My memories of Luang phi Nathi Nandabhaddo

 A few days ago, lp Nathi Nandabhaddo's memorial was held in the United States. He used to be my teacher and mentor in my early years when I first got to know Thai Buddhism back in the late 90s. He was living in the temple in Strasbourg then, and I used to visit the temple and have fond memories of him teaching me and inspiring me on the path.

He once stayed at my dormitory in The Netherlands in a room which my landlord freely sacrificed for his stay. In the Student's Church in Nijmegen, he taught meditation to me and my fellow students in simple, but profound words. I remember I also cooked for him, but was pretty bad at it! He must have had to bear with my cooking habits, but the meditation class we did was successful. We also went to visit Amsterdam, where he went to teach some Thai people. At that time, there were few Thai temples in Europe, and his visit was much appreciated. 

I remember his kindness, and his soft-spokenness. He told me he was a soldier before he became a monk, but now he eschewed everything that had to with war. I once showed him a historical book on warfare, and he responded that there was nothing good about such interest. Although he never spoke much about worldly matters, he once told me that human life was much like the 1973 movie Papillon, a movie he once saw as a layperson. We are all imprisoned due to our defilements, and we have to learn to transcend the prison.

He was strict in monastic discipline, but also in this, he was kind and gentle. Being quite unaware of most of monastic discipline at the time, I once offered him some food after noon, and he kept it for a few hours on him. Then he gave it back and said he could not keep food overnight. He could have just refused the food from the start, but this was his gentle approach. 

Living the life of a monk now, I hope I can continue some of the kindness and profoundness that Lp Nathi once taught me, and in that way, continue his heritage. Because Lp Nathi did not speak much, but what he said, was profound. And his life was short like his words, yet immensely profound.