“Teachings – words – however much, can't compare with practising to see for oneself. Listening to someone else speak, all you can get from it is the gist of the path. Someone else can't speak the fruits of the practise as words. The things that arise from practise arise on their own. If there is a practise of making the body, speech and mind pure, virtue, concentration and discernment will thus arise on their own.
The minor issues of moods and mental objects – don't go over to them. If virtue and concentration are purified, sitting in meditation, sometimes a question and its answer will arise together.
If the mind and heart have no respect for virtue, you can't go into the forest as a practising monk. Spirits will break your neck, tigers will eat you... Monks without pure virtue get attacked and killed by tigers. In caves and on mountains, I've seen the piles of bones.”
– Luang Pu Tongrat Kantasīlo