Wat Arun in present day
Life at Wat Phra Chetuphon was not easy. Food was scarce. The first day he went for almsround he came back with an empty bowl. The second day was no different.
It made him wonder: "Even when a man has sacrificed all worldly pleasures to uphold the Precepts and to perpetuate Buddhism, should he deserve to starve for his cause? If I starve to death through the mean-heartedness of these city folks, maybe my death would stirenough of their pity to not let any more monks die of starvation in the future."
On the third day he received a scoopful of rice and a banana. Weak and weary from two days on an empty stomach, Candasaro scuttled his way back to his room and sat down on the doorway to eat his meal just as a mangy dog meandered into view. The poor dog was so skinny that its bones seemed to show through its skin, looking like it was ready to die of hunger right in front of his eyes. With great pity Candasaro passed the remainder of his food to the dog.
He made this solemn wish:
"Through the power of this generosity in the face of such adversity, may starvationnever again cross my path."
Although the dog had probably eaten nothing for days, it took only the rice and left the banana alone. Somewhat dismayed at this, Candasaro thought of retrieving the banana, but reminded himself that a bhikkhu does not take back anything which he has already given away unless someone were to re-offer it.
From that day forth, however, maybe due to the power of his virtue of generosity, Candasaro never returned from his alms round with an empty bowl again. In fact, he always had more than enough food to share with his fellow monks.
Reflecting on the hardship that he himself and his fellow monks had endured through the lack of food, Candasaro made a pledge upon himself:
"One day, when I receive sufficient support from benefactors, I will build a kitchen to feed the monastic community so that the monks can put all their energies into scriptural study and meditation and never again have to worry about where their next meal will come from."
It would take a decade before this aspiration of Candasaro's became a reality.
