described in the scriptures of the three worlds, I know
the sciences from the underworld to the Brahma realm. Is there anything I still don’t
know?” Master Bavari asked.

“You may have knowledge that perfectly and completely describes the characteristics
of a tree, without any omissions. But that knowledge is still only knowledge that makes
you ‘know,’ which cannot compare to the knowledge gained from ‘realizing’ for oneself,
such as touching that fruit, seeing its colors, smelling its scent, or perhaps tasting its
flavor. That is realization, a hundred or a thousand times greater than any description,”
Achita continued to explain.

“Currently, I am not seeking light from anyone. The fact that I am practicing selfseclusion, focusing my mind in meditation, isn’t that called returning to my own light?”
Master Bavari asked.

“I ask from my heart, Lord. Please answer me with sincerity to yourself. At this
moment, do you feel that you have found that ultimate state?” Achita asked.