 ASEAN.svg)
| Background | #FFD068 | color = black |
|---|---|
| Name | Luang Por Mun Bhuridatta Mahathera |
| Caption | Wax sculpture of Ven. Ajahn Mun. |
| Birth name | Kaenkaew |
| Birth date | Thursday, January 20, 1870, the Year of the Goat. |
| Birth place | The village of Ban Khambong in the Khongjiam district of Ubon Ratchathani province |
| Death date | 1949 age 79 |
| Nationality | Thai |
| School | Theravada |
| Lineage | Thai Forest Tradition |
| Occupation | Vipassana meditation master |
| Teacher | Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera |
| Predecessor | Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera |
| Website | Full Bio |
Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta Thera (; ), 1870–1949, was a Thai Buddhist monk of Lao descent who is credited, along with his mentor, Phra Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera, with establishing the Thai Forest Tradition (the Kammatthana tradition) that subsequently spread throughout Thailand and to several countries abroad.
Mun was first ordained as a novice monk at age 16, in the local village monastery of Khambong. As a youth, he studied Buddhist teachings, history and folk legends in Khom, Khmer and Tham scripts from fragile palm leaf texts stored in the monastery library. He remained a novice for two years, until 1888, when it was necessary for him to leave the monastery, at his father's request.
After ordination, Mun went to practice meditation with Ajahn Sao of Wat Liap in Ubon, where he learned to practice the monastic traditions of Laos. Ajahn Sao taught Mun a meditation method to calm the mind, the mental repetition of the word, "Buddho." Ajahn Sao often took Ajahn Mun wandering and camping in the dense forests along the Mekong River, where they would practice meditation together. This is known as "thudong" in Thai, a name derived from the term "dhutanga", which describes a number of specialized ascetic practices. One of the first long distance thudong was a pilgrimage to Wat Aranyawaksi in Thabor district, Nong Khai Province. At the time, Wat Aranyawaksi was a ruin, an abandoned, overgrown temple in the jungle. Ajahn Mun spent a year in "illumination" in the teak forest around the temple at this early part of his monastic life.
In 1899, Ajahn Mun was re-ordained in the Thammayut Nikaya, a reformed Thai sect which emphasized monastic disciple and scripture study. Having practiced under the guidance of his teacher for several years, and with his teachers blessings, Ajahn Mun went out on his own to search for advanced meditation teachers. During the next several years, he wandered extensively throughout Laos, Thailand and Burma, practicing meditation in secluded forests. Ajahn Mun and Ajahn Sao went on pilgrimage together in 1905 and venerated the Phra That Phanom shrine, a center of Theravada Buddhism for centuries, most sacred to the Lao people.
He then wandered on toward Udon Thani, into a region that was a wild forest filled with prehistoric caves. He continued his wandering pilgrimage deeper into the wildernesses of Loei, a land dreaded and feared by the Thai people, who describe it as "beyond" and "to the furthest extreme" of the world. This rugged wilderness along the Mekong consists of mountains, and extremes of weather, both cold and hot.
Biographers are surprised at the fact that Ajahn Mun never mentioned the names of the Burmese monks he met. There are two expanations for this. The first explanation is that in Asian Buddhist monks circles one never goes up to the other saying: I'm so-and-so; who are you. This is considered disrespectful. One tries to get the others' name out of colleagues or laymen around the monk. If there are no others at hand the one remains anonymous to the other. The second reason is that in Burmese the English words for "I" and "you" do not really have the same use as in the Western world. A directly addressing one another in the above sense is considered inappropriate as the poet Moe Hein (died September 2010) explains. Hence in Burma it is not done to address the other in an "I" versus "you" way.
In 1913, Ajahn Mun stayed in Sarika Cave at Great Mountain (Khao Yai) in Nakhon Nayok. It was during this time, at age 43, when he attained anagami, according to the biography written by his disciple Luang Ta Maha Bua. Ajahn Mun spent the next two or three years living at this location in the Khao Yai Mountains. He struggle with a mortal life-threatening illness during these years. A chapel shrine to Ajahn Mun is located at this cave today and is a major pilgrimage site.
In 1915, Ajahn Mun spent the Rain Retreat at Wat Sapathum in Bangkok, and frequently walked to a nearby temple to hear sermons by Ajahn Jan, an important high-ranking monk.
From here, Ajahn Mun returned to the rural districts of northeast Thailand. In 1918, he spent Rains Retreat in Wat Burapha, on the outskirts of Ubon city. He remained at the same monastery for the Rain Retreat of 1920. For the next five years he wandered throughout the northern districts of upper Isan region: Sakhon Nakhon, Udon Thani, Nong Khai and Loei.
Ajahn Mun was increasingly recognized as a highly gifted teacher during these years, and attracted growing numbers of disciples among both monks and laypeople. In 1926 he was accompanied by a group of 70 monks in a "thudong" south to Daeng Kokchang Village, Tha Uthen District, heading toward Ubon.
A controversy engulfed Ajahn Mun and his disciples at this time. The monastic authorities in Bangkok were in the process of imposing reforms intended to standardize and centralize the sangha, and were pressuring the wandering forest monks to settle down in temples and become "productive" members of society. Monastic administrators were suspicious of these apparently "vagrant" monks who lived in wild forests and jungles, beyond the realm of civilization. Ajahn Jan, the monastic administrator of the province, ordered the people to withhold support from the wandering monks. Several of Ajahn Mun's disciples were taken into custody by civil authorities under suspicion of vagrancy.
Ajahn Mun became increasingly concerned by the encroachments of modern ways that threatened the traditional monastic customs he had been trained in. He began to think of leaving his homeland in order to seek more remote regions beyond the reach of modernizing influences of Bangkok authorities.
In 1927, Mun was in Ubon teaching monks and laypeople in Wat Suthat, Wat Liap, and Wat Burapha. He made arrangements for his aging mother, and then took leave of his family to go wandering into the direction of the Central Plains region of Thailand, not certain of his destination. He wandered by stages across the barren lands and sparsely populated lands of central Isan, sleeping under the occasional shade tree, receiving alms food from the poor rice farmers along the way. When he reached the rugged, wild mountains and jungles of Dong Phaya Yen Forest between Sara Buri and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces, he rejoiced at the flora and fauna of nature.
He was acting abbot of Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai during 1929, appointed under the direction of Bangkok authorities. When his superior, Phra Upali died this year, Ajahn Mun fled his temple without notifying either his dependent monks or the monastic authorities in Bangkok
The following years, Ajahn Mun established a meditation retreat on the eastern slope of Chiang Dao Mountain, and frequently spent time meditating in the sacred, remote Chiang Dao caves. Initially, he wandered through the Mae Rim district of Chiang Dao mountain range, staying in the forested mountains there through both the dry and the monsoon seasons that year.
Ajahn Mun was again in Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai in 1933. From here he went wandering into Burma throughout the Karen and Shan states.
From 1932-1938, Ajahn Mun practiced meditation in a variety of locations throughout the forests and mountains, in solitude with little contact with people. These years of solitary retreat into the rugged, inaccessible wilderness are very significant in the biography of Ajahn Mun. According to his disciples, he is said to have attained enlightenment or "become an Arahant" during his time in retreat here among the hill tribes, in mountains that hold a unique position in the shamanistic traditions of Thailand.
He spent Rains Retreat of 1935 in Makkhao Field Village in Mae Pong District. In 1936 he spent the retreat near Puphaya Village among the hill tribes. Then the following year, he was in Mae Suai District, Chiang Rai, among the Laui tribes.
When he arrived in Udon Thani late in the year of 1940, he stayed at the temple Wat Boghisamphon where his disciple Chao Khun Dhammachedi was presiding abbot. From there he went to Wat Non Niwet for Rains Retreat.
After the rains retreat of 1940 he went wandering in the countryside in the vicinity of Ban Nong Nam Khem village, revisiting the familiar landscapes of his youth. Even at the age of 70, he was still able to take care of himself and get around in the wild environments.
In 1941 he spent the Rains Retreat at Wat Nan Niwet monastery in Udon Thani. After rains he traveled to Sakhon Nakhon and first resided at Wat Suddhawat Monastery. He then moved to a small forest monastery named Pheu Pond Hermitage near the village of Ban Na Mon. Pheu Pond Hermitage was in a very remote forest, far into the wilderness, three or four hours walk from the nearest village. (It is today named Wat Pa Bhuridatta in honor of Ajahn Mun.)
Ajahn Sao Kantasilo Mahathera, Mun's first teacher as a new monk, died in 1942. Ajahn Mun moved to reside even deeper into the forest. At age 75, Ajahn Mun decided to settle permanently at his Pheu Pond Hermitage in the deep forest, at the head of the Phu Phan Mountains, near Sakhon Nakhon. Due to his failing strength, he was unable to wander into the forests. Ajahn Mun died in 1948 at Wat Suddhavasa in Sakhon Nakhon Province. He attracted an enormous following of students and, together with his teacher Ajahn Sao, founded one branch of the Thai Forest Tradition (Kammatthana) currently practiced throughout Thailand and in several countries abroad.
Category:1870 births Category:1949 deaths Category:Thai people of Laotian descent Category:Theravada Buddhist monks Category:Ajahns Category:Thai Forest Tradition Category:Thai Buddhist monks Category:Thai Theravada Buddhists
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Background | #FFD068 | color = black |
|---|---|
| Name | Venerable Ajahn Maha Bua Mahathera |
| Alias | Ajahn Maha Boowa, Luang Ta Maha Boowa |
| Dharma name | Pra Dharma Visuthimongkol |
| Birth date | August 12, 1913 |
| Birth place | Baan Taad village, Udon Thani Province, Thailand |
| Nationality | Thai |
| School | Theravada |
| Lineage | Thai Forest Tradition |
| Title | Than Ajahn |
| Location | Wat Pa Baan Taad |
| Education | Level of Maha in Pali Studies |
| Occupation | Abbot |
| Teacher | Venerable Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta Mahathera |
| Predecessor | Venerable Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta Mahathera |
| Website | Luangta.com |
As Pra Nanasampanno, he studied the incarnations of the Buddha and his Arahant Disciples. He has said he was so impressed that he decided to seek the same enlightenment as had the Buddha's original disciples. He tried to understand the ways of practicing the Dhamma (Dharma) which would eventually lead to Nibbana (Nirvana).
He studied Pali, the language of Theravada Buddhism, as well as the Vinaya (the monastic rules of correct conduct). After seven years, he passed the third level of Pali studies, and achieved the highest level in Dhamma and Vinaya studies. He then concentrated entirely on the practice of Dhamma in hopes of studying with Venerable Ajahn Mun, one of the most renowned meditation masters of his time.
"Now, I have come to the real thing. He has made everything clear and I no longer have doubts. It is now up to me to be true or otherwise. I'm determined to be true!"
He learned the meditation methods followed by Mun, based on the principles of Buddhism and the code of Buddhist discipline. He continues to follow these methods in his own teaching of monks and novices. Due to his deep respect and admiration for Mun, whom he likens to a father and mother to his students, he was inspired to write a biography of Mun to disseminate his methods of practice and document his character for coming generations. He has also written many books on the practice of Buddhist meditation and recorded teachings on Dhamma so Buddhists may have a guide in practicing meditation. One of his fellow student monks with Ajahn Mun was Ajahn Thate.
Learning that his mother was ill, he returned home to look after her. Villagers and relatives requested that he settle permanently in the forest south of the village and no longer wander in the manner of a forest monk. As his mother was very old and that it was appropriate for him to look after her, he accepted the offer. With a donation of of land, he began to build his monastery in November 1955. It was given the name Wat Pa Baan Taad.
The fundamental problem that besets human beings, according to Bua, is that they have taken fake and false things as their true self and lack the necessary power to be their 'own true self'; they allow the wiles and deceits of the mental defilements to generate fear and anxiety in their minds. Fear and anxiety are not inherent within the citta; in fact, the citta is ultimately beyond all such things and indeed is beyond time and space. But it needs to be cleansed of its inner defilements (the kilesas) before that truth can be realised. Bua states:
‘Our real problem, our one fundamental problem—which is also the citta’s fundamental problem—is that we lack the power needed to be our own true self. Instead, we have always taken counterfeit things to be the essence of who we really are, so that the citta’s behavior is never in harmony with its true nature. Rather, it expresses itself through the kilesas’ cunning deceits, which cause it to feel anxious and frightened of virtually everything … As a result, the citta is forever full of worries and fears. And although fear and worry are not intrinsic to the citta, they still manage to produce apprehension there. When the citta has been cleansed so that it is absolutely pure and free of all involvement, only then will we see a citta devoid of all fear. Then, neither fear nor courage appear, only the citta’s true nature, existing naturally alone on its own, forever independent of time and space. Only that appears—nothing else. This is the genuine citta’.
Bua goes on to attempt to describe the inner stages and experience of the cleansed citta. When its purgation of defilements is complete, it itself does not disappear – only the impermanent, suffering, and the non-Self disappear. The citta remains, experientially abiding in its own firm foundation, yet ultimately indescribable:
‘Once the Citta has become so well-cleansed that it is always bright and clear, then … even though the citta has not ‘converged’ in samãdhi, the focal point of its awareness is so exceedingly delicate and refined as to be indescribable. This subtle awareness manifests as a radiance that extends forth in all directions around us. We are unconscious of sights, sounds, odors, tastes, and tactile sensations, despite the fact that the citta has not entered samãdhi. Instead, it is actually experiencing its own firm foundation, the very basis of the citta that has been well-cleansed to the point where a mesmerizing, majestic quality of knowing is its most prominent feature.
‘Seeming to exist independent of the physical body, this kind of extremely refined awareness stands out exclusively within the citta. Due to the subtle and pronounced nature of the citta at this stage, its knowing nature completely predominates. No images or visions appear there at all. It is an awareness that stands out exclusively on its own. This is one aspect of the citta.
‘Another aspect is seen when this well-cleansed citta enters meditative calm, not thinking or imagining anything. Ceasing all activity, all movement, it simply rests for awhile. All thought and imagination within the citta come to a complete halt. This is called “the citta entering a state of total calm.” Then, the citta’s essential knowing nature is all that remains. Except for this very refined awareness—an awareness that seems to blanket the entire cosmos—absolutely nothing else appears… Distance is not a factor. To be precise, the citta is beyond the conditions of time and space, which allows it to blanket everything. Far is like near, for concepts of space do not apply. All that appears is a very refined awareness suffusing everything throughout the entire universe. The whole world seems to be filled by this subtle quality of knowing, as though nothing else exists, though things still exist in the world as they always have. The all-encompassing flow of the citta that has been cleansed of the things that cloud and obscure it, this is the citta’s true power.
'The citta that is absolutely pure is even more difficult to describe. Since it is something that defies definition, I don’t know how I could characterize it. It cannot be expressed in the same way that conventional things in general can be, simply because it is not a conventional phenomenon. It is the sole province of those who have transcended all aspects of conventional reality, and thus realize within themselves that non-conventional nature. For this reason, words cannot describe it.
'Why do we speak of a “Conventional” Citta and an “absolutely pure” citta? Are they actually two different cittas? Not at all. It remains the same citta. When it is controlled by conventional realities, such as kilesas and ãsavas, that is one condition of the citta. But when the faculty of wisdom has scrubbed it clean until this condition has totally disintegrated, the true citta, the true Dhamma, the one that can stand the test, will not disintegrate and disappear along with it. Only the conditions of anicca, dukkha, and anattã, which infiltrate the citta, actually disappear.
'No matter how subtle the kilesas may be, they are still conditioned by anicca, dukkha, and anattã, and therefore, must be conventional phenomena. Once these things have completely disintegrated, the true citta, the one that has transcended conventional reality, becomes fully apparent. This is called the citta’s Absolute Freedom, or the citta’s Absolute Purity. All connections continuing from the citta’s previous condition have been severed forever. Now utterly pure, the citta’s essential knowing nature remains alone on its own….
'Since this refined awareness does not have a point or a center, it is impossible to specifically locate its position. There is only that essential knowing, with absolutely nothing infiltrating it. Although it still exists amid the same khandhas with which it used to intermix, it no longer shares any common characteristics with them. It is a world apart. Only then do we know clearly that the body, the khandhas, and the citta are all distinct and separate realities…
Some of the notions found here are reminiscent of the Tathagatagarbha tradition - although the latter posits an original, primordial purity to the mind, whereas Bua sees that purity as needing to be established through mental and moral cultivation.
"They complained to me about PM Thaksin and Mr. Visanu and two other people that I don’t remember. This is the big ogre [Thai: ตัวยักษ์ใหญ่], big power. Atrocious power will swallow our country, bite liver and lungs and aim for the presidency....He will put a torch to the country. He will never listen....This savagery and atrocity appear in every aspect of him.... All he has are things to be used for burning."
''"He is clearly aiming for the presidency now. The monarch trampled, the religion trampled, the country trampled, by this savage and atrocious power in a few people in the government circle. That is the circle of ogres, of ghosts, of trolls, of demons [Thai:ยักษ์วงผีวงเปรตวงมาร], all in there....So even Devadatta saw the harm he caused, and he was rewarded for his good deed. He would attain Buddhahood [Thai:พระปัจเจกพุทธเจ้า]. For those who have made mistakes, if we see the harm we cause, we can still get by. But what is it with Thailand? What kind of governance?"
"They even dare to accuse Luangta Maha Bua of playing politics. Politics, what dog shit [Thai:การบ้านการเมืองขี้หมาอะไร]. There’s only shit all over the country. I brought the Buddha’s dharma to cleanse in order for them to repent and recognize good and evil. Because they’re the government. The world flatters them as smart people, but don’t be smart down in a toilet [Thai:แต่อย่าฉลาดลงส้วมลงถาน]. Don’t be smart about putting a torch to the head of everyone in the country, from Nation, Religion, and Monarchy on down. These guys will get burned unless they recognize the truth. I’m saddened by all this. How does this come about?"
On 11 October 2005, Thaksin sued Manager newspaper for THB 500 million. As monks have traditionally been above criticism, Thaksin did not sue Luang Ta Maha Bua. "This is an exercise of an individual's right to protect his reputation and privacy. The newspaper did not criticise the prime minister fairly as a public official, but rather it took him to task personally, using harsh words, which was damaging to him," Thana Benjathikul, Thaksin's lawyer said.
Thaksin's legal team noted that other newspapers only published selected passages of the sermon, and furthermore, that a slanderous headline was used. Respected civil rights lawyer Thongbai Thongpao has noted that Thaksin's lawsuit did have merit. He added that the lawsuits "do not constitute an attack on freedom of the press".
The case, along with several other libel cases, was withdrawn after King Bhumibol Adulyadej indirectly advised against such legal action during his annual birthday speech.
As recently as 14 March 2006, Luang Ta Maha Bua asked Thaksin to resign. In a sermon that the monk called "most vehement since the temple was set up," the monk said it was time for Thaksin to abandon the "rotten system he is presiding over". He described the government as "wicked, corrupt, power-hungry, and greedy".
Category:1914 births Category:Living people Category:Theravada Buddhist monks Category:Thai Buddhist monks Category:Thai Theravada Buddhists Category:Ajahns
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Background | #FFD068 | color = black |
|---|---|
| Name | Luang Por Chah |
| Birth date | June 17, 1918 |
| Birth place | Ubon, Thailand |
| Death date | January 16, 1992 |
| Nationality | Thai |
| School | Theravada |
| Occupation | Buddhist monk |
| Teacher | Ven. Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, Ven. Ajahn Thongrat, Ven. Ajahn Kinaree |
| Successor | Ajahn Liem |
| Website | ajahnchah.org watnongpahpong.org watpahnanachat.org |
Venerable Ajahn Chah Subhaddo (Chao Khun Bodhinyana Thera) (, alternatively spelled Achaan Chah, occasionally with honorific titles Luang Por and Phra; 17 June 1918 – 16 January 1992) was an influential teacher of the Buddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition.
Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) in the United Kingdom, the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has spread throughout Europe, the United States and the British Commonwealth. The dhamma talks of Ajahn Chah have been recorded, transcribed and translated into several languages.
More than one million people, including the Thai royal family, attended Ajahn Chah's funeral in 1992.. He left behind a legacy of dhamma talks, students, and monasteries.
By the early 1980s, Ajahn Chah's health was in decline due to diabetes. He was taken to Bangkok for surgery to relieve paralysis caused by the diabetes, but it was to little effect. Ajahn Chah used his ill health as a teaching point, emphasizing that it was "a living example of the impermanence of all things...(and) reminded people to endeavor to find a true refuge within themselves, since he would not be able to teach for very much longer".
Category:1918 births Category:1992 deaths Category:Ajahns Category:Buddhist philosophers Category:Modern Buddhist writers Category:Thai Buddhist teachers Category:Thai Forest Tradition Category:Thai people of Laotian descent Category:Theravada Buddhism writers Category:Theravada Buddhist monks Category:Thai Buddhist monks Category:Thai Theravada Buddhists
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
