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Luang Por's Story LUANG POR’S STORY 1884-1959 1909-2000 1963 1966 The Great Master Phramongkol- Khun Yai Chand Khonnokyoong, Chaiyaboon Suddhipol, the Padej Pongsawat, the future thepmuni, Abbot of Wat Paknam, founder of Wat Phra Dham- future Luang Por Dham- Luang Por Dattajeevo, Vice Discoverer of the Dhammakaya makaya (the Dhammakaya majayo, Abbot of Wat Phra Abbot of Wat Phra Dham- Meditation Method. Temple). Dhammakaya, met Khun Yai makaya, began studying and began studying meditation meditation with Khun Yai. with her. 1985 2000 2001 2003 Temple ground expanded to The Great Dhammakaya Cetiya DMC (Dhammakaya Media Dhammakaya Open University 1,000 acres with capacity to completed. 1,000,000 Buddha !"##$%&'()*+%,-.(+.0(1234( (DOU) began, offering Bache- hold 1,000,000 people. images enshrined here. Buddhist Satellite TV channel lor’s Degree in Buddhism. launched. Now broadcast in more than thirty countries. 1969 1969 1970 1982 Chaiyaboon was ordained Lady Prayad donated a 78-acre Buddhajak Center (now Wat Main Chapel completed, into the monkhood at Wat plot of land in Patumthani Phra Dhammakaya ) estab- surrounded by beautiful Paknam and was named to build the future Wat Phra lished on this land. Many more landscapes. Ven. Dhammajayo Bhikkhu. Dhammakaya. developments followed. He is now Abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya. 2008 2010 2010 2012 Launched V-Star Program, Launched mass ordination Launched Crystal Upasika First annual Dhammachai moral and ethics training for programs for 100,000 monks. renunciation programs for Dhutanga Pilgrimage Walk youths; reviving ethics for the 1,000,000 women began, covering a distance of world. 225(67%*8$0$+.9(:+;"#7<$,(0*( promote awareness and advancement of Buddhist culture. 18 LUANG POR'S STORY Luang Por Dhammajayo LUANG POR DHAMMAJAYO Phrathepyanmahamuni Abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya “I seek to pursue Perfections by instilling goodness in the hearts and minds of the people of the world, for them to embrace morality and to practice mental cultivation until they see the Truth, and to have Dhammakaya as their refuge.” With this pledge, Luang Por Dhammajayo gave his heart and soul to furthering Bud- dhism and bringing peace and happiness to mankind. Throughout his forty-four years of monkhood he never took a day off from his work. He set new standards for monk- !**,'(+$67#,%$,(0!$(="70!("#,(>*#,$#>$(*=(0!$(?$*?%$'("#,(0**6(0!$(@A,,!7.0(+$%7;7*#( to a new height. 20 LUANG POR'S STORY Chaiyaboon’s interest in Buddhism began at a very young age LUANG POR'S STORY 21 BA"#;(C*+(D!"88"E"F*()".(G*+#( !"7F"G**#(HA,,!7?*%(*#(I?+7%(11'(JK22'(0*(0!$( family of Janyong and Juree Suddhipol. He grew up in a small house on the bank of the Chao Praya River in Singhburi, Thailand. His father was an engineer working for the Ministry of Industry whose job required him to be relocated regularly. Chaiyaboon often had to be put in boarding schools away from home for his schooling. Young Chaiyaboon was eager when it came to acquiring knowledge. His interest in Buddhism began at a very young age. His favorite past time during his teens was to hang around bookstands that lined the streets surrounding Sanam Luang, a pub- lic park of Bangkok, where books of every kind could be found. The subjects that fascinated him were Buddhism, the Teachings of the Buddha, and biographies of important people. The more books he read, the more Dhamma sermons he listened to, the more he wondered: “Why are we born? What is the purpose of one’s life? Where do we go after we die? Do heaven and hell really exist?” L!$.$(MA$.07*#.(%7#;$+$,(7#(!7.(87#,("#,(!$(>*A%,(#*0(#,(0!$("#.)$+.9 22 LUANG POR'S STORY Khun Yai Chand Khonnokyoong LUANG POR'S STORY 23 One day, he came upon a book titled Dhammakaya written in the format of a sermon by the Great Abbot of Wat Paknam 1, who said: “Reading books alone is not enough to gain the perfect knowledge of Dhamma. One has to put Dhamma into practice until the Truth is revealed to him.” He later found an article in Vipassana 2 Banterng- sarn, a publication on meditation which was about a nun named Khun Yai 3 Chand, a disciple of Luang Por Wat Paknam, who possessed extraordinary meditative power. Fascinated by her story, Chaiyaboon determined to seek her out and learn meditation from her. !"7F"G**#(#"%%F(8$0(N!A#(O"7("0(P"0(C"6#"8(7#(JK5Q9(R$()".(0!$#("(=+$.!8"#("0( Kasetsart University . Khun Yai agreed to accept him as her student. Through Khun O"7'( !"7F"G**#(#"%%F(=*A#,(0!$("#.)$+.(0*(0!$(MA$.07*#.(0!"0(!",(%7#;$+$,(7#(!7.( mind for a long time. “Yes, heaven and hell do exist,” Khun Yai told him. She explained, “Reaching high level meditative attainment allows one to possess special abilities to do wondrous things such as reading another person’s thought, seeing into the past or the future, recalling one’s past lives, or traversing to afterlife realms.” Chaiyaboon also learned that the true purpose of one’s life was to pursue Perfections ( parami ) and to attain Nibbana (Nirvana). This was a turning point in Chaiyaboon’s life. He began to practice meditation dili- 1 Wat: Thai word for Buddhist temple. Wat Paknam is the name of a famous Buddhist temple in Thonburi, a sister city of Bangkok. 2 Vipassana: insight meditation 3 Khun Yai: a Thai word for grandmother 24 LUANG POR'S STORY Family and friends at Dhammajayo Bhikkhu’s ordination LUANG POR'S STORY 25 gently. Every morning he would leave his dorm at 6 a.m., spent two hours on three different buses to reach Khun Yai’s place in order to practice meditation with her. After school he would do the same and would not return to his dorm until 10 p.m. Often times he would get up in the middle of the night to meditate. Some days he would meditate as many as 12 hours. His meditation skills became so profound that Khun Yai allowed him to teach others. Chaiyaboon graduated from Kasetsart University in 1969 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He took the yellow saffron to become a Buddhist monk at Wat Paknam on August 27th, 1969. Whereupon, he was given a monastic name 2 “Dhammajayo”, which means “Victory through the Dhamma”. Upon Chaiyaboon’s ordination, Khun Yai felt it was time to build a temple so she 4It is tradition for a newly ordained monk to be given a monastic name 26 LUANG POR'S STORY Surveying the land with pioneering team members LUANG POR'S STORY 27 and her team could have their own place to teach and practice meditation and to propagate Buddhism. Unfortunately, all Khun Yai had in her possession was her own meager savings of 3,200 Baht ($160 in 1970). The team thought the idea was an 78?*..7G%$(,+$"89(@A0(N!A#(O"7'()70!(!$+(="70!("#,(>*#,$#>$(7#(0!$(?*)$+(*=(8$+70 5, told the team that the power of their collective virtue and merit would lead them to “celestial wealth” and would attract benevolent people to help them accomplish their ;*"%.9(R$+(*?0787.8()".(.*(.0+*#;(0!"0(70(;"S$(0!$(0$"8(>*#,$#>$(0*(?+*>$$,9( 5 merit ( Pali, punna ) virtue, Possitive energy Resulting from acts of good deeds, production of good deeds. 28 LUANG POR'S STORY Lady Prayad donates 78 acres of paddy fields to the future temple LUANG POR'S STORY 29 They imagined the ideal temple should be built on a large piece of land not far from @"#;6*6()70!("(+7S$+(*+(>+$$6(*)7#;(0!+*A;!(709(I=0$+(>*#.7,$+"G%$(.>*A07#;'(0!$F( =*A#,("(0+">0(*=(%"#,(0!"0(0(0!7.(.?$>7>"07*#9(U0()".("(G"++$#(?",,F($%,(*)#$,(GF( an aristocratic lady named Lady Prayad. The team wasn’t sure whether the owner was willing to part with her land but ventured to see her anyway. The day they met with Lady Prayad happened to coincide with her birthday. It was the team’s lucky day, for not only was Lady Prayad willing to part with her land, but she in fact was willing to donate 78 acres as her birthday merit-making gift to the future temple. This was indeed a miracle of celestial proportion. There was no logical reason to explain their luck other than the collective force of merit that Khun Yai spoke about. 30 LUANG POR'S STORY From barren paddy fields to the world’s largest Buddhist center LUANG POR'S STORY 31 Wat Phra Dhammakaya (the Dhammakaya Temple) was formally established on Magha Puja Day, February 20, 1970. The Main Chapel was completed in 1982. The property was later expanded to 1,000 acres in 1985. The Great Dhammakaya Ce- tiya 6, a dome-shaped pagoda built to last one thousand years, was completed in 2000. It became the world’s largest Buddhist monument ever built. One million per- sonal Buddha images were enshrined at the Cetiya—300,000 on the exterior dome and 700,000 on the inside. Today, Wat Phra Dhammakaya has grown to become the world’s largest Buddhist *+;"#7<"07*#()70!(*S$+(*#$(!A#,+$,(>$#0$+.(7#(0!7+0F(>*A#0+7$.(>*S$+7#;(.7V(>*#07#$#0.9( On Sundays an average of 30,000 Buddhists come to perform meritorious activities and practice meditation at the Temple. Every year, millions of people from around the world come to celebrate major religious events. 6Cetiya: Pali word for pagoda 32 LUANG POR'S STORY Spreading goodness to the world LUANG POR'S STORY 33 During the forty-four years under Luang Por’s leadership, the world has witnessed some of the most astounding accomplishments any one person can achieve in one lifetime.
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