His birthplace was the village of Nah Seedah, in the subdistrict of Glahng Yai, Bahn Peur District, Udorn-thani Province.

[4] Living and meditating in isolated caves and forests, Ajahn Thate began to obtain acute insights into the workings of the mind.

My own understanding at that time was that the stilled, one-pointed heart, didn't allow thoughts to careen away externally and so would definitely be able to transcend every bit of suffering.

There, as well as constructing kutis (or sleeping quarters) and temples for the monks, he assisted with funding local schools, hospitals and sewerage treatment works.

[2] Wat Hin Maak Peng is located at Ban Thai Charoen, Tambon Phra Phutthabat near Nong Khai.

The temple compound (sala) is spacious, clean and shady with various species of plants growing around the marble floor and tiled columns.

People from all over Thailand — led by HM the King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the royal family — came to pay their final respects.

The temporary car park was filled with up to thirty thousand vehicles, including many small and large buses from all parts of Thailand.

A half a million memorial books of the Venerable Ajahn Thate's teachings were distributed free to those present.

When all was ready, HM the King flew in by helicopter officially to lead the making of offerings and light the cremation fire.

The actual cremation took place later that night with a full moon shining down on the crematorium (with traditional Thai tiered-roofs), lake and fountain, specially built for the occasion.

The next morning, when the fire was cooled, the bones and ashes of Venerable Ajahn Thate were reverently removed and safeguarded as relics.

Inside the temple, there is a statue of Luangpu Thet on display with the eight requisites (the three robes, the bowl, a razor, a needle, the girdle and a water-strainer) and his biography.

As Thate puts it in his classic small text of meditation Steps Along the Path: "This is why, for the Buddha's teachings, morality forms the beginning of the religious life.

That is, the mind will withdraw from its external objects and gather into a single whole, letting go of all labels and attachments dealing with past or future.

By and large, people who reach fixed penetration tend to focus on the in-and-out breath (anapana) as their object of meditation.