“Everything is appropriate, please be at ease, Master,” Achita said.

“How is it appropriate?” Master Bavari asked.

“From now on, you will be known as ‘the one who has found.’ Once you have found, you
will never return to being one who has not found. From this point on, you will be able
to enter the state of ‘the one who has realized,’ because this state must be done by
oneself, proven by oneself. If you enter this state, you will be reborn only once more,
which is a very joyful thing.”

“But I desire Nirvana in this lifetime. I desire to not be reborn again. I am so tired of
this birth,” Master Bavari said.

“This weariness comes from having an ego. Even though what you desire, Master, is the
ultimate goal, having an ego is a significant obstacle to accessing the wisdom of the
soul. Because the perception of the soul’s existence must be without ego. If there is
even a speck of ego, it will unfortunately change the stream of wisdom into its
opposite.” Achita explained.

“And the reason I told you, Master, that everything is appropriate is because when you
are able to enter the state of ‘the one who has realized,’ your mind will be filled with
immeasurable compassion, which will drive you to do something to manifest
concretely, otherwise your spiritual state will not be complete. This is the reason why
you must be born again once, because you must complete something that your soul
intended from the beginning. When you enter the state of action, you will be called ‘the
one who acts.’ And when the result is satisfactory to the soul, according to the original
intention, your mind will enter the state of ‘the one who has completed,’ which is the
ultimate state that everyone desires.”

“Can I complete it in this lifetime?” Master Bavari asked.

“You can… if you still have strength, because being ‘the one who acts’ requires concrete
expression. ‘Completion’ is not just feeling ‘complete,’ but it must be proven to be truly
‘complete.’ Since you are now without strength, please set your intention for a new
opportunity in the next life.”

“And another appropriateness for you is the story that will unfold in your future. You
will be reborn. You will be a young child who can attain the truth at the age of 7. I see
that you will have enough time to be ‘the one who acts’ and will have time to create
countless good things.”

“The final appropriateness is that when you can become ‘the one who has completed’
in the next life, you might change your mind and choose not to enter Nirvana alone. If
you see your brothers and sisters who are still in ignorance and are still in the great
ocean of samsara, you may choose to stay and help them escape first.”

“What you have said makes me feel better. It makes me see that if one is the one who
has completed, one can choose when to enter Nirvana, right?” Master Bavari asked.

“Yes, Lord,” Achita replied.

“Your words make me not regret not having the opportunity to meet that Great Being,
because your words are the result that makes me realize his real existence. It is as if he
is standing right in front of me. I firmly believe that he is the Great Being who came to
help sentient beings in this era. Even though my body is now weak, without strength,
not even able to raise my hands to pay homage, I am happy to have the opportunity to
hear this noble Dharma from your mouth. If I had strength, I would get up and
prostrate myself before you, as you are the representative of that Great Being.”

“Master, you don’t need to do that, because the Buddha doesn’t want anyone to have
faith in him. The true way to show respect to him is to have faith in oneself, to have
faith in the spirit within oneself. That is considered showing gratitude to him, because
the heart of being Buddha is to return to relying on oneself. If we give that faith to
others, including giving faith to the Buddha, it means we do not have faith in the
Buddha within us, it means we do not respect him,” Achita said.

“I declare before you both that from this day forward, I will dedicate myself to
propagating the being of Buddha. I will volunteer to lead the brothers and sisters on
this earth out of ignorance. But alas, my physical body has reached the end of its
lifespan. Therefore, I set my wish to be born in the Buddha’s dispensation, to continue
the existence of Buddhahood, alongside the world, in my next life.”

“Achita… I thank you very much that you came to see me tonight. Otherwise, I would
have to remain in this ignorance for who knows how many lifetimes. I do not feel any
regret in this final moment, because I have had the opportunity to set my intention for
what I will do in the next life. I set my mind to pray before you both, may the power of
the merit I have accumulated throughout my life bring about my rebirth in the noble
Buddhist dispensation as soon as possible, and may I meet the Great Buddha Being…
Amen, Amen, Amen,” Master Bavari spoke with a firm voice, expressing his sincere
intention, before closing his eyes weakly.

And this was his final sleep. Master Bavari passed away peacefully that night. He was
98 years and 11 months old. News of Master Bavari’s death was sent directly to
Savatthi, his hometown, by a swift horse, and spread to his disciples and those who had
received help from him. They all traveled to pay their respects and mourn with
gratitude. His funeral was held simply, with King Pasenadi of Kosala attending in
person, within the island area that was not yet a city. Visitors often referred to this
place by the purpose of their visit, which was to receive gold coins from Master Bavari
every year. Therefore, this island area had another informal name: “U Thong,” which
means “source of gold.”

“Lord Phoche, as far as I know, the word ‘U Thong’ is the name of a dynasty in Thai
history,” I interjected.

“Yes… Over several hundred years, that place became more densely populated, with
increased trade. This island area needed to be organized, so a ruler emerged, with a
successor of King Pasenadi later administering it. It was established as a city almost a
hundred years after Master Bavari’s death. With its suitable location for trade, this city
had high tax revenue and later became more influential, expanding its power to
conquer nearby territories. All of that area was under the rule of a dynasty named U
Thong. Due to invasions from various principalities, the U Thong dynasty moved to the
west, which is the location of U Thong City in Suphan Buri Province today.”

“Does that mean the story of Master Bavari is the origin of the U Thong dynasty?” I
asked.

“Yes. But initially, this name was used as the name of the city, due to Master Bavari’s
special routine, instead of using his name, which is different from the history of naming
other cities, which mostly came from the names of respectable individuals or virtuous
people who had lived in that area before. For example, Savatthi came from the name of
a Rishi named Savatthada, or Kapilavatthu came from the name of a Kapilada who lived
in that area.” Lord Phoche replied.

“And what else is interesting from this point on?” I asked Lord Phoche to see what else I
needed to know.

“From Master Bavari’s firm vow, he was born into a wealthy millionaire family in
Vaisali in the year after his death. Before the millionaire’s wife became pregnant, she
dreamed that a virtuous person told her to keep the five precepts purely, and he would
be born as her child. She agreed, and when she gave birth to a daughter, she named her
Benjasila. Eight years later, the Buddha traveled to reside during the rainy season at a
temple in Vaisali. Benjasila’s parents went to see him, converse, and offer food. While
Benjasila was listening to the Dharma attentively, she suddenly attained enlightenment
and asked to ordain as a novice nun at that temple with the Buddha, at the age of only
7. This caused the villagers to gossip that Benjasila was the youngest child to attain
Arhatship. Later, she became your assistant and played a significant role in spreading
Buddhism together.” Lord Phoche explained.

“Why was Master Bavari’s spirit reborn as a woman?”

“In reality, the soul has no gender. It depends on the role chosen when first born in a
lifetime. Originally, he always chose to be a woman, except for the lifetime when he was
born as Bavari the ascetic. This was because in the previous lifetime, he had set his
intention to be born as a man to ordain and seek the truth, because at that time, there
was a belief that women had no opportunity to attain enlightenment and were often
prevented from becoming monks. He had the experience of being a man as he wished
and became a monk as he intended. When this soul released that intention, it returned
to its original code.”

“And what you said about Master Bavari becoming my assistant, what is that story?” I
asked.

“The story of having lifetimes is so complex that it is difficult to explain to you in a
short time, because it spans a very long period, and every story has a reason for
subsequent lifetimes. If I were to take you through all the details, it would take
thousands of years. But if we focus on the important matters to make you understand
the intended plan and to know how all of you will achieve the goals you set, which may
seem like everyone chooses to determine themselves, but in reality, every story has a
background, or what you often call not a coincidence at all.” Lord Phoche explained.

“You are saying things I don’t understand again. What plan? It sounds confusing,” I
asked.

“If you go back to look at the previous lifetimes of both you and Bavari, each of you has
taken turns being the helper of the other all along.”

“That’s more interesting. I’m starting to wonder what our two souls agreed upon in the
past,” I asked.