The History of Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dhammakayaram

The Story by Dr. Phra Rajyanvisth (Hon. D.)

I am going to tell you the history of this temple, Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dhammakayaram, and also the reason why I established the temple and quit my job to become a monk.

When I was still a layman, before resigning from the U.S. Information Service in Bangkok, I brought my two daughters to Wat Paknam to study meditation. I realized already then that the Dhammakaya Mediation which was taught there is very helpful in giving the practitioner the right wisdom to see and understand how things really are, rather than just reading the scriptures and listening to the teachers. My daughters started practicing and they were both soon capable of seeing both Heaven and Hell and also Nirvana. I was already interested in Dhamma at that time and had read many books by Luang Phor Bhuddadasa and other meditation masters. So, I understood the basic structure of Buddhist practice: the disciplinaries, concentration of mind, development of Right Wisdom, and samadha-vipassana meditation which enables us to see the right concept of The Four Noble Truths.

I knew the theory, but when reading the many textbooks I never came across a meditation technique which would go as deep as the technique taught by Luang Phor Wat Paknam. In terms of concentration of mind and Right Wisdom development, his method leads the practitioner to better and purer supernatural vision.

My daughters were then 12 and 14 years old and both of them reached a rather high level of meditation, right up to Dhammakaya.

At that time I was interested in knowing where my late father was reborn. Knowing how good my daughters' meditation was, their meditation master advised them to inspect and find out where my father was. I was only 20 years old when he passed away. That was one year before I became married, so my daughters never knew their grandfather. In fact, they had never seen a picture of him.

After some time, both girls saw that my father had been reborn in Hell. This was because of his drinking. My father didn't really drink a lot, just a small glass in the morning to enable him to eat more and then a glass in the evening so he could enjoy dinner. Occasionally he would invite some friends for a drink, but not to get drunk, just for good digestion. But, that happened regularly and it became a habit. According to Lord Buddha's teachings, anyone who violates the precepts of morality, in this case the 5th, will be reborn in suffering worlds, namely the worlds of Hell, the world of animals, the world of ghosts, or the world of demons. Even though my father was not a heavy drinker it still became a habit and he was attached to it.

So, you see, this meditation method gives you the right information or Right Wisdom by seeing through this right and effective method of Right Concentration as taught by Luang Phor Wat Paknam.

Here is another example of how a meditator can see the natural reality that a lay person cannot experience. One day two dogs, a male and a female, were having let us say "a close relationship" and the meditation master asked my daughters to check where the dogs came from, by bringing in the center of the male dog for inspection at the center of the center, and thereby recalling the previous generations and past lives. When they came to the fourth generation, they saw that he had been a man, but because of bad conduct in the form of adultery he was reborn as a dog.

I worked at the USIS as a research specialist at that time, so I already knew that if you get the right information by the right method you will be able to see reality. Also, the more perfect information or reliable data you get, the better the conclusion of the analysis will be.

My daughters were very innocent, for they were still young. They did not study any text books, but they could meditate at a very high level. This was because their min ds were still pure and unattached to external objects. With them as a reliable source of data, I now had perfect information, proving that craving leads to bad speech, bad ideas, and bad conduct such as adultery and drinking liquor. The effect of committing these sins and practicing them regularly until they become a habit, an attachment, would lead to rebirth in a suffering world.

I realized then that the Dhammakaya Meditation taught by Luang Phor Wat Paknam is indeed very effective. It uses the best of the 40 methods taught by Lord Buddha, in this case the crystal ball (the light kasina). It is one of the most effective ways to bring in the mind's components (the Sphere of Vision, the Sphere of Memory, the Sphere of Thought, and the Sphere of Awareness) to stop still at the right point. These four natural spheres of each individual person always tend to wander outside the body, getting attached to many objects. Therefore, it can be difficult to bring them in to stop still at the proper place, which is at the center of the body where the internal body, mind and Dhamma exist.

We don't just have the crude body and mind, we also have several refined bodies, minds and Dhamma at the center of the center of each other, right up to the purest mind and body which is Dhammakaya. Lord Buddha told us that he is, or is called, Dhammakaya, the purest element beyond the five aggregates of the worldly beings.

In 1975 I organized the Dhammakaya Meditation for People Project at Wat Paknam. The Abbot of Wat Paknam is the president of the project. The Vice-presidents are the Vice-Abbot for Educational Affairs, Phra Thepsuthee and the Vice Abbot for Meditation Affairs, Luang Phor Phrarajbrahmathera. The committee members are monks and lay people. The people active in this project have, in fact, been Luang Phor Phrarajbrahmathera and myself.

By broadcasting radio programs with the theory and practice over about thirty nationwide stations since 1975, I have experienced an increased interest in this meditation method throughout the country. People started to ask for meditation masters to help teaching at their temples and organizations, but we did not then have enough qualified masters at Wat Paknam. I then proposed a plan to recruit monks from all over the country to come and be trained at the temple, but found that the place was not peaceful enough for that purpose. Therefore, in 1981 I organized another project, the Buddha Bhavana Vijja Dhammakaya Project, this time at Wat Saket. In this way I could teach more people in the center of Bangkok and also have more manpower and response for establishing a future institute.

During that year, I obtained some land in Rajburi Province for establishing the proposed institute. An area of about 30 rai (13.5 acres) was donated by a well-to-do family and I then bought an additional 42 rai (19 acres) from the donor. In order to make it all more effective, we then organized a registered foundation. Professor Bunyut Suchiva, a former President of the Supreme Court, has been President of this foundation from its very beginning. This was because we needed proper legal, financial and property management as well as fund raising.

The area here was at that time a rice field, but because of its dryness and salty soil, it was not good for anything. During the day it was very hot because there were only a few trees surrounding the area. Also, being so close to the sea and rather windy, it was very cold in the cold season.

We began organizing meditation sessions in 1982 and I spread the news about this among monks throughout the country. We needed to help monks to become better qualified in the theory and practice of our meditation method and to eventually become meditation masters. Also, I was concerned that this religion would not uphold its standards in terms of the behavior and practice of its monks and novices. Twice a year since then we have organized retreats from May 1-14 and December 1-14. During the May retreat, 300-400 monks and novices and approximately the same number of lay people and nuns attend the course. During the December retreat there are usually 400-600 monks and novices and a similar number of laity and nuns present.

I, alone, could not do much to change the structure of the Buddhist organization and practice in this country, as I am by no means powerful, but only a small person. What I could do, however, was to establish this institute to organize meditation sessions and teach both theory and practice to the monks. Both monks and novices are trained here so they can prepare themselves in becoming future teachers and meditation masters. We do our very best as far as manpower, property and capability will allow us. Through our meditation sessions, we give monks, novices and lay people the knowledge of effective theory and practice. Through concentration of mind they will be able to develop pure supernatural vision which, in turn, will bring them right and reliable data, enabling them to develop Right Wisdom and become enlightened.

My intention is to help restore Buddhist practice in our country and also abroad. Apart from training people here at the temple, we still broadcast meditation programs over about thirty radio stations and we also telecast through Modern 9 TV and regional channels. Every year we make programs for His Majesty the King's birthday on December 5, and for Her Majesty the Queen's birthday on August 12, meditating along with the people of Rajburi province (monks, novices, government officials, students, and lay people). This is just one example of mediation for the public. Whenever our nation has serious problems, such as droughts, bad political and economic situations, coup d'etat, riots, or a very serious demonstration, we will help with meditation for the nation.

Here at the temple we have daily regular practice at 5:30 am, 6:00 am, and 7:30 pm. We support any temple or organization that would like to train their own people by supplying qualified meditation masters from here and by giving advice throughout the nation and abroad. I have been invited to give lectures and teach in Malaysia 2-3 times a year over the past seven years and I have been lecturing in the United States for four years now. The Somdej Phra Buddhacarn of Wat Saket has, however, advised me to encourage foreigners to come here for training rather than me going abroad to teach, because, after all, I am starting to get old.

In an effort to making Dhammakaya Meditation available to a broader audience, we have now organized Mobile Meditation Teams. These are groups of specially trained meditation teachers who regularly travel to all parts of Thailand performing their duties and responsibilities. At the moment we have teams covering the north, the south, the north eastern (Isaan), the western, and the central part of the country. I am hoping that this meditation method will enable people to become more peaceful and have more prosperity. Furthermore, I hope this meditation method will be able to help remove the suffering and "un-peace" in this country and in the world.

In 1991 this area was registered as a legitimate organization or temple, and on July 9th of the same year I was unanimously voted for and then appointed as the Abbot. So, that is the history of this temple and why I selected the Dhammakaya approach as our meditation method and why I quit my job at age 57 [1986], three years before my retirement age, to become a monk for life.

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