Venerable Ajaan Khao Analayo - A true spiritual warrior

Venerable Ajaan Khao Analayo
A true spiritual warrior

CONTENT

When Ajaan Khao lived in the forests and the mountains, he got the local villagers to lay out three different paths for walking meditation. The first path he used for paying homage to the Lord Buddha, the second for homage to the Dhamma, and the third for homage to the Sangha. He walked cankama on these three paths at three different times each day.
As soon as he had finished his morning meal, he began walking meditation on the Buddha Puja path.
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Venerable Ajaan Khao Analayo was born in the Year of the Rat on Sunday December 28, 1888. His natal village was Baan Bo Chaneng, located in the Nong Kaew sub-district of Amnat Charern district in the province of Ubon Ratchathani. His father's name was Phua and his mother's Rort, and their surname was Khoratha. Khao Khoratha was the fourth of seven children.
Khao Khoratha was a farmer by profession. Working hard, he prospered and made friends easily. By nature, he was honest and upright, always displaying a warm-hearted, generous attitude toward family and friends. Everyone loved and admired him. Because of this he had many acquaintances, who were all good responsible people. In stark contrast to nowadays when having many friends tends to lead to a lot of drinking and carousing where friends in this age of instant gratification are the cause of each other's downfall, dragging one another headlong into a living hell. In those days, people tended toward virtuous conduct, so friendships were wonderfully inspiring and mutually beneficial interactions that never led to personal damage.
When he was 20 years old, his parents arranged for him to be married. His wife's name was Nang Mee. They had seven children together. He lived the life of a lay person for many years, supporting his family following the customs of the world. It seems, however, that the relationship with his wife was not a smooth and happy one, due to the fact that his wife was never content to remain faithful to her husband. She had a tendency to take advantage of his trusting nature – adulterous behaviour that became a poison damaging the heart of her partner, as well as the wealth and stability of their family. An unfaithful spouse is like a destructive parasite which so damages the relationship that husband and wife can no longer remain together.
In Ajaan Khao's case, however, one is tempted to speculate that his marital situation turned out to be a great boon for him, the fruition of some favourable kamma. For had he not been so emotionally traumatized, he may never have considered sacrificing everything to ordain as a Buddhist monk. In any event, it seems almost certain that he began seriously considering life as a monk because of his wife's infidelity; and that he finally decided to ordain for precisely this reason.