The Origins and Development of Sammā Arahaṃ Meditation: From Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro) to Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo)

The Origins and Development of Sammā Arahaṃ Meditation: From Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro) to Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo) Potprecha Cholvijarn A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts, School of Humanities November 2019 85454 words ABSTRACT This dissertation examines Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from its origin in the figure of Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro), the late abbot of Wat Paknam, Thonburi, as well as its transmission to Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo), the late abbot of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Ratchaburi, in the context of the history of Theravāda Buddhist meditation practices. The second chapter of this dissertation analyses Luang Pho Sot Candasaro’s autobiography, his sermons, the teachings of two of his meditation teachers, namely Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti (Wat Noi, Suphanburi) and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo (Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi), and the meditation traditions of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi) and Wat Pradusongtham (Ayutthaya). It confirms that Luang Pho Sot has taken and adapted aspects of these teachers’ and traditions’ meditation practices and incorporated them into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The second chapter also seeks to clarify further the relationships of Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition such as the meditation manual of King Taksin of Thonburi and other manuals preserved in the anthology, Phuttharangsi Thritsadiyan book of samatha and vipassanā meditation of the four reigns. The third chapter accounts for the development of various lineages, networks and centres of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition after the death of Luang Pho Sot, with an emphasis on Achan Sermchai and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. The chapter also considers two meditation masters whose teachings and practices were influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, the founder of the Manomayiddhi meditation tradition, and Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh, who and taught Sammā Arahaṃ along with four other meditation systems. The fourth chapter examines and analyses Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo’s works. The dissertation argues that Achan Sermchai’s works provide a defence of the thought and practice of his tradition, which consists of demonstrating that they conform to Theravāda canonical and commentarial tradition. In his elaboration of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, Achan Sermchai’s works can also be characterized as an attempt to reinterpret and systematize Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Moreover, in the fourth chapter, I gather opinions and discussions from different lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition regarding two particular issues: 1) the existence of a prior five-body system in Luang Pho Sot’s teaching; and 2) the practice of offering food to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna. This is to demonstrate that among the various lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, there are differing interpretations regarding aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ practices. This section also includes my interview with mae chi Wanchai Chukon, founder of the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre, Ratchaburi, and one of the few living direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot. i I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University’s Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate’s own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. SIGNED…Potprecha Cholvijarn……………………………DATE…7/11/2019………… ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to thank my family and Siwat Luangsomboon for encouraging me to pursue this PhD. Without their support and understanding, this dissertation would not have been possible. I have been a student of Rupert Gethin, my supervisor, since the year 2000. Thank you for all you have done for me and for putting up with me for so long! There are so many others who have contributed to this thesis. Paul Williams, John Kieschnick, Rita Langer and Martin Seeger have kindly offered to act as my MLitt and PhD examiners. Catherine Newell, Kate Crosby, Chanida Jantrasrisalai, Barend Jan Terwiel, Kitchai Urkasame, Achan Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, Chali Chotsuwan, Peter Skilling, Arthid Sheravanichkul and Rungarun Chantharasongkhram have given me invaluable comments, information and recommendations. I am very grateful for all their help. Lastly, I dedicate this dissertation to all my gurus. iii CONTENT Abbreviations of Pāli texts……………………………………………………………...vii Illustrations…………………………………………………………………………….viii Chapter One 1. Introduction…....…..………………………………………………………………………….....1 Chapter Two 2. The origins of the Sammā Arahaṃ meditation.............................................................................13 2.1 The life of Luang Pho Wat Paknam, Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro)……..........15 2.2 An analysis of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as taught by Luang Pho Sot....................................33 2.3 Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti’s and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo’s teachings as sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation…..……….……….…..……………………………………………...63 2.4 Aspects of the traditional Theravāda meditation practices in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation….....86 2.4.1 Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation manual and living tradition at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi………...……………………………………………………………………………….106 2.4.2 Meditation manual and living tradition at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya………………..123 2.5 Other possible influences on Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation...143 2.5.1 Meditation manual and Traibhūmi manuscript of King Taksin of Thonburi………...……..143 2.6 The centrality of Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation examined……........153 2.7 Preliminary conclusion…………………………………………………...……………….…171 iv 2.8 The impact of Burmese vipassanā traditions on Sammā Arahaṃ tradition..............................180 Chapter three 3. Sammā Arahaṃ tradition after Luang Pho Sot…….……………………..……………..….…204 3.1 Wat Paknam tradition..............................................................................................................204 3.2 Achan Sermchai and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram ...................................................211 3.3 Dhammakaya Temple..............................................................................................................221 3.4 Wat Mongkhonthep and Phra Khru Phawana Sitthikhun (Bancha Sirivijjayo)……………....227 3.5 The influence of Luang Pho Sot outside the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition....................................229 3.5.1 Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam and Manomayiddhi meditation..................................................230 3.5.2 Phra Ariyakhunathan (Pusso Seng)......................................................................................242 3.5.3 Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh……………………………………………………………...248 Chapter four 4. Achan Sermchai's development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation.................................................257 4.1 Linking the various stages of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the Pāli texts.............................262 4.2 Four-tier satipaṭṭhāna practice in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation................................................273 4.3 Elaboration on Sammā Arahaṃ meditation’s development of vipassanā……………...…….282 4.4 Three aspects of nibbāna.........................................................................................................292 v 4.5 Harmonization with other meditation traditions….................................................................302 4.6 Debates and discussions among the different lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition……..…..304 4.6.1 The debate on the existence of a prior five-body system in Luang Pho Sot's teaching……..306 4.6.2 Debate on the practice of offering food to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna….………...…313 4.7 Apologetic works by other Sammā Arahaṃ lineages and the Suk Kai Thuean tradition........321 Conclusion……………………...……….………………………………………………...……………326 Interviews……………………………………………………………………………………...337 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………...339 Appendices 1. Reigns……………………………………………………………………….………………...372 2. Glossaries…………………………………………………………………………….……….373 2.1 Glossary of names……………………………………………………………………………373 2.2 Glossary of technical terms…………………………………………………………………..379 3. Interview with Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo)…………………..384 vi ABBREVIATIONS OF PĀLI TEXTS (references are normally to vol., page, and line unless otherwise specified) A Ap Bv D Dhp Dhp-a Dhs It It-a Khp Ja M Paṭis Paṭis-a Ps S Sn Sp Spk Sv Th, Thī Th-a Ud Ud-a Vin Vism Vv Aṅguttaranikāya, ed. R. Morris, E. Hardy, PTS London 1885–1900 Apadāna, ed. M.E. Lilley, PTS London 1925–27 Buddhavaṃsa, ed. N.A. Jayawickrama, PTS London 1974 (by poem and verse) Dīghanikāya, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids, J.E. Carpenter, PTS London 1890–1911 Dhammapada, ed. O. von Hinüber, K.R. Norman, PTS Oxford 1994 (by verse) Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā, ed. H.C. Norman, PTS London 1906–14 Dhammasaṅgaṇī, ed. E. Müller, PTS London 1885 Itivuttaka, ed. E. Windisch, PTS London 1889 Paramatthadīpanī (Itivuttaka-aṭṭhakathā), ed. M.M. Bose, PTS London 1934–36 Khuddakapāṭha, ed. H. Smith, PTS London 1951 The Jātaka together with its commentary, ed. V. Fausbøll, London 1877–96 Majjhimanikāya, ed. V. Trenckner, R. Chalmers, PTS London 1887–1902 Paṭisambhidāmagga, ed. A.C. Taylor, PTS London 1905–07 Saddhammappakāsinī (Paṭisambhidāmagga-aṭṭhakathā), ed. C.V. Joshi, PTS London 1979 Papañcasūdanī (Majjhimanikāya-aṭṭhakathā), ed. J.H. Woods, D. Kosambi, I.B. Horner, PTS London 1933–38 Saṃyuttanikāya, ed. L. Feer, PTS London 1884–98 Suttanipāta, ed. D. Andersen, H. Smith, PTS London 1913 (by verse) Samantapāsādikā (Vinaya-aṭṭhakathā), ed. J. Takakusu, M. Nagai, PTS London 1924– 47 Sāratthappakāsinī (Saṃyuttanikāya-aṭṭhakathā), ed. F.L. Woodward, PTS London 1929–37 Sumaṅgalavilāsinī (Dīghanikāya-aṭṭhakathā), ed. T.W. Rhys Davids, J.E. Carpenter, PTS London 1886–1932 Theragāthā and Therīgāthā, ed. H. Oldenberg, R. Pischel, 2nd edition, with Appendices by K.R. Norman, L. Alsdorf, PTS London 1966 (by verse) Paramatthadīpanī (Theragāthā-aṭṭhakathā), ed. F.L. Woodward, PTS London 1940–59 Udāna, ed. P. Steinthal, PTS London 1885 Paramatthadīpanī (Udāna-aṭṭhakathā), ed. F.L. Woodward, PTS London 1926 Vinayapiṭaka, ed. H. Oldenberg, London 1879–83 Visuddhimagga, ed. C.A.F. Rhys Davids, PTS London 1920–21 Vimānavatthu, ed. N.A. Jayawickrama, PTS London 1977 (by poem and verse) vii ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 2.1 Vihāra at Wat Botbon Bangkhuwiang, Nonthaburi, where Luang Pho Sot first developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 2.2 Photograph of Luang Pho Sot teaching meditation at Wat Paknam 2.3. Illustration of the seven bodily bases and the six elements in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 2.4 Stūpa containing ashes of Luang Pho Niam and an image of Luang Niam at Wat Noi, Suphanburi 2.5 Painting of Luang Pho Niam at Wat Noi, Suphanburi, titled ‘Luang Pho Niam was compassionate to animals’ 2.6 Photograph of Luang Pho Nong in Luang Pho Pan’s biography 2.7 Shrine dedicated to Luang Pho Nong at Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi 2.8 Image of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean at Wat Ratchasittharam 2.9 Illustration of the crude and refined deva bodies in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 2.10 Qualities of the Buddha yantra in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology 2.11 Illustration of the nine bodily bases in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology 2.12 Photograph of Achan Chap Suwan 2.13 Stūpa containing the ashes of Achan Chap Suwan at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya 2.14 Picture of an arahant holding a sphere in King Taksin’s 1776 Traibhūmi manuscript in the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin viii 2.15 Confirmed and possible sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 3.1 Photograph of Achan Sermchai 3.2 Teachers of the main lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition Tables 2.1 Main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the teachings of Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong 2.2 Main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the first four stages of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system 2.3 Main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and Wat Pradusongtham’s current technique and the eighteenth-century manual 2.4 Aspects in the confirmed and possible sources adapted and incorporated into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 2.5 References to ekāyanamagga, its translations and interpretations prior to the introduction of the Rise and Fall method to Wat Mahathat ix Chapter One 1. Introduction Luang Pho Wat Paknam, Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro) or Luang Pho Sot, as he is commonly known, is one of the most influential Buddhist meditation masters of twentieth-century Thailand.1 Luang Pho Sot (1884‒1959) was born in Suphanburi province in the reign of King Rama V (1868–1910). In 1916, he was appointed abbot of an old and half-abandoned temple called Wat Paknam, located in the Phasicharoen district of Thonburi, Bangkok. At Wat Paknam, Luang Pho Sot introduced, developed and popularized a meditation system called Sammā Arahaṃ, named after the Pāli words that represent the Buddha’s qualities recited at the basic level of this meditation. It is also known as the Dhammakāya meditation system or Witcha Thammakai in Thai.2 During his 43 years as the abbot of Wat Paknam, Luang Pho Sot developed this small temple as a centre of meditation and scriptural studies, attracting many Thai and foreign monks as well as lay students and practitioners. His reputation spread across Thailand and he became one of the country’s best-known monks. After his death in 1959, the Sammā Arahaṃ meditation system was handed down by his pupils and different lines of transmission have emerged Luang Pho means ‘venerable father’ in Thai. Sometimes he is also called Luang Pu Sot or ‘venerable grandfather’. In this dissertation, I use the Royal Institute of Thailand’s guide for romanizing Thai words. For proper names, I use conventional romanizations, and for Buddhist concepts, Pāli and Thai. For names of monks, after giving their full monastic titles, Pāli and given names, for the rest of the dissertation, I use the most commonly known names, for example, Luang Pho Sot, Achan Man, Somdet To, Achan Sermchai etc.When I refer to the Pāli canon, its commentaries and the Visuddhimagga, I give the volumes and page numbers of the Pali Text Society editions. With regard to quotations of these canonical and commenterial texts, I am translating into English the Thai translation of the Pāli, unless indicated otherwise. 2 Luang Pho Sot used both names to refer to his meditation system. However, I find that using ‘Dhammakāya’ or ‘Thammakai’ can be misleading as it is also the name of the controversial Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani, which is one among many temples that practise this meditation system. As this dissertation does not focus on that temple, I shall refer to this meditation system as Sammā Arahaṃ. 1 1 over the last six decades. Today, it is practised at many monasteries and meditation centres in Thailand and abroad: for example, at Wat Paknam and its associated centres, the controversial Dhammakaya Temple3 and its associated centres, and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. At Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Ratchaburi province, one of the three main centres of the Sammā Arahaṃ meditation tradition in Thailand, this meditation tradition was propagated by its late abbot Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo) or, as he was commonly known, Achan Sermchai (1929‒2018).4 Achan Sermchai, informally referred to as Luang Pa (Venerable Father/Dad), was a monk of the Mahānikāya lineage5 who was the abbot of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram from 1991 to 2018. Born in 1929 in Buriram province, the grandson of a civil servant and the son of a farm owner, Achan Sermchai received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Thammasat University, Bangkok, and worked as a research specialist at the United States Information Services, Bangkok, and as a special lecturer at Bangkok and Thammasat Universities. In 1970, he was introduced to Buddhist meditation, which changed the course of his life and eventually led him to enter the monkhood in 1986 at the age of 57. Over a relatively short period of time, he has built his reputation as a meditation master and a scholar of Buddhism. Sammā Arahaṃ meditation was transmitted to Achan Sermchai through Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), the late deputy abbot and the head of meditation at Wat Paknam and a 3 This is how the temple spells its name in the Roman alphabet. Achan in Thai means ‘teacher’. Sermchai is how he spells his name in the Roman alphabet. 5 One of the two monastic lineages of the Thai saṅgha. The other lineage is called Thammayut (Thammayuttika/Dhammayuttika) nikāya. 4 2 direct pupil of Luang Pho Sot. Other lineages in this tradition include that of the late mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung (1909‒2000), a female renunciant and direct pupil of Luang Pho Sot who, together with her students Phra Dhammajayo and Phra Dattajīvo, founded the Dhammakaya Temple.6 With a unique background of research and meditation and work both in Thailand and in the United States, Achan Sermchai produced many original works in Thai and in English on Theravāda Buddhist doctrines and practice covering a wide range of topics such as meditation, nibbāna, dhammakāya, āyatana (nibbāna), magic and supernaturalism, Buddhist relics, politics, governance, law, education, development and Buddhism as a state religion of Thailand.7 He was also known for his outspokenness and charisma, and also for his amulets.8 It was due to Achan Sermchai’s amulet that I became interested in Buddhism and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. I have known Achan Sermchai since I was a child. My parents often took me to visit him at Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram to make merits on their birthdays and on Buddhist national holidays. My initial interest in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation stemmed from an accident that occurred in 1988, when I was aged seven. I was travelling around the UK 6 For biographical information on mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung, see Dhammakaya Temple (2013). Regarding meditation, nibbāna, dhammakāya, āyatana (nibbāna), see Sermchai (1995, 1999, 2003, 2009, 2010 and 2013); regarding Buddhist relics, magic and supernaturalism, politics, governance, law, education and development, see these collections of online articles and video recordings: Sermchai (2019) and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram (2019); and regarding Buddhism as a national religion, see Sermchai (2007). 8 An amulet is an object believed to be endowed with powers to protect and bring good fortune. Some of the common types of amulets in Thailand are small Buddha images, votive tablets and coins with images of monks, deities and past monarchs. 7 3 with my grandparents and my parents. One morning, as we were leaving our flat in London, I sprinted ahead of my parents to cross the road to get into our car and, without noticing the traffic lights, was hit by a speeding car. According to my parents, the impact was so strong that my body flew a couple of metres forward. My grandfather almost fainted as he thought that I was going to die. The ambulance was called and I was rushed to the nearby hospital. After a lenthy examination and X-rays, to everyone’s great surprise, I was not at all harmed. There were no broken bones, no blood clots, not a single internal injury, and only a few minor bruises. I could even walk back to the car and the next day was able to run around Regent’s Park with the same enthusiasm. My parents believed that it was due to Achan Sermchai’s amulet, which I wore around my neck, that had saved me. From then on, my parents and I became more interested in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and in Buddhism in general. When I was thinking of pursuing a PhD in Buddhist Studies, Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and Achan Sermchai became the most obvious topics. I could use my experience in practising Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and my long acquaintance with Achan Sermchai to shed light on the tradition and contribute to the field. In this dissertation, I will examine and analyse the Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from its origin in the figure of Luang Pho Sot, as well as its transmission to Achan Sermchai, via Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), in the context of the history of Theravāda Buddhist meditation practices. The dissertation attempts to answer the questions of how and why Luang Pho Sot developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, and through its transmission to Achan Sermchai, how and why the practice changed and developed over the six decades after Luang Pho Sot’s death. I hope to contribute to a better understanding 4 of modern Thai Buddhism and meditation from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. With regard to the origins of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, I have taken as my starting point the SOAS PhD thesis of Catherine Newell (2008). Her research, and that of Mettanando Bhikkhu (1998), pointed me towards the anthology Phuttharangsi Thritsadiyan book of samatha and vipassanā meditation of the four reigns9 published in 1935, and in particular, the meditation system of Saṅgharāja10 Suk Kai Thuean (1733‒1822) found in it. The 1935 (BE 2478) anthology was compiled and edited by Phra Mahājotipañño (Chai Yasothonrat) (1897‒1963) of Wat Boromniwat, Bangkok, a Thammayut temple,11 under the supervision of the abbot, Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando) (1857‒1932) (Chai 1935), and provides a glimpse of the various meditation practices found in Thailand12 and Laos prior to the nineteenth century. One of the stated authors of one meditation system contained in the anthology, Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean, is a well-known figure in Thai history and his meditation method is believed to have been the dominant form of meditation in Bangkok during the reigns of Rama I (1782‒1809), Rama II (1809‒1824), Rama III (1824‒1851) and Rama IV (1851‒1868) as Saṅgharāja Suk is said to have taught meditation to all four kings of the House of Chakri (Wira 2012: 27). Saṅgharāja Suk was invited by Rama I from Ayutthaya to the newly established Bangkok to be the head of meditation13 and in 1819 9 หนังสือพุทธรังษีธฤษดีญาณ ว่าด ้วยสมถะและวิปัสสนากัมมัฏฐานสียุ่ ค. 10 Supreme Patriarch, the head of the Thai saṅgha. Thammayut (Thammayuttika/Dhammayuttika) nikāya is one of the two monastic lineages of the Thai saṅgha founded by King Mongkut (Rama IV) in 1833. The other lineage is called Mahānikāya. 12 Prior to 1939, the country was called Siam. 13 พระราชาคณะฝ่ ายวิปัสสนาธุระ ‘Phra Rachakhana Fai Wipatsanathura’. Phra Rachakhana is the third-highest rank in the Thai saṅgha, below the Supreme Patriarch and Somdet Phra Rachakhana. ‘Fai Wipatsanathura’ 11 5 became Supreme Patriarch by order of King Rama II. Mettanando (1998) was the first scholar to introduce the Chai Yasothonrat anthology to Western scholarship. His 1998 Hamburg doctoral dissertation presented English translations of some parts of it, including Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation manual. It was Newell who first linked Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation system to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and provided evidence that Luang Pho Sot borrowed and adapted ideas and practices from Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation system in developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In her analysis of Saṅgharāja Suk’s manual in the anthology, Newell (2008: 209) finds similarities between his system, the Sri Lankan Yogāvacara’s manual (Woodward 1916) and the characteristics of the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition (also sometimes referred to as yogāvacara), which I shall discuss below in detail. According to Newell’s comparison of Saṅgharāja Suk and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, both systems make use of the sammā arahaṃ mantra, the bodily bases and the vision of luminous spheres (Newell 2008: 256). The bodily bases are different points within the body that serve as resting places for the mind. In both systems, bright spheres are visualized entering the body via the nostril and down to the navel area via the bodily bases, which are located along the breath passage. Sammā arahaṃ are Pāli words that represent the qualities of the Buddha and are recited during meditation. Newell visited Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi, where Saṅgharāja Suk’s system (also called the Kammathan Matchima Baep Lamdap system) is still practised and means that the monk is recognized as a meditation teacher and is responsible for overseeing the practice of meditation (vipassanādhura). 6 taught. There, she was informed by Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro (Phra Khru Sitthisangwon), the meditation instructor and lineage holder, that Luang Pho Sot had studied at the temple and adopted aspects of Saṅgharāja Suk’s system into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Prior to Newell’s research, in the preface to Bizot’s Les traditions de la pabbajja en Asie du Sud-Est (1988: 10), Bechert suggested a connection between the borān kammaṭṭhāna (yogāvacara) tradition and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This connection is also pointed out by Crosby (2000: 153) in her article ‘Tantric Theravāda: A Bibliographic Essay on the Writings of François Bizot and others on the Yogāvacara Tradition’. Bowers’ Dhammakāya meditation in Thai society had suggested similarities between various aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and Tibetan tantric practices (Bowers 1996: 33‒45): for example, the diagram of the six elements within the dhamma sphere in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the maṇḍala of the cosmic Buddhas in the Tibetan tradition; the usage of the bodily bases in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the usage of cakras of/similar to the Tibetan tradition; the concept of bodies within bodies in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the tantric idea of the ‘the Five Sheathes’ etc. He suggested the possibility that Luang Pho Sot may have come across some Tibetan practices while studying at Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho), Bangkok, and incorporated them in formulating Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (Bowers 1996: 45). Mackenzie (2007: 108) finds Bower’s suggestion ‘just within the realms of possibility’. However, there is no evidence to support such claims (Mackenzie 2007: 108). Mackenzie (2007: 113) goes on to discuss the borān kammaṭṭhāna (yogāvacara) tradition, citing Crosby’s summary (2000: 141‒2) of its distinctive features, and pointing out the commonalities between some of its practices and Sammā Arahaṃ 7 meditation. He suggests that some Sammā Arahaṃ borrowing from the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition is possible, and more likely than Tibetan influences (Mackenzie 2007: 113). The second chapter of this dissertation attempts to provide further answers to the question of the origins of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, starting from where these scholars left off. Its focus is on the analysis of Luang Pho Sot’s autobiography, his earliest sermons, the meditation teachings of two of Luang Pho Sot’s teachers, namely Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, and the meditation tradition of Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya. The chapter incorporates my interviews with Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro and Achan Daeng (Prayok Niamnet), meditation teachers and lineage holders at Wat Ratchasittharam and Wat Pradusongtham, respectively. It seeks to clarify further the relationship of Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the earlier forms of meditation practice indicated in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology and to the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition. Achan Sermchai and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram are only mentioned briefly in Western Buddhist Studies literature: e.g. Bowers (1996), Mackenzie (2007) and Catherine Newell (2008).14 Bowers (1996: 66‒76) mentions Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram in his discussion of the various temples that practise Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Mackenzie 14 See also Martin Seeger (2009: 12‒14) who mentions Achan Sermchai’s book The principle of examination of nibbāna-dhātu according to the words of the Buddha and the aṭṭhakathā in the context of the Thai ‘nibbāna: self (attā) or not-self (anattā)?’ debates and controversy, which reached their zenith in the year 1999. 8 (2007: 38–9) provides a short account of the inception and history of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram in his study of the Dhammakaya Temple and Santi Asoke.15 Newell (2008: 118‒120) mentions Achan Sermchai and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram in her description of the various temples of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition in order to point out that there is not a single uniform Sammā Arahaṃ movement, but rather various temple networks. Mackenzie, Bowers and Newell discuss Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and provide analyses. Their descriptions of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Mackenzie’s and Bowers’ in particular, rely mainly on Achan Sermchai’s English summary ‘The heart of Dhammakaya meditation’ (Sermchai 1991). Newell’s description, in addition to Achan Sermchai’s book, also relies on the Dhammakaya Temple’s websites. Bowers and Mackenzie incorporated their interviews with Achan Sermchai into their accounts of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. Newell did not meet Achan Sermchai, but met and interviewed Phra Khru Baitika Barton Ñāṇadhīro (1936‒2011), an American monk who was ordained at Wat Luang Pho Sot in 2002. The three scholars make the distinction between the meditation systems taught at Wat Luang Pho Sot and that taught at Dhammakaya Temple, all concluding that at Wat Luang Pho Sot, higher levels of meditation are encouraged by the abbot than at Dhammakaya Temple, which focuses mainly on the basic technique for the masses. Mackenzie (2007: 231) makes an observation that Achan Sermchai’s approach seems to be ‘exoteric’, in that ‘he refuses to guard esoteric knowledge of high-level meditation’. This is due to the concern that a lack of disclosure could lead to the meditation system’s demise and disappearance (Mackenzie 2007: 231). Newell (2008: 233) adds that 15 Santi Asoke is an alternative Buddhist group established by Phra Phothirak in 1975. The group distinguishes itself from the mainstream Thai saṅgha. It emphasizes forest dwelling and a rejection of materialism and consumerism. Its followers include Chamlong Srimuang, the former governor of Bangkok. 9 at Wat Luang Pho Sot, the abbot encourages his visitors to gain higher levels of attainment and expects them to reach the level of dhammakāya during the temple’s retreats. However, apart from using his writings as a basis for their accounts of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and comparing Wat Luang Pho Sot’s approach to meditation practice with that of the Dhammakaya Temple, none of these scholars go into detail regarding other aspects of Achan Sermchai’s thought and practice as their research either focuses on Dhammakaya Temple or the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition as a whole. Achan Sermchai’s substantial works have, therefore, been almost entirely neglected by both Thai and Western Buddhist studies. This is surprising considering the number of studies conducted on the Dhammakaya Temple, which is, in fact, only one among many Sammā Arahaṃ lineages. As I shall show in the fourth chapter, Achan Sermchai’s work provides a defence of the thoughts and practice of his tradition, which consists in demonstrating that it conforms to Theravāda canonical and commentarial tradition, and the views of respected Thai monks. This is done to counter criticisms that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is heterodox, not in accordance with the Pāli canonical and commentarial texts, and provides only the samatha (and not the vipassanā) aspects of meditation. In his elaboration of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, Achan Sermchai’s works can also be characterized as an attempt to reinterpret and systematize Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This can be seen clearly in his development of what I term the ‘four-tier satipaṭṭhāna practice’. This chapter incorporates not only the most important works by Achan Sermchai but also three interviews I conducted with him in 2015, 2016 and 2017. 10 The third chapter of this dissertation consists of a section regarding Luang Pho Sot’s influence outside the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, in which I consider two meditation masters whose teachings and practices were influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation: 1) Phra Ratchaphromyan (Wira Ṭhāvaro) or, as he is popularly known, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam (Black Monkey Sage), the founder of the so-called Manomayiddhi meditation tradition; and 2) Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh, the first Thai woman to have received ordination from both the male and the female saṅgha and the founder of the Songdhammakalyani monastery, Nakhon Pathom. Bhikṣuṇī Voramai practised and taught Sammā Arahaṃ meditation along with four other meditation systems throughout her life. This section also discusses Phra Ariyakhunathan (Pusso Seng), a renowned meditation master in Achan Man Bhūridatta’s forest tradition16 and the author of Book of divine power,17 whose teaching and practice may have been influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Moreover, in the fourth chapter, I gather opinions and discussions from individuals whom I view as representatives of the different lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition regarding two particular issues: 1) the existence of a prior fivebody system in Luang Pho Sot’s teaching; and 2) the practice of offering food to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna. This is to demonstrate that among the various lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, there are differing interpretations regarding aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ practices. One of the individuals interviewed in this section is mae chi Wanchai Achan Man Bhūridatta (1871–1949) was a Thammayut monk, meditation master and the founder of the modern forest tradition and is today widely revered as an arahant. His students include Achan Waen Sucinno (1888–1985), Achan Maha Boowa (1913–2011), Achan Cha Subhaddo (1918–92), Achan Fan Acaro (1898–1977), Achan Thet Thetrangsi (1902–94) and Achan Lee Dhammadharo (1907–61) who themselves became well known and widely venerated Buddhist teachers. 16 17 หนังสือทิพยอานาจ. 11 Chukon, the founder of the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre, Ratchaburi, and one of the few remaining teachers in this tradition who studied directly with Luang Pho Sot. Obtaining mae chi Wanchai’s opinions proved to be a difficult task. I had to visit her at Wat Paknam three times in order to gain her confidence and get her to speak about her views on these issues. I also faced similar difficulties with regard to Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro at Wat Ratchasittharam and had to visit him three times before he was willing to elaborate on certain aspects of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation system. 12 Chapter Two 2. The origins of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation Without Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro), the late abbot of Wat Paknam, Phasicharoen district, Thonburi, there would be no Sammā Arahaṃ, Thammakai (Thai) or Dhammakāya (Pāli) meditation tradition.18 All of the lineages of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, with over 180 associated temples and centres in Thailand and all over the world, owe their existence to Luang Pho Sot Candasaro. Luang Pho Sot introduced, developed and popularized this unique meditation system by incorporating the different meditation practices taught by some of his renowned teachers and also through his own understanding of important discourses of the Pāli canon (Pāli: Tipiṭaka; Thai: Phra Traipidok). This chapter focuses on Luang Pho Sot, beginning with the accounts of his life followed by an outline and analysis of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. One of the main questions I want to answer in this section is how Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of the important discourses in the Pāli canon, such as Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (D II 290) and Ānāpānasati Sutta (M III 78), and Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga19 influenced his development of this meditation system. The second part of the chapter focuses on traditional Theravāda meditation, the socalled ‘borān kammaṭṭhāna’ (old/ancient meditation) tradition. This tradition was first brought to the attention of Western scholars through the publication of The Yogāvacara’s 18 Luang Pho Sot used both names to refer to his meditation system. In this dissertation, I shall refer to this system as Sammā Arahaṃ. 19 The Path of Purification, treatise and meditation manual composed by Buddhaghosa c. fifth century C.E. 13 manual of Indian mysticism by T.W. Rhys Davids and the works of François Bizot on Cambodian Buddhism. Aspects of this tradition are found in practices and texts throughout mainland Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka and are found in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The research of Newell (2008) confirms that a Thai meditation system belonging to this tradition, namely the Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean system, influenced Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Furthermore, this chapter also discusses the teachings of two of Luang Pho Sot’s meditation teachers, Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti (Wat Noi, Suphanburi) and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo (Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi), and the meditation tradition of Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya. Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong, whom Luang Pho Sot visited prior to moving to Bangkok, were well-respected meditation masters from Suphanburi province and teachers of many well-known monks such as Luang Pho Pan Sonando, Wat Bang Khonom, Ayutthaya and Phra Ratchaphromyan (Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam), Wat Tha Sung, Uthai Thani. Wat Pradusongtham was an important borān kammaṭṭhāna centre during the Ayutthaya period whose meditation manuals and living tradition have been preserved up to the present day. This research confirms that aspects of Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong meditation teachings and the meditation tradition at Wat Pradusongtham were taken and adapted by Luang Pho Sot and incorporated into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as well. With regard to Wat Pradusongtham, my interview with Achan Daeng (Prayok Niamnet, 1950‒), a lay meditation teacher and one of the lineage holders of the tradition, confirms that Luang Pho Sot took up residence and studied 14 meditation under a renowned lay meditation master, Achan Chap Suwan (1883‒1958), at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya, prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. 2.1 The life of Luang Pho Wat Paknam, Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro) This section concerns the life of the Venerable Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro). It highlights important biographical events that made the most impact on his early career as a monk. The accounts here are largely based on Luang Pho Sot’s autobiography, first published posthumously in 1964, and the biography written by Saṅgharāja Somdet Phra Ariya Wongsakhatayan (Pun Puṇṇasiri) of Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho) (1896‒1974), the 17th Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, first published shortly after Luang Pho Sot’s death in 1959. Both of these biographies are found in the book of compilation of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings titled Biography, works and a compilation of 63 sermons of Luang Pho Wat Paknam Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro).20 The four-page autobiography (63 sermons 1984: (1)‒(4)), which covers the period from Luang Pho Sot’s childhood to his first meditative attainment of dhammakāya, is an important source of information for the origins of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as it sheds 20 ชีวประวัติ ผลงาน และรวมพระธรรมเทศนา ๖๓ กัณฑ ์ ของ หลวงพ่อวัดปากน้า พระเดชพระคุณ พระมงคลเทพมุนี (สด จนฺ ทสโร). Apart from the two biographies and 63 sermons, the 952-page collection also contains the biography of Luang Pho Sot written by Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), a summary of Luang Pho Sot’s meditation teaching titled คูม่ อื สมภาร (Abbot’s handbook), the biographies of important students of Luang Pho Sot and essays on dhammakāya and amulets by Achan Sermchai. It was published in 1984 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Luang Pho Sot’s birth by the Dhammakaya Meditation Institute at Wat Paknam. Not to be confused with the Dhammakaya Foundation, the Dhammakaya Meditation Institute, founded by Achan Sermchai and his teacher Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), the late deputy abbot and head of meditation at Wat Paknam, is the precursor to Wat Luang Pho Sot Dhammakayaram. For the rest of the dissertation, I shall refer to this book as the ‘63 sermons’ collection. 15 light on Luang Pho Sot’s own account of his decision to become a monk, his Pāli education, his meditation training and his initial interest in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta.21 The second biography by Somdet Pun Puṇṇasiri ((5)–(42)) is the first biography of Luang Pho Sot to cover his whole life. Somdet Pun was Luang Pho Sot’s nephew and meditation student. Among all of Luang Pho Sot’s biographers, Somdet Pun had known Luang Pho Sot the longest. As a teenager, he travelled to Bangkok and stayed at Wat Pho with Luang Pho Sot while the latter was studying there, and was ordained at the same temple, Wat Songphinong, Suphanburi, by the same preceptor as Luang Pho Sot. He maintained a close relationship with Luang Pho Sot throughout his life. After Luang Pho Sot died, Somdet Pun acted as the temporary abbot of Wat Paknam from 1959 to 1965. These two biographies, written in Thai and as yet untranslated into a European language, which the later biographies rely on, have not been mentioned before in any Western academic work on Luang Pho Sot. Newell’s thesis, which devotes a whole chapter to Luang Pho Sot, relies on: 1) Phra Terence Magness’s (Suratano Bhikkhu) The life and teaching of Chao Khun Mongkol-Thepmuni and the dhammakāya, first published in 1960; 2) the Dhammakaya Foundation’s Life and times of Luang Phaw Wat Paknam, published in 1998; 3) Wat Luang Pho Sot’s Biography and works of Luang Pho Wat Paknam, Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro) (Saman 2000); and 4) Ampai Tansomboon’s 2004 MA thesis. Rory Mackenzie’s (2007: 30‒36) seven-page section on Luang Pho Sot mentions the Dhammakaya Foundation’s biography as a source, whereas Rachelle M. Scott’s (2009: 66‒ 70) and Jeffrey Bowers’ (1996: 9‒10) shorter summaries rely on the Dhammakaya Foundation’s and Achan Sermchai’s The heart of Dhammakaya meditation (1991), 21 The page numbers of the first part of the book including all the biographies are in brackets. 16 respectively. These Western academic works mostly rely on later biographies in English, especially that of the Dhammakaya Foundation. These accounts, although providing adequate descriptions of his life, are summarized and translated from older biographies and other people’s first-hand accounts, and do not concentrate on the first three decades of Luang Pho Sot’s life. Phra Magness knew Luang Pho Sot personally, but his acquaintance with him was limited to one single year as he first visited Wat Paknam in 1958, one year before Luang Pho Sot’s death. Ampai Tansomboon’s thesis is the only academic work in English that relies on a biography written by a long-term acquaintance of Luang Pho Sot, namely Tritha Niamkham’s Tritha told stories about Luang Pho and Wat Paknam.22 A much-revered figure at Wat Paknam, Achan Tritha is a female lay meditation teacher who has been living at Wat Paknam since 1939 up to the present and studied meditation under Luang Pho Sot during the last two decades of his life. Her biography is particularly informative concerning that period and regarding Wat Paknam during the period following Luang Pho Sot’s death up to the year of publication (1984). However, with regard to Luang Pho Sot’s childhood and early career as a monk, Achan Tritha relies on and quotes extensively from Somdet Pun’s biography. Luang Pho Sot is one of the most widely respected Buddhist meditation masters of twentieth-century Thailand. The Sammā Arahaṃ meditation system that he developed is now widely practised at many temples and centres in Thailand and abroad. These include: ่ ตรีธาเล่าเรืองหลวงพ่ อและวัดปากน้า. Published in 1984 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Luang Pho Sot, her 287-page biography of Luang Pho Sot is the lengthiest among all the biographies. Apart from the actual biography, which covers from pages 53 to 184, the rest of the book consists of an introduction, photographs of Luang Pho Sot and Wat Paknam, Luang Pho Sot’s meditation teaching and the history of Wat Paknam after Luang Pho Sot’s death up to the year of publication. 22 17 1) Wat Paknam and its Thai and foreign branches, such as Wat Mongkhon Thammakayaram (Chiang Rai), Wat Suan Lamyai (Lamphun), Wat Sombun Thammakayaram (Phichit), Wat Pa Charoen Thammakai (Roi-et), the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre (Ratchaburi), Wat Mongkhon Thepmuni (Philadelphia, USA), Wat Paknam (Chiba, Japan), Wat Paknam (Tauranga, New Zealand), Wat Paknam (Ohio, USA) and Wat Paknam (Michigan, USA); 2) Dhammakaya Temple, which has over 50 branches and centres in Thailand and 130 all over the world; 3) Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram; 4) Wat Mongkhonthep (Chachoengsao), and others. His amulets are much sought after and fetch a very high price. His photographs and images are put up in houses, malls, restaurants and cars for auspiciousness and protection. Luang Pho Sot was born in 1884 in Songphinong district, Suphanburi province, and died in 1959 at Wat Paknam, Thonburi. He was ordained in 1905 at the age of 22 at Wat Songphinong, a temple that was near his family’s house, and received the ordination name of Candasaro Bhikkhu. From the information in the autobiography and Somdet Pun’s biography, three particular incidents are highlighted as making the most impact on Luang Pho Sot prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Firstly, a fear of being attacked and killed by robbers on a boat travelling from Nakorn Chaisri (Nakorn Pathom province) to Suphanburi, which is featured prominently in the autobiography (63 sermons 1984: (1)‒(2)). Out of the four pages, the autobiography devotes one and a half to this incident. The significance of this incident is that it caused Luang Pho Sot to reflect on the danger and hardship of living a lay life and 18 to make the decision to enter the monkhood. He relates this incident to his father’s untimely death: My ancestors did this [traded rice by boat] as well as my father, and now I. Where are my ancestors and my father now? They are all dead, and I too must die. When I thought of death, my mind was full of fear. I thought of death, which, without question, will surely come. I will surely die. My father, while travelling and getting out of the rice boat, felt pain along this same route. He died only a few days after getting off the rice boat. When he died, I, who was nursing him, saw that he could not take anything with him. The clothes he was wearing, and his body, which I looked after, did not disappear. Even I, my siblings, who belonged to him, and my mother, were still there. There was nothing that went with him. He truly went alone, and so will I (63 sermons 1984: (2)).23 When I came to my senses, I got up, lit some incense and prayed that I will not die before I get a chance to ordain. If I ordain, I will not disrobe for the rest of my life (63 sermons 1984: (2)).24 23 ้ รพชนแลบิดาของเราไปทางไหนหมด ก็ปรากฎแก่ใจว่า ปุรพชนต ้นสกุลของเราก็ทากันมาดังนี ้ เหมือนๆกันจนถึงบิดาของเราแลตัวเราบัดนี ้ ก็บด ั นีปุ ้ ้ ้ว ใจก็ชกั เสียวๆ นึกถึงความตายทีจะมาถึ ่ ตายหมดแล ้ว แล ้วตัวของเราเล่าก็ต ้องตายเหมือนกัน แต่พอคิดถึงตายขึนมาดั งนีแล งตัวโดยไม่มส ี งสัยเลย เรา ้ ้ ่ งแก่กรรมแล ้ว เราทีช่ ่ วยพยาบาลอยู่ ต ้องตายแน่ ๆ บิดาเรามาล่องข้าวขึนจากเรื อข้าวก็เจ็บมาจากตามทางแล ้ว ขึนจากเรื อไม่กวัี่ นก็ถงึ แก่กรรม เมือถึ ่ ้ วเราแลพีน้ ่ องของเราทีเนื ่ ่องด ้วยแกตลอด ถึงมารดา ไม่ได ้เห็นเลยทีจะเอาอะไรติ ดไป ผ้าทีนุ่ ่ งแลร่างกายของแก เราก็ดูแลอยู่ไม่เห็นมีอะไรหายไป ทังตั ่ ่ ของเราก็อยู่ไม่เห็นมีอะไรเลยทีไปด ้วยแก แกไปผูเ้ ดียวแท ้ๆ ก็ตวั เราเล่าก็ต ้องเป็ นดังนี.้ 24 ้ ้ ดธูป อธิษฐานในใจตัวเองว่า ขออย่าให้เราตายเสียก่อน ขอให้บวชเสียก่อนเถิด ถ้าบวชแล ้วจะไม่สก แต่พอรู ้สึกตัวขึนมา ก็รบ ี ลุกขึนจุ ึ ตลอดชีวิต. 19 These two related incidents, which greatly affected the young Luang Pho Sot, not only allude to Prince Siddhartha’s remorse upon seeing the Four Sights (in particular, the sick man and the corpse), but also shed light on the hardships and working conditions of the rice merchants of Suphanburi at the time (63 sermons 1984: (2)). In order to better understand these two incidents, Luang Pho Sot’s decision to become a monk and his subsequent move to Bangkok, which were major factors contributing to his development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, I would like to provide a brief historical background to the first two decades of Luang Pho Sot’s life. The first part concerns the perception of Suphanburi during the reign of King Rama V (1868–1910), and the second, some of the major events that affected Thailand during that period. Luang Pho Sot was born and grew up in a province that was considered one of the most perilous in the country. Suphanburi has historically been regarded as a remote and lawless province. Abandoned for many years after the sacking of Ayutthaya in 1767, it has been one of the less accessible provinces, covered with dense forests, and out of the reach of the Bangkok administration. During the reign of King Rama V, Suphanburi was known throughout the country as a province of corrupt officials, fearsome bandits and powerful local spirits. Prior to Prince Damrong Rajanuphap’s visit in 1892, members of the Thai royal family were warned not to visit the province for fear of being attacked and cursed by local spirits (Saowalak 2017a).25 Prince Damrong, defying these warnings, arrived in 25 Prince Damrong Rajanuphap (1862‒1943) was the son of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and half-brother of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). He was responsible for the reforms of the Thai educational system and 20 Suphanburi to discover that the corrupt governor, Phraya Sunthon Songkhram, had taken all of his belongings and fled in fear of being arrested (Saowalak 2017a). King Chulalongkorn, wishing to travel to Suphanburi in 1904, had to be assured by Prince Damrong that the local spirits would not cause him to ‘go insane’ (Saowalak 2017a). Without proper law enforcement, robberies and other crimes were also widespread at that time. In 1934, the Chinese owner of a market, Talat Kaohong, whose wife had been murdered by bandits, erected a tower especially designed with an impenetrable wall punctured by small holes for him to spot and shoot these criminals with his rifle (Piyanai 2017a). It became one of the few places in Suphanburi that was never robbed. Today the tower stands as a historic monument of Suphanburi’s former reputation as a lawless province (Piyanai 2017a). In 1902, all of Thailand’s educational goals were examined and a completely different administrative structure was devised. King Chulalongkorn handed over the responsibility for curriculum development to his brothers Prince Damrong and Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan Warorot; the latter was the abbot of Wat Bowonniwet. They were in charge of formulating the contents of modern textbooks. These were modelled on European sources, but where necessary, Thai perspectives were added. With regard to the saṅgha education, laws were passed creating a centralized and hierarchical monastic system modelling that of the state administration. The monastic education system was enforced by means of standardized curricula, monastic degrees, titles and ranks. From the early twentieth century provincial administration during the reign of King Rama V (1868–1910). He was also a prolific scholar of Thai history and archaeology. 21 up to the present day, the monastic curricula followed those set by Prince-patriarch Wachirayan. It was quite common for young men living and working in the provinces in the early twentieth century to seek out monkhood as a means of avoiding the hardships of lay life. Perhaps lured by the westernizing and modernizing conditions, an improving quality of life and security in Bangkok, and also the prospect of being formally educated, studying the ‘modern’ curricula and receiving monastic rankings, Luang Pho Sot, like many others, made a decision to be ordained and later move to Bangkok. As I shall argue below, these changes also help to explain why Luang Pho Sot was interested in studying and translating the Pāli suttas, in particular, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. At the same time, he was also drawn to meditation monks and meditation systems that offered not only the means to attain nibbāna, but also protective and healing skills. These skills later proved essential many times in his life, such as when he survived an attempted murder and, during World War II, when many poor and sick people sought shelter and healing at Wat Paknam.26 The third incident, which is also emphasized in the autobiography, is Luang Pho Sot’s possession of palm-leaf manuscripts of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta at Wat Songphinong shortly after his ordination. The autobiography states that the sutta became so significant to Luang Pho Sot that when he went to Bangkok to study Pāli, he made it his goal to be able to translate the sutta into Thai (63 sermons 1984: (3)). Having reached this goal in the 26 Achan Tritha’s account (1984: 62, 81, 132–156, 142 and 223–4) is most informative on these matters. 22 11th year after his ordination and being ‘satisfied’ with his understanding of the sutta, he discontinued his Pāli studies and focused solely on meditation (63 sermons 1984: (3)). Before I went to study the scriptures [ganthadhura], I obtained a bundle of palm-leaf manuscripts of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta at Wat Songphinong. This time, in going to study, I had to be able to translate this manuscript so as to be satisfied. If I could not translate it, I would not stop studying. In the 11th pansa [year of ordination], I was able to translate it, and so I stopped. When I stopped learning the scripture [pariyatti], I started practising seriously. (63 sermons 1984: (3))27 This account is also mentioned in the biography written by Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), the late deputy abbot and head of meditation at Wat Paknam and Achan Sermchai’s teacher (63 sermons 1984: (46)), but it is not mentioned in Somdet Pun’s and Achan Tritha’s biographies. It is also mentioned in the Dhammakaya Foundation’s Life and times of Luang Phaw Wat Paknam: While Candasaro was at Wat Songpinong he recalled the bundle of Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta scriptures […]. He realized, in his eleventh year of monkhood, that he had reached the benchmark he had set for himself in Pali studies. He was now able to translate that bundle fluently – and in ้ ้ ่ องผูกหนึ่งว่า ถ ้าไปเล่าเรียนคราวนี ต ้ ้องแปล ก่อนแต่จะมาเรียนคันถธุระนันได ้ตังหนั งสือใบลานมหาสติปัฏฐานลานยาวไว ้ทีวั่ ดสองพีน้ ้ ่ หนังสือผูกนี ให้ออก จึงเป็ นทีพอแก่ความต ้องการ ถ ้ายังแปลไม่ออกก็เป็ นอันไม่หยุดในการเรียน แต่พอแปลออกก็หยุด ในพรรษาที่ ๑๑ ่ ่ าจริงจังในทางปฏิบต เมือหยุ ดต่อการเรียนปริยต ั แิ ล ้วก็เริมท ั .ิ 27 23 accordance with his original intention, would discontinue his Pali studies and undertake ths task of studying meditation in earnest (Dhammakaya Foundation 1998: 37). Newell (2008: 66‒7) refers to this passage in the Dhammakaya Foundation’s biography of Luang Pho Sot and states that this account ‘suggests a modern, post-reform understanding of meditation and its relationship to texts’. She suggests that it may be a later interpolation added to defend the tradition against charges of heterodoxy at the time when the Burmese vipassanā movement dominated the Mahānikāya order. However, I would like to argue that having found the same account in the autobiography, it is highly unlikely that this is a later interpolation as it seems extremely improbable that any student of Luang Pho Sot would have dared to alter or add to it. Moreover, as I shall explain below, in my survey of the 63 sermons of Luang Pho Sot, I found that the earliest surviving sermon, titled ‘Phra Phutthakhun Phra Thammakhun Phra Sangkhakhun’ (Qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha),28 given between 1945 and 1946, which is prior to the introduction of Rise and Fall meditation from Burma to Thailand, already provides a section explaining Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in terms of the four satipaṭṭhānas29 (63 sermons 1984: 42‒43). As I shall discuss further below, the ‘Rise and Fall’ or Yup No Phong No meditation system, developed by Mahasi Sayadaw (1904–82), is the most widely practised Burmese vipassanā 28 พระพุทธคุณ พระธรรมคุณ พระสังฆคุณ. Translated as ‘Four Foundations of Mindfulness’ and ‘Four Frames of Reference’, it refers to the practice of having mindfulness established on four objects: body (kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna), feelings (vedanānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna), mind (cittānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna) and dhammas (dhammāupassanā satipaṭṭhāna). 29 24 method in Thailand.30 It is a form of ‘bare’ or ‘dry’ insight method based on an interpretation of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and Visuddhimagga’s stages of insight knowledge (vipassanā ñāṇa), but omitting the parts that are regarded as samatha (calm or tranquillity) meditation. It was first introduced in Thailand in 1953 at Wat Mahathat, Bangkok. From the available evidence, which will be discussed below, Luang Pho Sot appears to be among one of the first Thai meditation teachers of his time to incorporate the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas as a central text and practice of his meditation system. His focus on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is due to his belief that the four satipaṭṭhānas constitute the ‘only path’ to nibbāna, an understanding that is derived from one of the existing interpretations of the words ekāyanamagga31 at the time. Luang Pho Sot studied meditation with many renowned teachers at the time. Newell (2008: 67), following Amphai’s MA thesis (2004: 45), mentions eight centres and meditation masters: Phra Mongkon Thipmuni (Mui) (Wat Chakrawat, Bangkok), Phra Achan Dee (Wat Pratoosarn, Suphanburi), Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo (Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi), Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti (Wat Noi, Suphanburi), Phra The ‘Rise and Fall’ meditation system is one of the most popular Burmese vipassanā methods. It was developed by Mahasi Sayadaw (1904–82). It is a form of ‘bare’ or ‘dry’ insight method based on an interpretation of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and Visuddhimagga’s stages of insight knowledge (vipassanā ñāṇa), but omitting the parts that are regarded as samatha (calm or tranquillity) meditation. 31 Ekāyanamagga is Pāli expression, which describes the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (satipaṭṭhānas) in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. It has been variously translated as ‘one way’, ‘sole way’, ‘only way’, ‘direct path’, ‘unified path’ etc. 30 25 Sangwaranuwong (Achan Aium) (Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi), Phra Khru Yanwirat (Po) (Wat Pho, Bangkok), Achan Sing (Wat Lakorntham, Bangkok) and Achan Pluum (Wat Khaoyai, Kanchanaburi). However, out of all the eight meditation centres and teachers, the autobiography only lists five in chronological order, namely: 1) Luang Pho Nong, Wat Amphawan; 2) Luang Pho Niam, Wat Noi; 3) Achan Aium, Wat Ratchasittharam; 4) Phra Khru Yanwirat (Po), Wat Pho; and 5) Achan Sing, Wat Lakorntham (63 sermons 1984: (3)). Two other teachers, namely Phra Mongkon Thipmuni (Mui), Wat Chakrawat and Achan Pluum, Wat Khaoyai, are mentioned in Somdet Pun’s biography (63 sermons 1984: (10)), whereas the last teacher, who is also Luang Pho Sot’s preceptor, Achan Dee, Wat Pratoosarn, is referred to in Achan Tritha’s biography (1984: 56). The reason why Luang Pho Sot only mentions five in the autobiography instead of eight may be because he considers these five to be his main meditation teachers. As I shall show below, three of these five, namely Luang Pho Nong, Wat Amphawan, Luang Pho Niam, Wat Noi and Achan Aium, Wat Ratchasittharam, were certainly influential in his development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The autobiography and Somdet Pun’s biography also shed light on the extent of Luang Pho Sot’s Pāli training prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. English-language academic sources differ in their opinions on this issue. Some tend to assume that as a meditation master, Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of Pāli did not extend beyond the basic levels. Others believe that he had a much more in-depth understanding. For example, Newell (2008: 66), in discussing Luang Pho Sot’s education, cites Phra Terence Magness’s 26 biography, which suggests that Luang Pho Sot did not finish his course, failed his Pāli examination and later recalled that if he had passed it, it would have been detrimental to his meditation practice. She further suggests that, like Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Luang Pho Sot may have deliberately failed his examination as a reaction to the monastic reforms (Newell 2008: 66). Amphai (2004: 44), however, quotes from her interview with Achan Sermchai, who claims that Luang Pho Sot was very proficient in Pāli, equivalent to today’s highest Parian grade (level 9).32 In order to assess these statements, I again refer to the autobiography and Somdet Pun’s biography. The autobiography states that at Wat Pho, Luang Pho Sot studied the grammatical text Mūlakaccāyana three times, before studying the texts ‘Dhammapada’, ‘Dīpanī’ and ‘Sārasaṅgaha’ until he was able to translate ‘quite well’ (63 sermons 1984: (3)).33 ‘Dīpanī’ here is most likely to refer to the Maṅgalatthadīpanī, as Somdet Pun mentions this as a text Luang Pho Sot studied, and Dhammapada here is most likely Buddhaghosa’s Dhammapada commentary as it has been a part of the standard curricula for Pāli examinations prior to and after the monastic educational reform of 1902. Somdet Pun also mentions the Visuddhimagga as another text Luang Pho Sot studied in preparation for meditation practice (63 sermons 1984: (10)). He further states that at one point Luang Pho Sot was studying at three temples: Wat Arun, Wat Mahathat and Wat Pho. At Wat Pho, Luang Pho Sot turned his dwelling (kuti) into a classroom and invited Phra Mahā Pi Vasuttama, who had passed the fifth grade (parian), to teach him along with 10 other 32 In Thailand, the study of Pāli consists of seven grades, starting with grade 3 and ending with grade 9. Those who pass the examinations are called ‘Parian’. 33 เรียนมูลกัจจายน์ ถึงสามจบ แล ้วเรียนธรรมบท ทีปนีและสารสังคหะ แต่พอเป็ นว่าแปลออกพอสมควรแล ้ว ก็หยุดการเรียนคันถธุระ. 27 monks and novices (63 sermons 1984: (9)). Luang Pho Sot had already studied the Dhammapada commentary but opted to study it again with Phra Mahā Pi in order to refresh his memory (63 sermons 1984: (8‒9)). By the end of the course, according to Somdet Pun, Luang Pho Sot was proficient enough to teach (63 sermons 1984: (8‒9)).34 Later, when the reform of the monastic education was being implemented, Luang Pho Sot’s classroom had to shut itself down and he and other members had to adopt Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan’s curricula (63 sermons 1984: (9‒10)). Neither the autobiography nor Somdet Pun’s nor Achan Tritha’s biographies mention anything about Luang Pho Sot failing his Pāli exam. However, Somdet Pun’s biography explicitly states that Luang Pho Sot did not take the new written exams at Sanam Luang35 (63 sermons 1984: (9)). The Mūlakaccāyana is a Thai compilation of Kaccāyana’s grammar based on the original suttas, commentaries and examples from various other Pāli scriptures to illustrate grammatical rules (Skilling and Pakdeekham 2002: 281‒2). Prior to the educational reform, Mūlakaccāyana was widely used in Thailand as a grammatical textbook in preparation for Pāli examinations. Learning the Mūlakaccāyana is a time-consuming task as one must memorize all of the 677 Pāli formulae and their translations before one can commence learning the explanations of the grammatical rules (Sapya 1977: 14). In my interview with Rungarun Chantharasongkhram (2017), a Pāli lecturer at Chulalongkorn University Dhamma Centre who studied this text in detail, he informed me that as the Mūlakaccāyana The Dhammakaya Foundation biography’s claim that at Wat Pho, Luang Pho Sot was actually teaching Pāli up to the fifth grade is most likely a mistranslation of these passages in Somdet Pun’s and/or Achan Tritha’s biographies (Dhammakaya Foundation 1998: 35). 35 The open field and public square in front of the Grand Palace, Bangkok. 34 28 is quite a difficult text to start with, the prerequisite to study it is normally to learn an easier grammatical text such as the Padarūpasiddhi first.36 According to him, to learn the Mūlakaccāyana would take about two to four years depending on one’s background in Pāli. Once one mastered the text, one would be proficient enough to read the Tipiṭaka, the commentaries, and other Pāli grammatical texts with ease. Perhaps due to its difficulty, Luang Pho Sot opted to study the Mūlakaccāyana three times before embarking on other texts. The Maṅgalatthadīpanī is a detailed commentary on the Maṅgala Sutta composed by Sirimaṅgala in Chiang Mai in 1524 (Skilling and Pakdeekham 2002: 125‒6). Sārasaṅgaha, also known as Sāratthasaṅgaha, is a thirteenth/fourteenth century compendium of Buddhist doctrine taken from various canonical and non-canonical sources arranged according to theme (Skilling and Pakdeekham 2002: 177). Thus it seems possible that having studied Pāli for 11 years and learned all of these texts, in particular the Mūlakaccāyana three times, Luang Pho Sot had much more than a basic understanding of Pāli. As I shall argue below, the evidence of his initial interests in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the Visuddhimagga in these early biographies is not a later interpolation. Luang Pho Sot was able to read these texts in Pāli from the very beginning. In developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, far from relying exclusively on the meditation teachings of some of his renowned teachers, the Pāli suttas and the Visuddhimagga were also of significant influence on his development of the meditation system. 36 The Padarūpasiddhi is another grammatical text of the Kaccāyana family, to which the Mūlakaccāyana also belongs. It was composed by Buddhappiya in Sri Lanka in the 13th century. 29 Once he was satisfied with his Pāli and meditation training, Luang Pho Sot moved to Wat Botbon Bangkhuwiang, a temple in Nonthaburi. On the full-moon night of the 10th month, in his 15th year of monkhood (1916), the autobiography states that Luang Pho Sot made a vow not to get up from his seat until he had seen the Buddha’s Dhamma, echoing the resolve of the Buddha beneath the bodhi tree (63 sermons 1984: (4)). He ‘begged’ the Buddha to bestow on him the ‘smallest’ and ‘simplest’ Dhamma of his englightenment, but only if by doing so, it would not cause harm, but would benefit the Buddha’s religion (63 sermons 1984: (4)).37 On this night, according to the autobiography, Luang Pho Sot finally saw the ‘real’ ‘chart/map’ of the Buddha (63 sermons 1984: (4)).38 This ‘chart’, which is obtained not by thinking and pondering, but by continuously stopping his mind still at the centre of the body, later became known as Sammā Arahaṃ or the Dhammakāya meditation system (63 sermons 1984: (4)). As I shall explain in detail in the next section, the centre of the body here refers to the seventh position, two finger widths above the navel, and it is where the meditator gains the vision of the dhamma sphere. The autobiography ends with Luang Pho Sot’s move to Wat Bangpla, Nakhon Pathom, determined to pass on the teachings he discovered. ่ จึงได ้แสดงความอ้อนวอนแด่พระพุทธเจ ้าว่า ขอพระองค ์ได ้ทรงพระกรุณาโปรดข้าพระพุทธเจ ้า ทรงประทานธรรมทีพระองค ์ได ้ทรงตรัสรู ้อย่างน้อย ่ ด แลง่ายทีสุ ่ ดทีพระองค ่ ทีสุ ์ได ้ทรงรู ้แล ้วแด่ข ้าพระพุทธเจ ้า ถ้าข้าพระพุทธเจ ้ารู ้ธรรมของพระองค ์แล ้ว เป็ นโทษแก่ศาสนาของพระองค ์แล ้ว ขอพระองค ์ อย่าทรงพระราชทานเลย ถ้าเป็ นคุณแก่ศาสนาของพระองค ์แล ้ว ขอพระองค ์ได ้ทรงพระกรุณาโปรด พระราชทานแด่ข ้าพระองค ์. 38 เห็นผังของจริงของพระพุทธเจ ้า. 37 30 Figure 2.1: Vihāra at Wat Botbon Bangkhuwiang, Nonthaburi, where Luang Pho Sot first developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (photograph by the author). The rest of the account is a summary of Somdet Pun’s biography. In the same year, Luang Pho Sot was appointed abbot of Wat Paknam by the Thai Saṅgha Supreme Council and requested to restore the half-abandoned monastery. Luang Pho Sot renovated and developed the monastery as a centre of meditation and scriptural studies. In running Wat Paknam, he seemed to have put equal emphasis on both meditation practice and Pāli 31 education. Somdet Pun explains that prior to the construction of the Pariyatti School,39 Wat Paknam’s monks and novices had to travel to various temples in Thonburi and Bangkok to study, but after the construction of the three-storey building in 1950, which could accommodate over 1,000 people, Wat Paknam became the centre for Pāli and Dhamma studies and examinations of Phasicharoen district, Thonburi (63 sermons 1984: (13)). In 1957, Luang Pho Sot was given the monastic title of Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni.40 As the number of monks and novices grew, Luang Pho Sot assumed responsibility in providing food for them. In 1959, he built a dining hall and a kitchen large enough to accommodate 600 monks and novices. At the time, this arrangement was quite unique in Thai Buddhism as most monks had to go on alms rounds to beg for food every morning. Achan Tritha (1984: 105) explains that while he was studying at Wat Pho, Luang Pho Sot knew the hardship of not getting enough food on alms rounds and how it affected his studies and meditation progress. In having the dining hall built at Wat Paknam, Luang Pho Sot wanted the monks and novices to spend more time studying and practising meditation without having to worry about begging for food every morning (Tritha 1984: 105).41 39 A school that teaches and prepares monks and novices for Pāli and Naktham (Dhamma Studies) examinations. The study of Buddhist teachings in Thailand consists of three grades. Those who pass the examinations are called ‘Naktham’. 40 Upon ordination, a Thai monk is given a Pāli name or chaya, which he uses along with his given name, for example Sot (given name) Candasaro (chaya). Later, he may be given monastic titles based on accomplishment and recognition of service. This title is then used in front of his given name and chaya, for example Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (monastic title), Sot Candasaro. Monks who have passed the thirdgrade Pāli examination have the honorific ‘Mahā’ in front of their names. Monks with the title ‘Phra Thep’ belong to the ‘Thep’ (Deva) class, which is one of the four special classes ‒ one class below ‘Phra Tham’ (Dhamma) and one class above ‘Phra Rat’ (Rāja). 41 Achan Tritha’s biography of Luang Pho Sot provides the most detailed account of this undertaking (Tritha 1984: 105‒116). See also summaries in Bowers (1996: 49) and Mackenzie (2007: 35‒6). 32 Luang Pho Sot also carried out many kinds of social work, including setting up a community school for poor children and accommodating the elderly. He was widely known for his healing skills and for the amulets that he offered to those who donated to the construction of the Pariyatti School or came to practise meditation at Wat Paknam. The amulets are said to derive their power from the cultivation of merits gained from meditation for the whole three months of rain retreat. Luang Pho Sot died at Wat Paknam in 1959 at the age of 75, having been a monk for 53 years. 2.2 An analysis of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as taught by Luang Pho Sot The sources for this summary shall be taken from the direct teachings of Luang Pho Sot in the 63 sermons collection, which not only contains these sermons, but also two important meditation handbooks compiled by students of Luang Pho Sot, namely, The basic principles of samatha-vipassanā meditation42 compiled by Phra Phawana Koson Thera (Thira Dhammadharo) in 1961 and the Abbot's handbook43 compiled in 1948 by Nawarat Hiranrak, Somsong Sutsakhon and Chaluai Sombatsuk. The former consists of the basic level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the latter, the higher levels summarized and published by the order of the Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Wachirayanawong, the abbot of Wat Bowonniwet, who took an interest in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This section also relies on the book A compilation of Dhamma sermons of Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot 42 43 ้ หลักการเจริญภาวนา สมถวิปัสสนากรรมฐานเบืองต ้น. คู่มอ ื สมภาร. 33 Candasaro).44 This book, published in 2012, not only includes the 63 sermons from the older collection, but also four more previously unknown sermons. The two books provide the most complete collection of all of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings.45 As I mentioned above, all Western academic works that attempt to analyse Sammā Arahaṃ meditation rely on secondary sources in English: Mackenzie and Bowers on Achan Sermchai’s The heart of Dhammakaya meditation (Sermchai 1991), and Newell on Achan Sermchai’s book and Dhammakaya Temple’s websites. These summaries, although accurate, do not present Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from Luang Pho Sot’s own point of view: for example, the various canonical and non-canonical sources that he presents, and the emphasis on satipaṭṭhāna practice in his earliest sermons. Moreover, as I shall later attempt to analyse the development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from Luang Pho Sot to Achan Sermchai, this analysis will be based solely on Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, and not on any secondary sources, with the only exception being the diagram of the seven bases in English, which is taken from Achan Sermchai’s book (Sermchai 1991: 60). The summary covers the basic level, the 18-body meditation and the contemplation of dhammakāya. 44 รวมพระธรรมเทศนา พระมงคลเทพมุนี (สด จนฺ ทสโร). The 943-page book is compiled and edited by a group of ‘students of Luang Pho Wat Paknam’ headed by Phra Wichai Vijayo. Its advisor board includes the abbot of Wat Paknam, Somdet Ratchmangkhlachan (Chuang Varapuñño), Phra Theppariyatwong, Phra Khru Phawananuwat (Chuwit Aggavijjo), Phra Mahamongkhon (Maṅgalo) and Achan Tritha Niamkham. It was published on the occasion of the completion of the Maharatchamongkhon Cetiya at Wat Paknam in 2012. Apart from the 67 sermons, the book also contains the autobiography and four short teachings by Luang Pho Sot, including his final teaching. However, the Abbot’s handbook is not included within this book. For the rest of the dissertation, I shall call this book Compilation of Dhamma sermons. 45 The only known works by Luang Pho Sot not included in these two books are วิชชามรรคผลพิสดาร and วิชชา มรรคผลพิสดาร ๒ (Complete maggaphala training and Complete maggaphala training 2) (Mongkhon Thepmuni 1973 and 1975). These two volumes, like the Abbot’s handbook, aim to provide a summary of higher stages of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, but are not meant for the general public, and are only distributed among those who have completed the 18-body stage. 34 Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as developed by Luang Pho Sot consists of two preliminary techniques: 1) parikamma nimitta (preparatory/preliminary sign), the visualization of a crystal sphere; and 2) parikamma bhāvanā (preparatory/preliminary stage of meditation), the recitation of the Pāli words ‘sammā arahaṃ’. Both of these Pāli terms appear throughout the compilations of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings (for example, Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 925). When teaching this method, Luang Pho Sot used a crystal ball as an object of visualization and a diagram of the path to the centre of the body as a teaching aid. Figure 2.2: Photograph of Luang Pho Sot teaching meditation at Wat Paknam (photograph taken by the author). 35 The meditator visualizes a clear crystal sphere, the size of an eyeball, entering the nostril ‒ the left nostril for women and the right for men (first base) ‒ while repeating the mantra ‘sammā arahaṃ’ three times. Then very slowly the crystal sphere is visualized as moving to the eye socket (second base) ‒ the left eye for women and the right for men ‒ and again ‘sammā arahaṃ’ is repeated three times. Then the meditator moves the crystal sphere to the centre of the head (third base), then to the back of the palate (fourth base), the throat aperture (fifth base), the navel (sixth base) and finally two finger widths above the navel (seventh base). The words ‘sammā arahaṃ’ are repeated three times when the sphere is moved to each base. When the crystal sphere is at the seventh position, the meditator must draw his/her mind to rest at the centre of the sphere. The more experienced meditator can start by visualizing the sphere directly at the seventh base. As shown below, the bodily bases and the visualization of the sphere nimitta (mental image) are found in many other traditional Theravāda meditation texts throughout Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka and are the common characteristics of the so-called ‘borān kammaṭṭhāna’ tradition. ‘Sammā arahaṃ’, described by Luang Pho Sot as ‘the recollection of the Buddha’, as I shall discuss below, is a popular mantra and is found in chanting texts and other meditation traditions and still drawn on yantras in Thailand today (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 879). 36 Figure 2.3: Illustration of the seven bodily bases and the six elements in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (Sermchai 1991: 60). First base: nostril aperture Second base: eye socket Third base: centre of the head Fourth base: palate terminus Fifth base: throat aperture 37 Sixth base: navel Seventh base: two finger widths above the navel The next step is to keep the mind still at the centre of the sphere at the seventh base. The mind consists of sensing (vedanā), remembering (saññā), thinking (saṅkhāra) and knowing (viññāṇa) joined together. This is because, according to Luang Pho Sot, the seventh base is where the mind naturally resides within our bodies and exists as a clear bright sphere. When the mind is completely still at the centre of the body, a bright sphere the size of the sun or the moon will appear at the centre of the meditator’s body. Then, the meditator stops visualizing and reciting the Pāli words. It is said that the meditator will see his/her mind or the dhamma or dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna46 sphere. The term dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna (sphere) appears throughout Luang Pho Sot’s teachings and is one of the most often used terms along with the terms sammā arahaṃ and dhammakāya. It is called the dhamma sphere because at this stage the meditator’s mind reaches the dhamma of a human being, i.e. endowed with the qualities that lead one to be reborn as a human being, namely purity of body, speech and mind. For the subsequent bodies, when the dhamma sphere is attained, the equivalent body is also manifested simultaneously. The dhamma sphere is the mind of a particular body. It is also called the dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere because by attaining it and being mindful of it, the meditator has 46 Mindfulness firmly established on dhammas (variously translated as states, phemomena, nature of things or mind objects). This term is taken from Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (D II 209). 38 achieved calmness of bodily, verbal and mental activities. In the sermon titled ‘Ratanattayagamanapaṇāmakāthā’ given in 1945 (63 sermons 1984: 45‒52; Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 65‒73), one of Luang Pho Sot’s earliest surviving sermons, he explains being mindful of the dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere and attaining the inner sphere in terms of satipaṭṭhānas as follows: Calming bodily activities [kāyasaṅkhāra] means the breathing stops, calming verbal activities [vacīsaṅkhāra] means the reflecting stops, and calming mental activities [cittasaṅkhāra] means the mind stops still at the centre of the dhamma sphere of the human body. This is called santi [peace]. The breath ceasing at the same place is called ānāpāna, which means the breath stopping still or having no breath. When the three activities [saṅkhāra] stop there, it is called kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna. When the activities are calmed, there is the arising of joy. This is called vedanānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna. The mind thinking that it has joy is called cittānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna. When the three satipaṭṭhānas are together right there, a luminous sphere will appear, the size of an egg yolk, the moon or the sun, pure and clear like a mirror. This is called dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna. Some call this sphere ‘Phra Dhamma the crystal sphere’ [พระธรรมดวงแก ้ว]. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 69)47 กายสังขารสงบ คือลมหายใจหยุด วจีสงั ขารสงบ คือความตรึกตรองหยุด ่ าให้เป็ นกายมนุ ษย ์ ชือว่ ่ าสันติ ลมหยุดไปในทีเดี ่ ยวกันชือว่ ่ า อานาปาน จิตสังขารสงบคือใจหยุดอยู่ทกลางของดวงธรรมที ี่ ท ่ ่ ่ ้ ซึงแปลว่าลมหยุดนิ งหรือไม่มี เมือสังขารทัง ๓ หยุดถูกส่วนเข ้าแล ้ว เรียกว่ากายานุ ปัสสนาสติปัฏฐานด ้วยส่วนนึ ง ่ งขารสงบมีความสุขเกิดขึนเรี ้ ยกว่า เวทนานุ ปัสสนาสติปัฏฐาน จิตคิดว่าเป็ นสุขเรียกว่า จิตตานุ ปัสสนาสติปัฏฐาน เมือสั ่ ้ ในเมือสติปัฏฐานทัง ๓ ถูกส่วนพร ้อมกันเข ้า เกิดเป็ นดวงใสขึน้ เท่าฟองใข่แดงหรือเท่าดวงจันทร ์ดวงอาทิตย ์ ์ ทเหมือนกระจกส่องเงาหน้านั่นแหละธัมมานุ ปัสสนาสติปัฏฐาน ดวงนี บางท่ ้ ใสบริสุทธิสนิ านเรียกว่า พระธรรมดวงแก ้ว. 47 39 In this sermon, Luang Pho Sot is describing the calming of the bodily, verbal and mental activities following the Ānāpānasati Sutta (M III 78), specifically the part where the sutta connects the practice of mindfulness of breath with the four satipaṭṭhānas.48 The word santi (peace), etymologically related to the word samatha, may be referring to the attainment of jhāna, and the word ānāpāna here may be referring to the breath (kāyasaṅkhāra) ceasing at the attainment of the fourth jhāna.49 The dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere is termed the sphere of the ‘first path’ (paṭhamamagga) and the ‘only path’ (ekāyanamagga) by Luang Pho Sot. He explains that to reach the path (magga), fruit (phala) and nibbāna, there is only one way, which means stopping still at the centre of the dhamma sphere (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 910). When one enters the centre of the sphere, one aspect of it is called ‘paṭhamamagga’. Another aspect of the sphere is called ‘ekāyanamagga’, meaning ‘the only path’ as there is only ‘one way’, without second, without a second way. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 910)50 48 Mindfulness established on the body (kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna), feelings (vedanānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna), the mind (cittānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna) and dhammas (dhammāupassanā satipaṭṭhāna). 49 Various places in the suttas refer to the stage when kāyasaṅkhāra are tranquillized in the fourth jhāna (D III 270, 291; A V 31), and in Ps II 365 it is explicitly stated that the breath ceases: tato kāyasaṅkhāro ti tato paraṃ kāyasaṅkhāro catutthajjhāne nirujjhati. I thank Rupert Gethin for helping me locate these references. 50 ่ ้ากลางดวงศูนย ์นั้นได ้แล ้ว เรียกว่า ปฐมมรรค นัยหนึ่ง ดวงนั้นแหละเรียกว่า เอกายนมรรค แปลว่า หนทางเอก ไม่มโี ท สองไม่ เมือเข มี. 40 This sphere is called ‘dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna’ and is the way of all Buddhas and arahants in the whole world and dhammas. The Buddhas and arahants, when going to nibbāna, must take this path that is without any separated paths, all going in the same way. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 910)51 Inside the mind there are five points, which consist of five basic elements: 1. Water element: front 2. Earth element: right 3. Wind element: left 4. Fire element: back 5. Space element: centre (see, for example, Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 906, 926 and 930) Luang Pho Sot explains that the water element controls the fluidity of the body. The earth element controls the solidity, the wind element the internal movement of gases, the fire element the body temperature and the space element the spaces in the body. Inside the space element lies the consciousness element (viññāṇadhātu), which controls the consciousness. When the dhamma sphere is attained, the process in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is to repeatedly stop the mind completely still at the centre of the sphere at the ้ ดวงนั้นแหละเรียกว่า ธัมมานุ ปัสสนาสติปัฏฐาน เป็ นทางไปของพระพุทธเจ ้าพระอรหันต ์ทังหมดในสากลโลกในสากลธรรม ้ พระพุทธเจ ้าพระอรหันต ์จะเข ้าไปสู่นิพพาน ต ้องไปทางนี ทางเดียว ไม่มท ี างแตกแยกจากกัน ไปแนวเดียวทางเดียวกันหมด. 51 41 centre of the body. From this point on, there exist internal spheres that lead to internal bodies within the human mind. The first inner body (the refined human body) resides within the dhamma sphere (the mind) at the centre of the human body. The second inner body (the crude deva body) resides within the dhamma sphere at the centre of the refined human body, and so on. To reach all of the inner bodies, the meditator must place his/her mind completely still at the centre of the body (the seventh bodily base) and each inner sphere and body will be seen expanding from that centre. The meditator places his/her mind very still at the centre of the dhamma sphere, and another sphere will appear from inside the dhamma sphere. This is called the sīla or the morality sphere. The meditator stops still at the centre of the sīla sphere, and another sphere will appear from inside the sīla sphere, the samādhi or the concentration sphere. Inside the samādhi sphere is the paññā sphere or the wisdom sphere. Inside the paññā sphere is the vimutti or the sphere of liberation. Inside the vimutti sphere is the vimuttiñāṇadassana or sphere of knowledge and vision of liberation. Luang Pho Sot explains that going through each sphere and each body is equivalent to practising the Eightfold Noble Path as more defilements are abandoned at the same time as morality, concentration and wisdom are developed. It should be noted that although Luang Pho Sot does not state the source of these five terms, sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana appear as a list at various places in the nikāyas to denote the qualities of the Buddha and the noble ones. For example, in Issatha Sutta (S I 98) and Vaccha Sutta (A I 160), the Buddha explains that gifts should be 42 given to virtuous persons who have abandoned the five hindrances and are endowed with the five factors, namely sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana. In the Gārava Sutta (S I 138), the Buddha, shortly after his enlightenment, contemplated that as he had already perfected the five aggregates of sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana, there was no one he could depend on and honour as his teacher. He therefore decided to honour only the Dhamma as his teacher. In the Itivuttaka (Iti 107), those who are endowed with these five qualities are described as ‘teachers’, ‘leaders’, ‘abondoners of harms’, ‘noble ones’, ‘makers of light’, ‘endowed with eyes that see’ etc. (Thanissaro 2001). Placing the mind still at the centre of the vimuttiñāṇadassana sphere, a body will appear from inside the sphere. This is the refined human body. It is the body we use in our dreams. At the centre of the refined human body there is also a dhamma sphere, i.e. the mind of the refined human body. Inside the dhamma sphere of the refined human body, there is the sīla sphere. Inside the sīla sphere, there is the samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana spheres as in the crude human body. The meditator has to go through these six spheres before reaching the next body. Having reached the vimuttiñāṇadassana sphere, the meditator stops still at the centre of the sphere and the crude celestial or deva body appears. At this stage the dhamma or the mind of the celestial being is reached, and therefore the body of the celestial being is manifested simultaneously. The deva body is described as sitting on a seat, and decorated with a crown, a necklace and a neck chain. Then the meditator goes through the six spheres to reach the 43 refined deva body and six spheres to reach the crude brahmā body. At this stage the mind or dhamma of the brahmā is reached and the body of the brahmā is manifested. Then the meditator goes through the six spheres to reach the refined brahmā body, and six spheres to reach the crude formless brahmā body. At this stage the mind or dhamma of the formless brahmā is reached and the body of the formless brahmā is manifested. Then the meditator goes through the six spheres to reach the refined formless brahmā body and so on. Luang Pho Sot explains that the dhamma sphere of the human body appears when one has purity of body, speech and mind; the dhamma sphere of the deva body,when one has sacca (truthfulness), cāga (generosity) and paññā (wisdom); the dhamma sphere of the brahmā body when one has first, second, third and fourth jhānas; and the dhamma sphere of the formless brahmā body when one has the four formless jhānas (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 290). Each dhamma sphere is thus purer and more refined than the previous one and its qualities correspond to the qualities of the being of the respective cosmological realm. Inside the vimuttiñāṇadassana sphere of the refined formless brahmā body there is the dhamma sphere of the first unconditioned body or the dhamma body (dhammakāya). It appears like a Buddha statue with a lotus bud upon the head and clear as a mirror (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 912). This is dhammakāya gotrabhū. At the centre of the vimuttiñāṇadassana sphere, there appears the refined dhammakāya gotrabhū. As the meditator places his/her mind still at the spheres at the centre of the body, more and more refined inner dhamma bodies appear as the mind becomes even purer and more 44 refined. From the refined dhammakāya gotrabhū, the meditator attains dhammakāya sotāpanna (stream enterer), refined dhammakāya sotāpanna, dhammakāya sakadāgāmī (once returner), refined dhammakāya sakadāgāmī, dhammakāya anāgāmī (non-returner), refined dhammakāya anāgāmī, dhammakāya arahatta and finally refined dhammakāya arahatta. All dhammakāyas appear the same, like a Buddha statue. It should be noted that different dhammakāyas, namely sotāpanna, sakadāgāmī, anāgāmī and arahatta, refer to the different stages of the noble person (ariyapuggala). An ariyapuggala is someone who has attained one of eight stages of the paths (magga) and fruits (phala), which culminate in the attainment of arahatship. The eight stages are: the path and fruit of the stream enterer (sotāpanna), the path and fruit of the once returner (sakadāgāmī), the path and fruit of the non-returner (anāgāmī) and the path and fruit of the arahant.52 In Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, the eight levels of dhammakāyas from dhammakāya sotāpanna to the refined dhammakāya arahatta correspond to the attainment of these eight stages. The word gotrabhū, however, does not occur frequently in the nikāyas. It is understood by the Theravāda commentarial tradition to mean ‘the matured one’ or ‘one who has entered the lineage of the noble ones’ and refers to the person who is ‘endowed with those things, immediately upon which follows the entrance into the noble The stream enterer has abandoned the first three fetters (saṃyojana), namely sakkāyadiṭṭhi (false view of the individual), vicikicchā (doubt) and sīlabbataparāmāsa (adherence to rules and rituals), is not subject to rebirth in the lower realm and is destined to attain nibbāna within seven rebirths. The once returner has, in addition to the first three fetters, abandoned kāmarāga (sensual pleasures) and paṭigha (repulsion) in their grosser forms. They will return to the realm of the senses one more time before attaining nibbāna. The nonreturner has abandoned all of the five fetters completely. They will be reborn in a higher world, one of the Pure Abodes (suddhāvāsa), and attaining nibbāna there. The arahant has, in addition to the five fetters, abandoned the remaining five fetters, namely rūparāga (attachment to realms of form), arūparāga (attachment to formless realms), māna (conceit), uddhacca (restlessness) and avijjā (ignorance). See, for example, A I 231‒2 and A V 17. 52 45 path’ (Nyanatiloka 2004: 66). In a few suttas, such as Āhuneyya Sutta (A IV 373) and Saññā Sutta (A IV 387), gotrabhū is listed as the ninth noble individual. The commentaries interpret this term as ‘a single mind moment that makes the transition from the peak of insight to the world-transcending path’ (Bodhi 2012: 55).53 This stage, in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, is divided into two levels, namely dhammakāya gotrabhū and refined dhammakāya gotrabhū, in which, according to Luang Pho Sot, the practitioner’s mind abandons kāmarāgānusaya (latent sensual pleasures), paṭighānusaya (latent repulsion) and avijjānusaya (latent ignorance) (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 263). Luang Pho Sot explains further that in attaining dhammakāya sotāpanna, one abandons sakkāyadiṭṭhi (false view of the individual), vicikicchā (doubt) and sīlabbataparāmāsa (adherence to rules and rituals); in attaining dhammakāya sakadāgāmī, the coarse kāmarāga (sensual pleasures) and paṭigha (repulsion); in attaining dhammakāya anāgāmī (non-returner), the refined kāmarāga and paṭigha; and in attaining dhammakāya arahatta, rūparāga (attachment to realms of form), arūparāga (attachment to formless realms), māna (conceit), uddhacca (restlessness) and avijjā (ignorance) (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 263‒4). The qualities of each dhammakāya, therefore, follow the qualities of the respective noble person with regard to the fetters (saṃyojana) that they have abandoned. 53 Bhikkhu Bodhi (2012: 55), however, argues that this commentarial explanation interprets this term ‘through the lens of the later Theravādin exegetical system’ and ‘presupposes the development of technical schemes’, which are not found in the suttas. For further discussions regarding the term gotrabhū, see von Hinüber (1994: 91–100). 46 The different stages of dhammakāya are not only equivalent to the different stages of the noble person but also to the reaching of the Triple Gems (the Buddha, the Dhamma and the saṅgha) within: Where are the Three Gems of Buddha, Dhamma and saṅgha? They are within [each of] us […] the Buddha is at the centre of the body. The spot at the navel called the centre of the body […] place your mind there; when the mind stops still, enter the centre of that still mind. When they say ‘heaven and hell are in the mind’, it is true, but the Buddha is also in the mind. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 376)54 Dhammakāya is clear like crystal, so it is named buddharatana. The Dhamma that comes from the heart of dhammakāya is named dhammaratana. Dhammaratana is the heart of dhammakāya. The citta sphere of dhammakāya is called saṅgharatana. This is what they say: buddharatana, dhammaratana and saṅgharatana, all the Three Gems are linked together like this as one. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 512)55 พุทธรัตนะ ธรรมรัตนะ สังฆรัตนะ ทัง้ ๓ นี ้ อยู่ทไหน? ี่ อยู่ในตัวของเรานี่เอง […] พระพุทธเจ ้าอยู่กลางกาย เรามีกลางมีศูนย ์ ตรง ่ ่ ่ ดนิ่งนั้นทีเดียว ทีเข ่ สะดือนันเป็ นศูนย ์ นันเรียกว่ากลางกาย […] ให้เอาใจไปหยุดนิ่งอยู่ตรงนั้น พอใจหยุดนิ่งก็เข ้ากลางของใจทีหยุ ว่าสววรค ์อยู่ในอกนรกในใจ พระก็อยู่ในใจ. 55 ่ าพุทธรัตนะ ธรรมทังหลายที ้ ่ ่นออกจากหัวใจธรรมกาย จึงได ้ชือว่ ่ าธรรมรัตนะ ธรรม ธรรมกายมีสใี สเหมือนแก ้วจริงๆ จึงได ้ชือว่ กลั ่ ่ ่ ้ ้ รัตนะคือหัวใจธรรมกายนันเอง ดวงจิตของธรรมกายนันได ้ชือว่า สังฆรัตนะ นี แหละทีว่าพุทธรัตนะ ธรรมรัตนะ สังฆรัตนะทัง้ ๓ ประการ ้ ยวเนื ่ ่องเป็ นอันเดียวอัน. นี เกี 54 47 For those who can attain dhammakāya, this is the arising of the Buddha. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 818) 56 Dhammakāya, the fifth body, is the most important body in Buddhism. One who can cause this body to arise is named Buddha, named anubuddha, a Buddha that follows the Buddha. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 47)57 In Luang Pho Sot’s understanding, when the mind or the dhamma of the Buddha is reached, the body of the Buddha is manifested. In referring to the Buddha within, Luang Pho Sot also incorporates the noble persons into its definition. At the levels of the noble persons, even for those who aspire to become an arahant or has attained arahatship, the Buddha is also manifested, although it is called anubuddha or a Buddha who is a follower of the Buddha. It should be noted that according to Luang Pho Sot, dhammakāya is neither conceived as form, material or matter (rūpa) nor it is conceived as a nimitta (mental image). It is an unconditioned, supra-mundane, supra-physical body, which at the same time is also the source of Dhamma, or the teachings of the Buddha. Hence, from the start, Luang Pho Sot combines the two different interpretations of the word dhammakāya, the metaphorical interpretation (body as referring to a collection of teachings) and the literal interpretation เข ้าถึงธรรมกาย เป็ นละก ้อ นั่นแหละเป็ นความบังเกิดของพระพุทธเจ ้าเลยทีเดียว. ่ ดในพระพุทธศาสนา ผูใ้ ดทากายนี ให้ ้ เป็ นขึนได ้ ่ าอนุ ธรรมกายเป็ นกายที่ ๕ นั้นเป็ นกายสาคัญทีสุ ้ ผูน ้ นก็ ั้ ชอว่ ื่ าเป็ นพระพุทธเจ ้า ชือว่ พุทธเจ ้า เป็ นพระพุทธเจ ้าตามเสด็จพระพุทธเจ ้า. 56 57 48 (body like the physical body that can be seen), and finds no contradictions between them. As I shall discuss below, these two interpretations along with other interpretations circulated in Thailand prior to his development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. To sum up, there are 18 bodies altogether: 1. Crude human body 2. Refined human body 3. Crude deva body 4. Refined deva body 5. Crude brahmā body 6. Refined brahmā body 7. Crude formless brahmā body 8. Refined formless brahmā body 9. Dhammakāya gotrabhū 10. Refined dhammakāya gotrabhū 11. Dhammakāya sotāpanna 12. Refined dhammakāya sotāpanna 13. Dhammakāya sakadāgāmī 14. Refined dhammakāya sakadāgāmī 15. Dhammakāya anāgāmī 16. Refined dhammakāya anāgāmī 17. Dhammakāya arahatta 49 18. Refined dhammakāya arahatta In the teaching of Luang Pho Sot (for example, Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 51), one can find Luang Pho Sot’s citing of the references to brahmakāya and dhammakāya in the Aggañña Sutta to support his understanding of brahmā body and dhammakāya: ‘Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja, because the words dhammakāya, brahmakāya, dhammabhūta and brahmabhūta are the names of the Tathāgata’ (D III 84). I would like to reiterate what I discussed above. According to the autobiography, prior to his development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Luang Pho Sot focused his studies particularly on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (D II 290), of which he kept a personal copy. He studied the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta well enough to translate from Pāli into Thai. His focus on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta may be due to his view that the four satipaṭṭhānas constitute the ‘only path’ to nibbāna. The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta begins with a formula containing a series of expressions for contemplating the body, feelings, the mind and dhamma states using the locative; the locative here has been variously rendered into English but can be literally rendered as ‘in’ and is normally rendered in an equivalent way when translated into Thai. The following passage is translated from the Thai Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta edited by Phra Thamtrailokachan (Charoen Ñāṇavaro) (1872‒1951), the late abbot of Wat Thepsirin, Bangkok, who later became Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya. This translation is a sixth 50 edition, published in 1919, and may resemble the translation that Luang Pho Sot was familiar with at the time of his development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation: O monks, a monk in this religion is one who constantly examines and sees the body in body; putting an effort into passionate defilements, being aware, mindful, and bringing an end to happiness and sadness with the world. You are one who constantly examines and sees feelings in feelings; putting an effort into passionate defilements, being aware, mindful, and bringing an end to happiness and sadness with the world. You are one who constantly examines and sees citta in citta; putting an effort into passionate defilements, being aware, mindful, and bringing an end to happiness and sadness with the world. You are one who constantly examines and sees dhamma in dhamma; putting an effort into passionate defilements, being aware, mindful, and bringing an end to happiness and sadness with the world (Thamtrailokachan 1919: 3‒5).58 According to Luang Pho Sot, there are bodies inside the mind of the human body. Those inner bodies also consist of feelings, cittas (minds) and dhammas. Being familiar with the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, Luang Pho Sot saw that the method of the sutta of being mindful of the body, feelings, citta and dhammas as applicable not only to the human body alone, but as there are also inner bodies, the mindfulness must also be extended and applied to all 58 ้ั ดูกอ ่ นภิกษุทงหลาย ภิกษุในศาสนานี ้ ย่อมเปนผูพ ้ จิ ารณาเหนกายในกายเนือง ๆ อยู่ มีความเพียรให้กเิ ลสเร่าร ้อน มีสม ั ปชัญญะ มีสติ พึงนาอภิชฌาแลโทมนัสในโลกเสียให้พน ิ าศ เธอย่อมเปนผูพ ้ จิ ารณาเหนเวทนาในเวทนาเนื องๆ อยู่ มีความเพียรให้กเิ ลสเร่าร ้อน มี สัมปชัญญะ มีสติ พึงนาอภิชฌาแลโทมนัสในโลกเสียให้พน ิ าศ เธอย่อมเปนผูพ ้ จิ ารณาเหนจิตในจิตเนื องๆ อยู่ มีความเพียรให้กเิ ลสเร่า ร ้อน มีสม ั ปชัญญะ มีสติ พึงนาอภิชฌาแลโทมนัสในโลกเสียให้พน ิ าศ เธอย่อมเปนผูพ ้ จิ ารณาเหนธรรมในธรรมเนื องๆ อยู่ มีความเพียร ให้กเิ ลสเร่าร ้อน มีสม ั ปชัญญะ มีสติ พึงนาอภิชฌาแลโทมนัสในโลกเสียให้พน ิ าศ. 51 the inner bodies and also feelings, cittas and dhammas associated with those inner bodies as well. He takes the locative literally by interpreting the use of ‘in’ as ‘inside’: one has to be mindful of the body literally inside the human body, all the feelings inside the human feelings, all the cittas inside the human citta and all dhammas inside the human dhammas. It should be noted that, as his autobiography clearly points out, when Luang Pho Sot developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, he was already aware of and understood the content of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. For example, ‘body in body’ refers to mindfulness of the four elements, the internal organs, and the breath etc. As will be shown below, Luang Pho Sot understands these practices given in the sutta as examples, and not an exhaustive list of practices, and that for practitioners who have attained the inner bodies, they can widen the scope of the sutta’s practices to apply to mindfulness of the inner bodies as well. The following quotation is taken from another one of his earliest surviving sermons titled ‘The qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and saṅgha’ given from 1945 to 1946 (63 sermons 1984: 8‒44; Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 15‒54): To have self as one’s refuge means that one must focus on, hold on to and depend on [each body] to proceed inward layer by layer. That is, focus on the human body to reach the deva body. Focus on the deva body to reach the brahmā body. Focus on the brahmā body to reach the formless brahmā body. Focus on the formless brahmā body to reach the dhamma body. The body is oneself, depending on each other layer by layer inwardly. Thus, one has oneself as a refuge in the meditative aspect, in this sense, as stated in detail above. The 52 statement kāye kāyānupassī in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is further supporting evidence. Kāyānupassī means ‘seeing continuously or following through the seeing of the body’. Kāye means ‘in the body’ [...] Thus, to translate this exactly and concisely, it means to follow through the seeing of the body in the body; that is, to follow through the seeing of each body layer by layer. One sees the human body, then one follows that through to see the deva body, following that through to see the brahmā body, following that through to see the formless brahmā body and following that through to see the dhamma body. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 53)59 The keyword here is ‘meditative aspect’, which means that Luang Pho Sot sees the sutta as containing several meanings or interpretations depending on the level of understanding of the person. This passage is also a reference to two places in the nikāya where dwelling with oneself as an island and refuge is explained by reference to the practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas.60 For example, the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta (D III 77) explains that in order to have self and the Dhamma as an island and refuge, one must practise the Four Foundations of Mindfulness of seeing the body in body, feelings in feelings, citta in citta and dhamma in dhamma. ่ งแก่ ่ ตนนั้น ก็คอื เพ่งยึดอาศัยกัน ดาเนิ นเข ้าไปเป็ นชันๆ ้ คือ เพ่งกายมนุ ษย ์ส่งให้ถงึ กายทิพย ์ เพ่งกายทิพย ์ส่งให้ถงึ กาย ทีว่่ าตนเป็ นทีพึ ่ นไปเป็ นชันๆ ้ รูปพรหม เพ่งกายรูปพรหมส่งให้ถงึ กายอรูปพรหม เพ่งกายอรูปพรหมส่งให้ถงึ ธรรมกาย กายคือตน อาศัยพึงกั เข ้าไป ้ งได ้ชือว่ ่ าตนเป็ นทีพึ ่ งแห่ ่ งตนในด ้านภาวนาตามนัยดังกล่าวไว ้แล ้วโดยละเอียดข ้างต ้นนั้น ยังมีคาว่า “กาเย กายานุ ปสฺส”ี ในมหา เช่นนี จึ ่ สติปัฏฐานสูตรเป็ นหลักฐานสนับสนุ นอีก กายานุ ปัสสี แปลว่า เห็นตามหรือตามเห็นซึงกาย กาเย แปลว่าในกาย [...] แปลตรงตามศัพท ์ ้ เห็นกายมนุ ษย ์ แล ้วตามเข ้าไปเห็นกายทิพย ์ ตามเข ้าไปเห็นกายรูป และย่นคาให้สนก็ ั้ ว่าตามเห็นกายในกาย คือตามเห็นเข ้าไปเป็ นชันๆ พรหม ตามเข ้าไปเห็นกายอรูปพรหม ตามเข ้าไปเห็นกายธรรม. 59 60 See D III 77, S V 154. 53 The following quote is taken from Luang Pho Sot’s teaching of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (M I 55) given in 1954: How do we see body in body? These human bodies that appear to us giving a sermon and listening, they are real human bodies. They can go to sleep and dream. When one dreams, another body emerges from the human bodycalled the refined human body […] this refined human body that we use to dream is called human body inside human body. This is called body in body. It is really seeing in this way.61 How about seeing feelings in feelings? Whatever feelings this human body has, whether joyous, suffering or neutral feeling […] the body in the dream also has them: joy, suffering, neutral feeling, happiness and sadness.62 How about seeing citta in citta? In the same way as seeing feelings in feelings. It is stated as ‘seeing’ and not ‘knowing’ […] There is a citta in citta, that is, the citta of the refined human body in the dream.63 ้ ่ เห็นกายในกายน่ ะ เห็นอย่างไร บัดนีกายมนุ ษย ์ทีปรากฏอยู ่น่ งเทศน์ ั อยู่นี่ ฟังเทศน์อยู่นี่ นี่กายมนุ ษย ์แท้ๆ แต่กายมนุ ษย ์นี่แหละเวลา ่ นออกไปนั่นแหละ เขาเรียกว่า นอนหลับฝันไปก็ได ้ พอฝันออกไปอีกกายหนึ่ง เขาเรียกว่า กายมนุ ษย ์ละเอียด […] กายมนุ ษย ์คนทีฝั กายมนุ ษย ์ในกายมนุ ษย ์ นี่แหละกายในกายล่ะ เห็นจริงๆอย่างนี .้ 62 ้ เวทนาอย่างไรบ้าง สุขทุกข ์ ไม่สุขไม่ทุกข ์ […]ส่วนกายทีฝั ่ นออกไปนั้นก็มส เห็นเวทนาในเวทนาล่ะ ก็ตวั มนุ ษย ์คนนี มี ี ุขทุกข ์ ไม่สุขไม่ ทุกข ์ ดีใจ เสียใจ เหมือนกัน. 63 จิตล่ะ เห็นจิตในจิต ก็แบบเดียวกันกับเวทนาในเวทนา เห็นจิตในจิตนี ้ ต ้องกล่าวเห็นนะ ไม่ใช่กล่าวรู ้นะ […]จิตในจิต นั่นแหละอีกดวง ่ นออกไป. หนึ่งคือ จิตของกายมนุ ษย ์ละเอียด ทีฝั 61 54 How do we constantly see dhamma in dhamma? The dhamma sphere, which makes the human body, exists at the centre of the human body, the size of a hen’s egg yolk. It is attached to the centre of the human body. This is seeing dhamma in dhamma. There is also a dhamma sphere that makes the refined human body. Not the size of an egg yolk, but twice the size […] That is how we see it. Seeing or knowing? Seeing and knowing are different. One is seeing. The other is knowing. Do not mix up knowing and seeing. (Saman 2000: 212–3)64 Therefore, according to Luang Pho Sot, the inner bodies, feelings, cittas and dhammas are to be both known and seen, i.e. known with wisdom and seen, not with the human eye, but with meditative vision. Feelings can also be seen and appear as spheres at the centre of each body. Happy feeling appears as a clear sphere, neutral feeling as a slightly murky and clouded sphere, and unhappy feeling as a very murky and clouded sphere (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 563). Dhamma can also be seen and this refers to the dhamma sphere at the centre of each body. Thus both the body and the spheres corresponding to the feelings, citta and dhamma of each body are to be seen and known. This is how, Luang Pho Sot claims, one practises satipaṭṭhānas. Other suttas were also incorporated into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In offering a literal interpretation of the word ‘seeing’, Luang Pho Sot often cites the Vakkali Sutta (S III 119) ่ าให้เป็ นกายมนุ ษย ์ มีอยู่ในศูนย ์กลางกายมนุ ษย ์ ขนาดเท่าฟองไข่แดงของไก่ ติด เห็นธรรมในธรรมเนื องๆ เป็ นไฉนเล่า ดวงธรรมทีท ่ าให้เป็ นกายมนุ ษย ์ละเอียดมีอยู่ ไม่เท่าฟองไข่แดงของไก่ ๒ เท่าฟองไข่แดง อยู่ในกลางกามนุ ษย ์ นี่เห็นธรรมในธรรมละ ดวงธรรมทีท ของไก่ […] นั่นเห็นอย่างนี ้ เห็น หรือ รู ้ ล่ะ รู ้กับเห็นมันต่างกันนะ เห็นอย่างหนึ่ง รู ้อย่างหนึ่งนะ ไม่ใช่เอารู ้กับเห็นมาปนกัน. 64 55 to support his claim (for example, Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 51). In this sutta, the Dhamma and Tathāgata (interpreted as synonymous with the word dhammakāya) are also not just mere knowledge, but visions, which one can literally sees: ‘Whoever sees the Dhamma, sees me, the Tathāgata. Whoever sees the Tathāgata, sees the Dhamma’ (Ap 467). According to Luang Pho Sot, the Eightfold Noble Path, namely sīla or morality, samādhi or concentration, paññā or wisdom, together with the attainments of vimutti or liberation, vimuttiñāṇadassana or knowledge and vision of liberation, are spheres to be seen within each body. Thus the path outlined in the Pāli canon and the attainments described in the Visuddhimagga are understood by Luang Pho Sot as not just knowledge alone but also vision and attainment, which one can literally ‘see’ and experience. As will be shown below, this aspect of the visions of the spheres, which are associated with various stages of the path to enlightenment, is a distinctive feature of the so-called ‘borān yogāvacara kammaṭṭhāna’.65 Right concentration is defined in the Pāli canon and the Visuddhimagga as the development of mental absorptions or jhānas. Luang Pho Sot incorporates the practice of the four jhānas into the Sammā Arahaṃ meditation system as follows (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 250-2).66 When one stops still at the centre of the dhamma sphere of the human body, 65 See, for example, Bizot (1992: 211‒224) and Crosby (2013: 93). Jhāna or mental absorption refers to a state of meditation in which awareness is fully absorbed in the object of meditation. The Visuddhimagga lists eight levels of jhānas: four jhānas of form (rūpa jhāna) and four formless jhānas (arūpa jhāna). See Vism 88, 111, 139‒170, and 326‒340. 66 56 one is able to enter the first jhāna and there arise its various factors.67 When one reaches the dhamma sphere of the deva body, one is able to enter the second jhāna. When one reaches the dhamma sphere of the brahmā body, one is able to enter the third jhāna, and the fourth jhāna when one reaches the dhamma sphere of the formless brahmā body. One can also enter the four formless jhānas through the formless brahmā body. Luang Pho Sot explains that from the crude human body to the refined formless brahmā body (1–8), the meditator is at the samatha (calm) level of meditation, but from dhammakāya gotrabhū to refined dhammakāya arahatta (9–18), the meditator moves to the vipassanā (insight) level of meditation. According to Luang Pho Sot, the lower eight mundane bodies are made up of the five aggregates (rūpa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra and viññāṇa) and possess the three characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self (aniccaṃ, dukkhaṃ and anattā).68 As one progresses through each mundane body, one has to abandon one’s attachment to the five aggregates of the lower bodies through the contemplation of their impermanence, suffering and not-self characteristics. However, this process ends when one reaches dhammakāya as the 10 supra-mundane dhammakāya bodies are unconditioned and have the opposite characteristics of permanent, happy and self (niccaṃ, sukhaṃ and attā). They are made up not of five aggregates but dhamma aggregate (dhammakhandha). These bodies 67 The first jhāna consists of five factors: applied thought (vitakka), sustained thought (vicāra), joy (pīti), happiness (sukha) and one-pointedness of mind (ekaggatā). 68 The five aggregates (khandha) are basic constituents that make up the human and other beings, namely form (rūpa), feelings (vedanā), perception (saññā), volitions (saṅkhāra) and consciousness (viññāṇa). 57 are ‘liberated self’ and not ‘conventional self’ (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 533).69 However, only dhammakāya arahatta is ‘absolutely/completely liberated’;70 all the dhammakāyas below it are not completely liberated as they still have the lower and higher fetters (saṃyojana) to be got rid of (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 534). Although some Thai scholars and practitioners criticize Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as offering only the practice of samatha (calm meditation) and not vipassanā (insight meditation),71 its developer and practitioners have always claimed that it consists of both samatha and vipassanā. How does Luang Pho Sot view the development of vipassanā in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation? The meditator develops vipassanā first by being mindful of the lower mundane bodies, feelings, cittas and dhammas and seeing their three characteristics to them. When one reaches the dhammakāya, Luang Pho Sot advises that one should contemplate the six vipassanā bhūmis, namely the five aggregates (khandha), 12 internal and external sense fields (āyatanas), 18 elements (dhātus), 22 faculties (indriyas), Four Noble Truths and 12 links of Dependent Origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 324‒6).72 With regard to the five aggregates, when one reaches the dhammakāya one contemplates the three characteristics of the five aggregates of all of the mundane bodies in ‘comparison with’ the opposite characteristics 69 70 เป็ นตนโดยวิมต ุ ติด ้วย ไม่ใช่สมมติด ้วย. วิมุตติขาดเด็ดลงไป. For criticisms during Luang Pho Sot’s lifetime, see 63 sermons (1984: (26)‒(28)) and Tritha (1984: 76). For criticisms by the Rise and Fall meditation tradition, see Young Buddhists Association of Thailand (2008: 26). For recent criticisms by Thai scholars of Buddhism, see, for example, Payutto (1999: 233), Prawet Wasi (1999: 58-59) and Sathianphong Wannapok (2015). For further discussions on this issue, see Scott (2009: 80‒2) and below in Chapters 2 (2.9) and 4 (4.1). 72 These objects of insight are described in detail in Chapters 14, 15, 16 and 17 of the Visuddimagga and are termed bhūmis for the development of insight (Vism 436‒586). 71 58 of the unconditioned dhammakāya. Therefore, Sammā Arahaṃ meditation’s development of insight is not only achieved through seeing the three characteristics of the conditioned dhammas alone, but also through a comparison between the characteristics of the conditioned dhammas and the unconditioned dhamma. One abandons one’s attachment to the five aggregates, the mundane bodies, by seeing the supra-mundane dhammakāya, which has the opposite characteristics. The three characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self are taught not just to enable one to let go of and abandon the conditioned dhammas but also to point subtly to permanence, happiness and self of the ultimate dhammakāya, which is the true refuge. Luang Pho Sot gives a simile of two people standing side by side, one short, one tall (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 26‒27). A man who is acquainted with the tall one would point out, when asked, that he knows the taller one. Upon hearing this, the enquirer would immediately understand that the man is not acquainted with the shorter person. Just as the tall person points to the short person, in the same way, impermanence points to permanence, suffering points to happiness and not-self points to self (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 27). Selfness of the dhammakāya in Luang Pho Sot’s understanding is synonymous with the term ‘refuge’. To support this claim, Luang Pho Sot cites the following statement from the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta (D III 77) and Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (D II 100): ‘Monks, you must be ones who have self as refuge, self as shelter, nothing else as shelter. You must be 59 ones who have Dhamma as refuge, Dhamma as shelter, nothing else as shelter.’ 73 Thus when one reaches dhammakāya, according to Luang Pho Sot, one realizes that it is self, a true self that one can take refuge in. With this understanding, Luang Pho Sot interprets the statement that ‘all dhammas are notself’ (Dhp 277–280 and S III 134) as referring to all conditioned dhammas (saṅkhatadhamma). This statement does not refer to the unconditioned dhammakāya, as he has in meditation understood it to be the true self. Luang Pho Sot has found that the minds and bodies of the mundane bodies are still subject to the three characteristics and that there is no refuge to be found in them. However, when one reaches the dhammakāya, one realizes that it has the opposite characteristics. The mind of the dhammakāya is permanent, happy and self, and can be taken as a true refuge. Self in Luang Pho Sot’s sense is therefore linked to permanence, happiness and, most importantly, being a true refuge. It is important to point out that Luang Pho Sot tries to demonstrate that his understanding conforms to the authority of the Pāli canonical statements. This process is continued by Achan Sermchai, who tries to demonstrate that it is also in conformity with the Pāli commentaries and subcommentaries and views of respected Thai monks. For example, one of the respected Thai monks Achan Sermchai often cited and referred to is Saṅgharāja Phae Tissadevo (1856–1944), whose sermon ‘Attānudiṭṭhi’ (View of Self), published in a book titled Therapaññatti, argues that nibbāna is self.74 D III 77: attadīpā bhikkhave viharatha attasaraṇā anaññasaraṇā dhammadīpā dhammasaraṇā anaññasaraṇā. 74 Saṅgharāja Phae was the abbot of Wat Suthat Dhepwararam Rachaworamahawihan (Wat Suthat) and the 12th Saṅgharāja of Bangkok from 1938 to 1944. Today, he is known widely as the maker of the Wat Suthat amulets. See Phae Tissadevo (2001) and Phuttathamprathip (2001: back cover). For an English summary of 73 60 Moreover, according to Luang Pho Sot, nibbāna is located in the mind of the dhammakāya. When the Buddhas and arahants still possess the five aggregates, they can reach the state of nibbāna in their minds at the centre of their dhammakāyas. When the Buddhas and arahants pass away into final nibbāna, their five aggregates break up, and their dhammakāyas will forever dwell in āyatana (nibbāna). Luang Pho Sot connects these two types of nibbāna to two terms found in the nikāyas: 1) saupādisesa nibbānadhātu (nibbāna element realized with the five aggregates remaining); and 2) anupādisesa nibbānadhātu (nibbāna element without the five aggregates remaining) (for example, It 38‒39). The first term refers to the extinction of the defilements of greed, hatred and delusion, i.e. the attainment of the nibbāna while the Buddha and arahants are still alive; and the second refers to the state of nibbāna when the Buddha and arahants die. The word upādi, meaning ‘something that one grasps, to which one clings’, here refers to the five aggregates that the Buddha and arahants still possess while they are alive (Nyanatiloka 2004: 155‒6 and 202‒ 3). The commentaries term these two types of nibbāna elements as, firstly, kilesaparinibbāna, ‘the quenching of defilements’ at enlightenment, and, secondly, khandhaparinibbāna, ‘the quenching of the continuum of aggregates’ at the death of the Buddha and arahants (Bodhi 2000: 50).75 Saṅgharāja Phae’s and Achan Sermchai’s arguments regarding nibbāna as self, see my book, Nibbāna as self or not-self: Some contemporary Thai discussions (Potprecha 2009: Chapters 1 and 3). 75 For discussions regarding the two terms, see Hwang (2006: 14‒35), Collins: (2010: 39‒42) and Harvey (2012: 180‒2). 61 Another controversial aspect of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is the idea of nibbāna as a dwelling place or āyatana.76 When Luang Pho Sot describes nibbāna as a dwelling place, he does not mean that it is literally a physical dwelling place. According to his description of āyatana (nibbāna) in the Abbot’s handbook, it is an unconditioned, supra-mundane and supra-physical realm higher and more refined than three realms (63 sermons 1984: (319)). It is beyond the physical; there is no earth, no water, no fire, no wind, no sun, no moon, no going, no coming, no standing, no arising and no birth in it (63 sermons 1984: (319-‒-20)). When describing āyatana (nibbāna), Luang Pho Sot often cites the famous Udāna passage (Ud 80) to support his claim (for example, 63 sermons 1984: (319‒20)). It is one of the four suttas in the Udāna or ‘Spirited Utterances’ about which the Buddha instructed a group of monks regarding the state of nibbāna. It is a passage where nibbāna appears to be characterized as a real existing reality as opposed to merely the destruction of defilements, a controversial issue in early Buddhist thought:77 There is, monks, āyatana where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind, nor that base consisting of endless space, nor that base consisting of endless consciousness, nor that base consisting of nothingness, nor that base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, nor this world, nor the next world, nor both sun and moon in that āyatana. Monks, I do not This aspect along with the teaching of nibbāna as self were criticized during Luang Pho Sot’s lifetime: for example, see 63 sermons (1984: (26)‒(28)). Similar criticisms were also levelled at Dhammakaya Temple during its crisis around the year 1999. See, for example, Payutto (1999: 233) and Sathianphong (1999: 80). For discussions regarding the 1999 nibbāna debates and controversy, see Potprecha (2009: Chapter 2), Mackenzie (2007: 98‒102) and Scott (2009: 147‒149). 77 For discussions regarding the Ud 80 passage, see Collins (1998: 164‒166, 215‒216), Gethin (1998: 76‒ 77), and Williams and Tribe (2000: 49‒52). 76 62 speak of that āyatana that it is coming, or going, or remaining, or falling, or arising. That āyatana is without foundation, without occurrence, without object. This is the end of dukkha.78 2.3 Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti’s and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo’s teachings as sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of the practice of satipaṭṭhānas as extending to one’s inner bodies, feelings, minds and dhammas, as well as the human body, may seem unique and unusual to today’s practitioners. However, as this section will reveal, Luang Pho Sot adopted this practice from the teachings of two of his former teachers, namely Luang Pho Niam, Wat Noi and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi. Among the meditation teachers mentioned in Luang Pho Sot’s autobiography were the well-known masters of Suphanburi province, Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti, Wat Noi (1828–1909) and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, Wat Amphawan (1865–1933). Luang Pho Niam is today known for being the meditation teacher of many venerated monks in central Thailand. Apart from Luang Pho Sot, Luang Pho Niam also taught Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo; Luang Pho Pan Sonando, Wat Bang Khonom, Ayutthaya; and Phra Ratchaphromyan (Wira Ṭhāvaro), Wat Tha Sung, Uthai Thani. Luang Pho Sot knew all of Ud 80: atthi bhikkhave tad āyatanaṃ. yattha n’ eva paṭhavī na āpo na tejo na vāyo na ākāsānañcāyatanaṃ na viññāṇañcāyatanaṃ na ākiñcaññāyatanaṃ na nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṃ nāyaṃ loko na paraloko na ubho candimasuriyā. tam ahaṃ bhikkhave n’ eva āgatiṃ vadāmi na gatiṃ na ṭhitiṃ na cutiṃ. na uppattiṃ appatiṭṭhaṃ appavattaṃ anārammaṇam eva taṃ. es’ ev’ anto dukkhassā ti. 78 63 these monks well. He studied meditation under Luang Pho Niam at Wat Noi together with Luang Pho Pan Sonando and later taught Phra Ratchaphromyan. Phra Ratchaphromyan or, as he is popularly known, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam (Black Monkey Sage) was a meditation student of all of the above monks, including Luang Pho Sot. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam is known for founding the popular Manomayiddhi meditation tradition, for having given meditation instructions to King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX, r. 1946‒ 2016),79 and for making a number of famous prophesies on the future of Thailand. Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, a senior pupil of Luang Pho Niam, was Luang Pho Sot’s ordination-proclaiming teacher (anusāvanācāriya) at Wat Songphinong, Suphanburi.80 He was a good friend of Luang Pho Pan and the teacher of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam. As I have discovered in my research, this network of meditation teachers share similar understandings of nibbāna, the visions of the Buddha in meditation and the attainment of inner bodies. Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti was born in the reign of King Nangklao (Rama III, r. 1824‒ 1851) and died in the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V, r. 1868–1910).81 He ordained in Suphanburi and later moved to Bangkok to study the scriptures, meditation and other See, for example, Wat Tha Sung’s website: http://www.watthasung.com/wat/viewthread.php?tid=772. The anusāvanācāriya is the ordination-proclaiming teacher or the second ordination teacher. The anusāvanācāriya, together with the preceptor (upajjhāya) and the act-announcing teacher (kammavācācāriya), are the three main monks responsible for conducting an ordination ceremony. The kammavācācāriya and anusāvanācāriya are called the ‘chanting pair’ (khusuat) as their duties are to question the candidate on his suitability to be a monk and make a formal proposal to the gathering that he be admitted into the community. 81 The biographical information on Luang Pho Niam is taken from The biography of Luang Pho Niam Wat Noi, Khok Khram subdistrict Bang Plama district, Suphanburi province published in 2015. The book was compiled and edited by Saman Kanmon and Sutchai Sutthaphon to be distributed at the funeral of Wiphawan Tonsaiphet. The biography states that it obtained the information from different sources, including amulet magazines, the accounts of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, the accounts of the descendants of Luang Pho Niam’s relatives, other monks and lay students etc. (Saman 2015: 18, 24, 26 and 41). 79 80 64 sciences. The authors of the biography speculate that one of the monks he studied with in Bangkok was the famous Somdet To Brahmaraṃsī as Luang Pho Niam’s move to Bangkok coincided with the period of Somdet To’s residence at Wat Rakhang, Thonburi (Saman 2015: 25).82 They both lived in the Bangkok/Thonburi area around the early 1850s to early 1870s. The biography also speculated that he studied with Achan Chan at Wat Phlap (Saman 2015: 25). As I shall show below, Wat Phlap (Wat Ratchasittharam), at that time, was one of the main centres of meditation practice in Bangkok, which taught the method of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean. After living in Bangkok for 20 years, he went back to Suphanburi and was appointed the abbot of Wat Noi where he lived until his death in 1909 at the age of 81. The autobiography states that right after his ordination at Wat Songphinong, Luang Pho Sot went to study with Luang Pho Nong, and then later went to Wat Noi to study with Luang Pho Niam (63 sermons 1984: (3)). Thus they were Luang Pho Sot’s first two meditation teachers. Luang Pho Sot must have visited Luang Pho Niam between 1905 and 1909, the years of Luang Pho Sot’s ordination and Luang Pho Niam’s death. His visit to Wat Noi must have been due to the recommendation of Luang Pho Nong, who also studied with Luang Pho Niam. According to Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s account, Luang Pho Sot was particularly close to his teacher, Luang Pho Pan, as they both examined each other’s meditation progress while studying with Luang Pho Niam. Later, Luang Pho Pan Somdet To Brahmaraṃsī (1788‒1872), the late abbot of Wat Rakhang, Thonburi, is today regarded as one of the most prominent Thai Buddhist monastic teachers of the 19 th century, a holy monk whose legendary life, teaching methods, amulets and chanting texts are still widely known and revered today. He is widely considered an arahant or a bodhisattva, and his images are found in temples throughout Thailand. His amulets are known for their protective powers and are among the most expensive in the market. 82 65 recommended Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam to visit Wat Pakam for one month to study Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with Luang Pho Sot (Sangsuwan 1989: part 7). Luang Pho Niam’s biographers claim that he was adept in vāyo (wind) kasiṇa and possessed many higher knowledges and powers (abhiññā).83 The wind kasiṇa is one of the 10 kasiṇa exercises, which are external devices or objects of meditation aimed at developing mental concentration and the four jhānas.84 The biography is full of stories of Luang Pho Niam’s abilities to cure snake bites, read others’ minds, know the future, travel long distances in very short periods of time, etc. (Saman 2015: 12‒66). His amulets are, reportedly, sources of many miracles and are often mentioned in amulet collectors’ magazines and on their websites. Abhiññā consist of six higher knowledges and powers, five mundane: 1) supernatural powers (iddhi); 2) divine ear (dibbasota); 3) mind-reading ability (cetopariyañāṇa); 4) recollection of past lives (pubbenivāsānussati); and 5) divine eye (dibbacakkhu), and one supra-mundane: 6) cessation of mental intoxicants (āsavakkhaya). See, for example, Dasuttara Sutta (D III 272). 84 A list of 10 kasiṇas (earth, water, fire, wind, blue, yellow, red, white, space and consciousness) is mentioned in the nikāyas: for example, the Mahāsakuludāyi Sutta (M II 1). In chapters four and five of the Visuddhimagga (Vism 118‒177), the kasiṇas are included among the forty objects used for the development of samatha meditation. 83 66 Figure 2.4: Stūpa containing ashes of Luang Pho Niam and an image of Luang Niam at Wat Noi, Suphanburi (photograph taken by the author). 67 Figure 2.5: Painting of Luang Pho Niam at Wat Noi, Suphanburi, titled ‘Luang Pho Niam was compassionate to animals’ (photograph taken by the author). Worshippers like to offer miniature clay dogs as gifts to Luang Pho Niam. Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo was one of Luang Pho Niam’s most trusted students.85 According to Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, Luang Pho Niam is said to have told Luang Pho Pan that after he died, he should consult Luang Pho Nong for meditation guidance (Phra Ratchaphromyan 2005: 221). Luang Pho Nong received most of his meditation training from Luang Pho Niam. Initially, he intended to study in Bangkok and travelled to Wat Pho 85 Biographical information fromThe biography of Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo Wat Amphawan Songphinong subdistrict Suphanburi province, published by Wat Amphawan. The preface states that the book is written by ‘pupils of Luang Pho Nong’ and published on the occasion of the completion of a Maṇḍapa at Wat Amphawan dedicated to him. 68 to stay with his uncle, a high-ranking monk who held the ninth-grade Pāli. But upon seeing the collection of expensive antiques and other treasures among his uncle’s personal belongings, he felt disheartened and lost faith in Bangkok scholarly monks and he went back to Suphanburi to study with Achan Chan, Wat Thung Khok, his preceptor, and later with Luang Pho Niam (Wat Amphawan n.d.: 3–4). Like Luang Pho Niam, Luang Pho Nong is also known for his abhiññā and amulets. He was able to foretell events, and friends’ and students’ visits without prior notice. It is likely that Luang Pho Sot knew Luang Pho Nong prior to becoming a monk. Wat Amphawan, also known as Wat Klong Madan, is situated in Songphinong district, the same district as Wat Songphinong and where Luang Pho Sot was born. The two temples are walking distance from each other. There is a canal, Klong Madan, that connects Wat Amphawan to Wat Songphinong and the Tha Chin river. Thus it is possible that he may have known Luang Pho Nong, and visited and studied with him before his ordination. Apart from being the teacher of Luang Pho Sot and Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, Luang Pho Nong was also the act-announcing teacher (kammavācācāriya) of Luang Pho Sot’s nephew, Somdet Pun Puṇṇasiri of Wat Pho, the author of the first biography of Luang Pho Sot. As I mentioned above, Luang Pho Sot and Somdet Pun were both ordained at Wat Songphinong. Somdet Pun became the temporary abbot of Wat Paknam from 1959 to 1966 prior to becoming the abbot of Wat Pho and being appointed Saṅgharāja in 1971. 69 Figure 2.6: Photograph of Luang Pho Nong in Luang Pho Pan’s biography (Phra Ratchaphromyan 2005: iv). The caption states that Luang Pho Nong, like Luang Pho Pan, was a pupil of Luang Pho Niam. Luang Pho Niam told Luang Pho Pan: “[If] I die, Luang Pho Nong, Wat Klong Madan, is to replace me [as your teacher].” Luang Pho Nong died in a reclining posture. His corpse did not decay and appeared like he was sleeping 13 months after his death. 70 Figure 2.7: Shrine dedicated to Luang Pho Nong at Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi (photograph taken by the author). Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s accounts of his meditation trainings with them are mentioned in a book titled Pastime reading vol. 17.86 This book presents Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s understanding of nibbāna, their method of visualizing the Buddha image and visions of inner bodies in meditation. I came across this book by chance as I was browsing through Wat Thasung’s website while doing research regarding Luang Pho Sot’s influences outside the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam visited Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong around the years 1936 and 1937. He visited Luang Pho Nong twice หนังสืออ่านเล่น เล่มที่ ๑๗. Published in 1989 by Wat Tha Sung, Uthai Thani province, the book is divided into eight parts: 1) Prophesies of the Buddha; 2) ‒ 4) Meditation training with Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo; 5) ‒ 6) Meditation training with Luang Pho Niam; 7) and 8) Accounts of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s forest wandering with Luang Pho Pan. The book is out of print, but its internet version can be downloaded from Wat Tha Sung’s website: http://www.watthasung.com/wat/viewthread.php?tid=1598. 86 71 before visiting Luang Pho Niam, and this book records these visits in chronological order. His visits were due to the recommendations of Luang Pho Pan, his main teacher. As I mentioned above, Luang Pho Pan and Luang Pho Sot practised meditation together under Luang Pho Niam’s guidance. In the first part, titled ‘Prophecies of the Buddha’,87 Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam states that there have been many monks who were able to visit nibbāna and communicate with the Buddha in meditation. These monks convinced him to abandon the view that ‘nibbāna is a state that is void’ (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 1).88 These monks include: Luang Pho Niam; Luang Pho Nong; Luang Pho Pan Sonando; Luang Pho Chong, Wat Natang Nok, Ayutthaya; and Luang Pho Sang, Wat Namtao, Ayutthaya (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 1).89 In parts 2 and 3 of this book, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam recounts his visit to Luang Pho Nong. He states that Luang Pho Nong is an important meditation master who was able to ‘communicate with Buddhas and arahants’ in nibbāna (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 2). There is not much detail on Luang Pho Nong’s meditation method. However, from various passages in parts 2 and 3 of this book, it can be summarized that Luang Pho Nong taught the method of contemplation of the body (kāyagatāsati), contemplating the different parts and organs, in conjunction with buddhānussati, the visualization of various Buddhas in 87 88 พุทธพยากรณ์. นิพพานมีสภาพสูญ. 89 Very little information regarding Luang Pho Chong (1872‒1964) and Luang Pho Sang (1894‒?) is provided by Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam. Luang Pho Pan’s biography states that Luang Pho Pan instructed Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam to follow Luang Pho Chong into the forest and practise meditation under his guidance (Phra Ratchaphromyan 2005: v). Luang Pho Sang was a student of Luang Pho Chong; Luang Pho Sun, Wat Bang Plamo, Ayutthaya; and Luang Pho Pan, Wat Phikun, Ayutthaya (Phra Ratchaphromyan 2005: vi). They were both widely respected meditation masters of Ayutthaya whose amulets are also well known and often featured in amulet collectors’ magazines (for biographical information see Piyanai 2017b and Saksi 2018). 72 one’s head and chest accompanied by the recitation of the word ‘buddho’. With regard to the recollection of the Buddha, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam states that he was able to visualize two Buddhas in his chest: the Buddha Gotama and an unamed paccekabuddha; and two Buddhas in his head: the Buddha Dīpaṅkara and the Buddha Kassapa (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 3). It is not stated why these four Buddhas were chosen. The Buddha Dīpaṅkara is, in the Theravāda tradition, the 24th Buddha prior to the Buddha Gotama and the one who predicted the Buddha Gotama’s future enlightenment. The Buddha Kassapa is the Buddha immediately prior to the Buddha Gotama. In the Mahāpadāna Sutta (D II 1), the Buddha Kassapa is listed sixth among the six previous Buddhas and the third Buddha of this fortunate aoen, Gotama Buddha being the fourth of this aeon. He was born into the Brahman caste and had a lifespan of 20,000 years. These two Buddhas appear in the late canonical text Buddhavaṃsa in the Khuddaka Nikāya among the list of 28 Buddhas of the past and present.90 A paccekabuddha or solitary/silent Buddha is a type of Buddha who achieves enlightenment by himself but, unlike the fully enlightened Buddha, does not lead others to enlightenment and does not establish a dispensation. Perhaps the point of visualizing the Buddhas Dīpaṅkara and Kassapa is that they are first and last: the Buddha Dīpaṅkara is the Buddha before whom Buddha Gotama first makes his bodhisatta vow and the Buddha Kassapa is the last Buddha prior to Buddha Gotama’s enlightenment. The most interesting figure here is the paccekabuddha. Solitary Buddhas are rarely mentioned in the Pāli canonical texts. For example, in the Isigili Sutta (M III 68), 500 90 For a discussion of the lineages of previous Buddhas, see Reynolds (1997: 19‒39). 73 solitary Buddhas are said to have dwelt in the Isigili mountain near Rājagaha. In Darīmukha Jātaka (No. 378, J III 244), the bodhisatta, the king of Magadha, had a friend named Darīmukha who achieves pacceka enlightenment, and after 40 years he visits the king and preaches to him the benefits of renunciation. The bodhisatta, inspired by Darīmukha’s sermon, renounces his kingdom and becomes an ascetic. Solitary Buddhas practise their perfections for at least 2,000 asaṅkheyya kappas (incalculable aeons); although they do not lead others to attain nibbāna, they can act as recipients of offerings and their ethical teachings can lead others to heavenly rebirths (Malalasekera 2007: 94‒5). They are important figures in Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s Manomayiddhi tradition. The paccekabuddha mantra is often given in Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s sermons and books and there is a vihāra dedicated to them at Wat Tha Sung. Having seen the four Buddhas constantly every day in his body, he is taught to master the eight jhānas and cultivate the insight knowledges (vipassanāñāṇa). Having completed this stage, he was able to visit nibbāna. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam states that whenever Luang Pho Nong wanted to teach, he would purify his mind to rid it of the five hindrances and the ten fetters (saṃyojana), and when his mind is endowed with the insight knowledges (vipassanāñāṇa) and without attachment (upadāna), he would invite the Buddha in nibbāna to preach to his students (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 3). The Buddha would emit one of the rays of six colours (chabbaṇaraṃsī) into Luang Pho Nong’s mind, which would cause him to speak according to the Buddha’s words (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 3).91 ฉัพพรรณรังสี. The rays of six colours are found in the commentary to the Dhammasaṅgaṇi (Dhs-a 13). It is stated that the Buddha’s body emits these rays at the end of the fourth week after enlightenment when he contemplates the Paṭṭhāna. The Paṭṭhāna is the last book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, which provides a 91 74 The state of nibbāna, according to Luang Pho Nong, is as follows: Many of you may think nibbāna is void. When it is void, how can one meet them [the Buddhas and arahants]. This is the scholars’ view. But for the practitioners who have acquired at least the three knowledges [vijjā] and further, it is not beyond their capacities. It is certainly possible. Because nibbāna is void, but void only of defilements, void of evil. Its true nature, which is that the citta’s power, is not void, and has a deva state. They said that it is a special deva state that does not move anywhere. (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 2)92 Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam explains that not moving anywhere here means that one is no longer reborn in saṃsāra (cycle of rebirths) and no longer receives the fruits of bad kamma (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 2). He further adds that Luang Pho Nong is a well-respected master, revered even by the highest-ranking monks of Bangkok. When Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya (Luang Pho Heng) of Wat Mahathat wanted to perform the ceremony of burying boundary stones (luknimit) at Wat Pat Khlong Songphinong, he was willing to wait for Luang Pho Nong all night and did not begin the ceremony until Luang Pho Nong detailed examination of causal conditioning. It enumerates and explains the 24 types of paccayas or modes of conditionality in order to demonstrate the conditioned nature of all mental and physical phenomena (Nyanatiloka 2004: 125). ่ ญไปแล ้วจะพบกันได ้อย่างไร นี่นักตารา แต่ว่านักปฏิบต ้ วช ้ หลายท่านคิดว่า นิ พพานมีสภาพสูญ ในเมือสู ั เิ ขาได ้ตังแต่ ิ ชาสามขึนไป ้ ่ เขาบอกว่า ไม่ใช่ของเกินวิสยั มันเป็ นของทาได ้แน่ นอน เพราะนิ พพานนันสูญจริง สูญแต่กเิ ลส สูญแต่ความชัว แต่ว่าตัวจริงๆคือ กาลัง ่ จิตไม่สูญไปด ้วย มีความเป็ นทิพย ์ เขาเรียกว่าทิพย ์พิเศษไม่มก ี ารเคลือนไหวไปทางไหนอี ก. 92 75 was present. When Luang Pho Nong arrived the next morning, Luang Pho Heng asked for Luang Pho Nong’s instructions and performed the ceremony exactly according to his advice (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 4). It is believed that these instructions did not come from Luang Pho Nong, but the Buddha himself (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 4). Parts 5 and 6 of the book record the accounts of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s meditation training under Luang Pho Niam. Not long after Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam returned to Wat Bang Khonom, Ayutthaya, from Wat Amphawan, he was sent by Luang Pho Pan back to Suphanburi to see Luang Pho Niam at Wat Noi. When he first saw Luang Pho Niam, Luang Pho Niam had the appearance of a very old man of almost 80, but when Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam went to receive meditation lessons in Luang Pho Niam’s meditation hut, Luang Pho Niam’s appearance had miraculously changed to a young man in his late twenties and was almost unrecognizable (Phra Ratcha Promyan 1989: 5). It is explained that Luang Pho Niam, like his student, Luang Pho Nong, was ‘a monk who is overlapped by the Buddha’.93 The young person whom Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam saw was not Luang Pho Niam but the Buddha who had assumed94 Luang Pho Niam’s body (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 5). Luang Pho Niam’s meditation method consists of contemplating the 32 parts of the body as unattractive (asubha).95 He also taught the cultivation of eight jhānas, insight knowledges, and using those to purify one’s mind from the 10 fetters. 93 94 พระซ ้อนพระ. สวมกาย. 95 The canonical standard list of parts of the body, for example, in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (D II 290) and Kāyagatāsati Sutta (M III 88), consists of 31 parts: head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, undigested food, faeces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin oil, saliva, mucus, fluid in the joints and urine. However, in two places in the Khuddaka Nikāya (Paṭis I 6 and Khp 3) and in the Visuddhimagga (240), the brain (matthaluṅga) is mentioned as the 32nd part. 76 The most important aspect in Luang Pho Niam’s teaching is his understanding of the contemplation of the body (kāyagatāsati). According to Luang Pho Niam, in order to understand the contemplation of the body in greater depth, one has to be able to see one’s inner bodies and the bodies of devas and brahmā, and the bodies of stream enterers (sotāpanna), once returners (sakadāgāmī), non-returners (anāgāmī), and arahants who have passed into nibbāna and compare one’s bodies with theirs: When our bodies are bad, made up of the four elements assembled together and having 32 characteristics, full of dirtiness and repulsiveness, we turn to see the bodies that are devas, bodies of gods, bodies of goddesses, bodies of brahmās, bodies of arahants and Buddhas who have passed into nibbāna. They are better than our bodies. Then, look at our inner bodies. Our outer bodies are dirty, but are our inner bodies radiant? We must always see our inner bodies as being as radiant as the noble ones’ [ariyas]. [...] Like the stream enterers who have already died, look at our bodies, are our inner bodies as beautiful as theirs? The once returners and non-returners as well, are we like them? If not like them, then, it is not good enough, we are still very bad. Then, look at the bodies of arahants, how beautiful they are. Are our inner bodies as beautiful as theirs? If not, then, we are still very bad. (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 6)96 ่ างกายของเรามันก็เลว มันเป็ นธาตุ ๔ ทีเข ่ ้าประชุมกัน มีอาการ ๓๒ เต็มไปด ้วยความสกปรกโสโครก เราหันไปดูรา่ งกายที่ ในเมือร่ ่ านนิ พพานแล ้ว ดีกว่าร่างกายนี ้ แล ้วก็ เป็ นทิพย ์ ร่างกายเทวดา ร่างกายนางฟ้ า ร่างกายพรหม ร่างกายพระอรหันต ์ และพระพุทธเจ ้าทีท่ จงดูรา่ งกายภายในของเรา กายภายนอกมันสกปรก กายภายในเราผ่องใสไหม ต ้องดูรา่ งกายภายในให้ผ่องใสคลา้ ย พระอริยเจ ้าไว ้ เสมอๆ […] อย่างพระโสดาบัน ท่านตายไปแล ้ว ดูรา่ งกายของเรา สวยเหมือนท่านไหม ร่างกายภายใน และพระสกิทาคามี อนาคามีก็ 96 77 Luang Pho Niam further instructs Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam to constantly purify his mind and inner bodies until they become as pure and as beautiful as the arahants’ (Phra Ratcha Promayan 1989: 6). Luang Pho Niam understands nibbāna as a special deva state that is beyond the states of devas and brahmā: Nibbāna still has a deva state. Deva that is beyond brahmā. The first type of devas is the gods and goddesses in heaven. The second type of devas is the brahmās. The third type of devas is nibbāna, the highest deva. (Phra Ratcha Promyan 1989: 5)97 I visited both temples and received confirmations from Phra Khru Baitika Samat (Khantivaro), the abbot of Wat Noi, and Phra Khru Inthasuwankhun (Achan Phi), the abbot of Wat Amphawan, that Luang Pho Sot was a meditation student of Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong, respectively.98 However, they were unable to provide me with further information regarding Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s lives and teachings. Sammā Arahaṃ meditation Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong เหมือนกัน เหมือนท่านไหม ถ ้าไม่เหมือนท่าน ยังใช ้ไม่ได ้ ยังเลวมาก ต่อไปก็ให้ดูรา่ งกายพระอรหันต ์ท่านสวยขนาดไหน ร่างกายของ เราสวยถึงขนาดนั้นแล ้วหรือยัง ร่างกายภายใน ถ ้ายัง ก็ถอ ื ว่า เรายังเลวมาก. 97 นิ พพานยังมีสภาพเป็ นทิพย ์ ทิพย ์ยิงกว่ ่ าพรหม ความเป็ นทิพย ์อันดับแรกคือ เทวดา หรือนางฟ้ า สวรรค ์ ทิพย ์ที่ ๒ ก็คอ ื พรหม ทิพย ์ ที่ ๓ ก็คอ ื นิ พพาน ทิพย ์สูงสุด. 98 On 4 January 2017. 78 Extension of the four satipaṭṭhānas to Extension of kāyagatāsati to include the include inner bodies and the feelings, inner bodies as well as the human body cittas and dhammas of the inner bodies as well as the human body Visions of the practitioner’s inner bodies Visions of the practitioner’s inner bodies which correspond to the bodies of devas, in comparison with the bodies of devas, brahmā, formless brahmā and the brahmā and all the noble persons who dhammakāyas of all noble persons have died (ariyapuggalas) The vision of dhammakāya appearing The vision of the Buddha overlapping the like a translucent Buddha image practitioner’s body; no mention of overlapping the practitioner’s body dhammakāya Hierarchy of inner bodies including both Hierarchy of inner bodies; no division into coarse and refined bodies coarse and refined bodies Nibbāna as an unconditioned realm Nibbāna as a special deva state that is (āyatana) where one could see the higher than brahmā and beyond saṃsāra dhammakāyas of the enlightened ones where one could see and come into contact with the Buddha Seven bodily bases including the head Two bodily bases: the head and the chest and the chest Visualization of a cystal sphere; no Visualization of four Buddhas in one’s visualization of previous and present head and one’s chest; no mention of Buddhas and paccekabuddha visualization of a crystal sphere 79 Recitation of sammā arahaṃ Recitation of buddho Table 2.1: Main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the teachings of Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong The above table shows the main similarities and differences between Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the teachings of Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong. For the sake of clarity, I shall group these two teachers’ teachings together as I assume that as Luang Pho Nong was Luang Pho Niam’s most trusted student, they both practise the same or similar visualization methods and share the same understanding of the contemplation of the body (kāyagatāsati) and the hierarchy of inner bodies. Some of the similarities are apparent to the extent that it is clear that Luang Pho Sot has borrowed and adapted these aspects and incorporated them into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Although there is no mention of the term dhammakāya and no description of it as appearing like a translucent Buddha image, the vision of a Buddha ‘overlapping’ one’s body in the two masters’ teachings is very similar to the vision of dhammakāya as having the same centre (seventh base) as the human body but bigger in size. As I shall show below, the visions of the Buddha and spiritual bodies also appear in other traditional meditation texts, for example in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean of Wat Ratchasittharam’s tradition, in Cambodian texts examined by François Bizot and in Wat Pradusongtham Ayutthaya’s text in the Chai Yasothonrat’s anthology. Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong connect these visions to the practice of kāyagatāsati. This extension of kāyagatāsati to include the inner 80 bodies is, in my opinion, one of the major influences on Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s visions of inner bodies are seen in comparison with the bodies of devas, brahmā and every single type of noble person who has died as well. This hierarchy of inner bodies and the maintaining of one’s body to be as radiant as the noble ones’ are major influences on Luang Pho Sot’s development of the 18-body system, and the understanding of different levels of dhammakāyas as corresponding to the different types of ariyapuggalas. Whereas Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s contemplation, being based on kāyagatāsati, consists of being mindful of the inner bodies, Luang Pho Sot, by incorporating the practice of four satipaṭṭhānas into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, extends Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s contemplation further to include the feelings, cittas and dhammas of the inner bodies as well. Luang Pho Sot also extends Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s list of inner bodies into the coarse and refined versions of each type and also adds refined human and formless brahmā bodies to the list. However, there is no mention of comparing one’s body with the bodies of other individuals in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. As Luang Pho Sot views the inner bodies as manifesting simultaneously when the purity of mind of that level is achieved, it is assumed that one would know which level one is at when one sees each of the inner bodies. Moreover, Luang Pho Nong’s and Luang Pho Niam’s understanding of nibbāna as a special deva state that is higher than brahmā and beyond saṃsāra is also an influence on Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of nibbāna. Although there is no mention of attā, 81 dhammakāya and āyatana (nibbāna) in Luang Pho Nong’s and Luang Pho Niam’s teachings, their understanding that Buddhas and arahants in nibbāna still possess some kind of supra-mundane cittas and bodies, and can be seen, contacted and invited to preach in the human world, bears certain similarities to Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of the dhammakāya of Buddhas and arahants dwelling in āyatana (nibbāna). The understanding that past Buddhas and arahants in nibbāna still possess some kind of supra-mundane cittas and can be contacted is also found in the teachings of one of the most influential Thammayut figures: Achan Man Bhūridatta (1871–1949). Achan Man Bhūridatta or Luang Pu Man was the founder of the modern Thai forest tradition and is today widely revered as an arahant. His students include Achan Waen Sucinno (1888– 1985), Achan Maha Boowa Ñāṇasampanno (1913–2011), Achan Cha Subhaddo (1918– 92), Achan Fan Acaro (1898–1977), Achan Thet Thetrangsi (1902–94), Achan Lee Dhammadharo (1907–61) and Achan Wiriyang Sirindharo (1920‒) who themselves became well known and widely venerated Buddhist teachers. Within Achan Man’s tradition, there is a belief that past Buddhas and arahants are not completely extinguished after they die, but still exist as ‘purified minds’ and can assume conventional forms. The account is taken from Achan Maha Boowa’s biography of Achan Man. Achan Maha Boowa began composing Achan Man’s biography in 1969, 20 years after Achan Man’s death. It was published in a weekly magazine, Si Sapda, from 1969 to 1971. The following is my translation of the 1971 edition of the biography published by Mahamakut Buddhist University. 82 According to Achan Maha Boowa, shortly after Achan Man attained nibbāna in the Chiang Dao cave in Chiang Mai, Achan Man was visited by past Buddhas and arahants. Achan Man asked the Buddha how they could appear resembling the human form when they had already attained anupādisesa nibbāna (nibbāna without the remainder of the five aggregates). The Buddha explained that Achan Man had indeed seen the real Buddhas and arahants, but his vision was a manifestation of conventional forms. The Buddhas and arahants ultimately exist as purified minds: What is the real Tathāgata? It is the purity of the mind that you have already seen. The Tathāgata, who has come in this body, has come only in the conventional [sammuti] form […] If the other side [i.e. Achan Man] has purity of mind, but still possesses the conventional body, the anupādisesa nibbāna side [i.e. the Buddha] must manifest the conventional to him. That is, they must come in the conventional form, which is a temporary tool. If both sides were anupādisesa nibbāna, and having no conventional part remaining, then the Tathāgata would not need to manifest any conventionality. (Maha Boowa 1971: 144)99 ์ งใจทีเธอเห็ ่ ่ พระตถาคตแท้คอ ื อะไร คือความบริสุทธิแห่ นแล ้วนั้นแล ทีพระตถาคตมาในร่ างนี ้ มาในร่าacงแห่งสมมุตต ิ ่างหาก […] ถ ้า ่ ์ อีกฝ่ ายหนึ งแม้มค ี วามบริสุทธิทางใจดว้ ยดีแล ้ว แต่ยงั ครองร่างอันเป็ นส่วมสมมุตอ ิ ยู่ ฝ่ ายอนุ ปาทิเสสนิ พพาน ก็ต ้องแสดงสมมุตต ิ อบรับ ่ ่ กัน คือต ้องมาร่างสมมุตซ ิ งเป็ ึ่ นเครืองใช ้ชัวคราวได ้ ถ ้าต่างฝ่ ายต่างเป็ นฝ่ ายอนุ ปาทิเสสนิ พพานด ้วยกันแล ้วไม่มส ี ่วนสมมุตเิ หลืออยู่ ่ ตถาคตก็ไม่มส ี มมุตอ ิ น ั ใดมาแสดงเพืออะไรอี ก. 99 83 When required to contact the conventional, the liberated [vimutti] must, for appropriateness, manifest itself separately in the conventional way. If among the completely liberated, for example a purified mind knowing and seeing another purified mind, it is merely knowing and seeing. There is no manifestation involved. But when [you, i.e. Achan Man] wish to know the characteristics and features of purity, [the Tathāgata] must bring in the conventional to help manifest the liberated. This enables [you] to know by way of general conventional signs that the liberated has the characteristics of being void of all mental images [nimittas], has an individual brightness and is more peaceful than anything. (Maha Boowa 1971: 144‒145)100 Achan Maha Boowa (1971: 145) adds that whether or not the Buddhas and arahants appeared to Achan Man, Achan Man has always understood the Trip Gems as purity without conventionality, and that this understanding coincides with the saying ‘Whoever sees the Dhamma, sees me, the Tathāgata’ (Ap 467). According to Achan Man, the ‘vimutti’ or ‘liberated’ minds of the Buddhas and arahants have ‘an individual brightness’, still in some way remain after they have entered parinibbāna and can assume a conventional form in order to come into contact with the awakened ones who still possess the five aggregates. The only way to have a vision of the Buddha is to achieve purity of mind. ่ งต ้องเกียวกั ่ ่ เมือยั บสมมุตใิ นเวลาต ้องการอยู่ วิมุตก ิ ็จาต ้องแยกแสดงออกโดยทางสมมุตเิ พือความเหมาะสม ถ ้าเป็ นวิมุตล ิ ว้ นๆเช่นจิต ่ ์ ่ ์ ้ ่ ้ ่ ้องการทราบลักษณะอาการของความ ทีบริสุทธิรู ้เห็นจิตทีบริสุทธิด ้วยกันก็เพียงรู ้เห็นอยู่เท่านัน ไม่มท ี างแสดงให้รู ้ยิงกว่านันไปได ้ เมือต ้ บริสุทธิว่์ าเป็ นอย่างไรบ้าง ก็จาต ้องนาสมมุตเิ ข ้ามาช่วยเสริมให้วม ิ ุตเิ ด่นขึนพอมี ทางทราบกันได ้ว่าวิมุตม ิ ล ี ก ั ษณะว่างเปล่าจากนิ มต ิ ทัง้ ่ ปวง มีความสว่างไสวประจาตัว มีความสงบสุขเหนื อสิงใดๆเป็ นต ้น. 100 84 Moreover, another influential Thammayut figure, namely the 19th Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, Somdet Phra Yansangwon (Charoen Suvaḍḍhano), the late abbot of Wat Bowonniwet (1912–2013), also held a similar understanding of nibbāna. In a collection of Dhamma sermons titled Saeng song chai (Illuminating the heart) published by Wat Bowonniwet in May 2007, the Supreme Patriarch recalls the above episode in Achan Man’s biography and states that this account has made him realize something that he has never realized before: Somdet Phra Sammā Sambuddha Chao [the Buddha] and Phra Arahanta Chao [the arahants] still exist in the city of nibbāna and were not reborn into this and that as those ordinary beings who have passed from this world, who are controlled by the fruits of their defilements and karma, still do. But the great master [the Buddha] and Phra Arahanta Chao [the arahants] have no karma that causes them to be reborn. For they are far from defilements – birth and becoming has ended for them – and will no longer face the suffering of being reborn. (Yansangwon 2007: 17‒18)101 Somdet Phra Yansangwon explains further that the Buddha and arahants that are in ‘the city of nibbāna’ are still aware of what goes on in the world and will appear to those who 101 สมเด็จพระบรมศาสดาสัมมาสัมพุทธเจ ้าและพระอรหันตเจ ้ายังอยู่ในเมืองพระนิ พพาน มิไดไปเกิดเป็ นอะไรต่อมิอะไรเช่นปุถุชน ้ ้นทีละโลกไปแล ่ ่ ผลแห่งกิเลสหรือผลแห่งกรรมควบคุมอยู่ […] แต่สมเด็จพระบรมศาสดาทรงไม่มก ทังนั ้ว ทีมี ี รรม และพระอรหันตเจ ้า ้ ่ งให้ต ้องเวียนว่ายตายเกิดเพราะกิเลสไกลแล ้วอย่างสินเชิ ้ ง ภพชาติจงึ สินแล ้ ทังหลายไม่ มก ี รรม ทีจะส่ ้ว ไม่ต ้องพบทุกข ์ของการเกิดอีก ต่อไป. 85 are ‘worthy’, i.e. Achan Man (Yansangwon 2007: 18). This understanding of nibbāna and the nature of past Buddhas and arahants are, therefore, neither unique to Luang Pho Niam, Luang Pho Nong and Luang Pho Sot nor confined to the Mahānikāya lineage. As I shall discuss below, the epithet of nibbāna as a ‘city’ is most likely derived from older sources as similar epithets of nibbāna as a place are found in a number of borān kammaṭṭhana texts. Other aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, such as the visions of the spheres associated with various attainments of the Buddhist path, the sammā arahaṃ mantra and the seven bodily bases as a path to the centre of the body, which are not present in Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s teachings, are common characteristics of the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition and found in many traditional meditation texts in mainland Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. 2.4 Aspects of traditional Theravāda meditation practices in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation Over the last 40 years, there has been a development in research on a certain meditation tradition found in Theravāda Buddhism that appears to be markedly different from the meditation found in the ‘rationalistic monolithic Theravāda presented in many secondary sources’ (Crosby 2000: 141). This tradition, which consists of the form of collections of meditation texts and practices currently found in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos with certain similar distinctive features, first became the subject of Western academic 86 studies through the publication of The Yogāvacara’s manual of Indian mysticism by T.W. Rhys Davids, and then, from the 1970s to the 1990s, a series of publications by François Bizot focusing on traditional Cambodian Buddhism.102 There is as yet no general consensus among scholars of Buddhism as to the name, definition and scope of these practices and beliefs, or even whether it is possible to distinguish them as a single separate tradition as opposed to simply a variety of ‘old’ traditions. Recent publications by Kate Crosby, Andrew Skilton and Amal Gunasena (2012), Crosby (2013), Skilton and Phibul Choompolpaisal (2014 and 2015) refer to this meditation tradition as ‘borān yogāvacara kammaṭṭhāna’ or ‘borān kammaṭṭhāna’. This borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, which, according to Crosby’s (2013: ix) findings, can be traced as far back as the sixteenth century, was widespread in the Theravāda region at the beginning of the modern era and practised at court, among the monastic hierarchy and in rural contexts, but was marginalized during the nineteenth- and twentieth-century reforms. The phrase borān kammaṭṭhāna, ‘traditional/ancient/old meditation’, is derived from the Thai/Khmer word borān ‘old/traditional’ and the Pāli word kammaṭṭhāna, which is a standard term for ‘meditation’ in Theravāda Buddhism. Although the word borān is written the same way as the Pāli word purāṇa, it is not used with the same connotations (Crosby 2013: 155). A Thai compilation of texts of this tradition, Phuttharangsi thritsadiyan book 102 For example, Bizot (1976, 1988 and 1992). 87 of samatha and vipassanā meditation of the four reigns (Chai Yasothonrat anthology),103 whose details I shall discuss below, also uses another similar phrase, ‘kammaṭṭhāna baeb borān/kao’ or traditional/old form of meditation (see Chai 1935: 2). It should be noted, however, that borān kammaṭṭhāna appears to be an anglicized version of the phrase, as according to the correct syntax in Thai and Khmer the expression should be ‘kammaṭṭhāna borān’. The Pāli word yogāvacara, on the other hand, means ‘practitioner of spiritual discipline’, and is derived from the first text of this tradition to be published in the West, the Yogāvacara’s manual, a Sinhalese-Pāli meditation manual found in Bambaragalavihāra, near Kandy, Sri Lanka, in 1893. It was edited and published in 1896 by T.W. Rhys Davids, and translated as Manual of a mystic by F.L. Woodward in 1916. The term is also found in texts examined by Bizot. However, it should again be noted that there is nothing distinctive in this usage as the term is widespread throughout the Visuddhimagga and Pāli commentaries. The Yogāvacara’s manual was published in isolation at the time when Western scholarship did not possess enough understanding of the tradition to adequately interpret its practices. However, after Bizot’s groundbreaking textual and anthropological research into the living tradition in Cambodia beginning with Le figuier à cinq branches in 1976, a clearer picture of the tradition and its practices began to emerge. His works were supplemented by the research of his francophone colleagues such as Catherine Becchetti, Oskar von Hinüber, หนังสือพุทธรังษีธฤษดีญาณ ว่าด ้วยสมถะและวิปัสสนากัมมัฏฐานสียุ่ ค. It is a compilation of seven collections of meditation manuscripts obtained by Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando) and Phra Mahājotipañño (Chai Yasothonrat) from Ubon Ratchathani, Lopburi, Ayutthaya and Bangkok. 103 88 François Lagirarde, Olivier de Bernon etc., working mainly on Cambodian sources.104 These were summarized in English by several scholars, notably Lance Cousins (1997), Ian Harris (2005) and in Kate Crosby’s ‘Tantric Theravāda: A bibliographic essay on the writings of François Bizot and others on the Yogāvacara tradition’, published in 2000. The first publications in English following F.L. Woodward’s (1916) Manual of a mystic are two articles by Donald Swearer (1995a and 1995b) and Mettanando’s PhD thesis (1998), which provide translations and commentaries on several northern and central Thai and Laotian borān kammaṭṭhāna texts. As mentioned above, Mettanando’s thesis is of particular importance as it introduces the Chai Yasothonrat anthology or Phuttharangsi thritsadiyan book of samatha and vipassanā meditation of the four reigns and the meditation system of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (1733‒1822) to Western scholarship. The Chai Yasothonrat anthology is by far the largest collection of borān kammaṭṭhāna texts to be published and consists of seven collections of meditation manuscripts obtained by Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando) and Phra Mahājotipañño (Chai Yasothonrat) from Ubon Ratchathani, Lopburi, Ayutthaya and Bangkok, namely: 1. Vientiane meditation manuals composed by Supreme Patriarch Sutthisomphrammanachan 12 Kawi, Somdet Phra Mahawichaithat Rajamahamuni and Phra Mahatheraphutrangsi Bawonmuniyan 2. Meditation manuals from Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya 104 See, for example, Becchetti (1991), Bizot and von Hinüber (1994), Bizot and Lagirarde (1996), and de Bernon (2000). 89 3. Thonburi and Bangkok period meditation manuals composed by Supreme Patriarch Suk Kai Thuean and Supreme Patriarch Don, Wat Mahathat The book is extremely important as it provides evidence of borān kammaṭṭhāna being practised and taught by the Thai and Laotian monastic establishments prior to the nineteenth-century reforms. Also in this anthology is a collection of eighteenth-century meditation manuals from Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya (Chai 1935: 267‒308 and 319‒ 373), which I shall discuss below as one of the confirmed sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Wat Pradusongtham’s and Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s systems are among the few living borān kammaṭṭhāna systems still being practised and taught at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya, and Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi, respectively. The Suk Kai Thuean system (also known as Kammathan Matchima Baep Lamdap) has since received a number of academic studies: for example, Newell’s PhD thesis (2008), Patrick Ong’s MA thesis (2011)105 and two recent articles by Skilton and Choompolpaisal (2014 and 2015). In 2015, the Thammayut nikāya reprinted the Chai Yasothonrat anthology on the occasion of the nineteenth Saṅgharāja Somdet Phra Yansangwon’s royal cremation (Thammayuttika 2015). The book is titled Traditional/Old meditation manuals.106 Its content is exactly the same as the Chai Yasothonrat’s anthology but the editor, Thammayut nikāya, rearranged the order of the manuscripts and added another meditation manual titled Ong’s thesis has been published as The Supreme Patriarch and his walking stick: The meditation legacy of Suk Kaithuean and its implications for Theravada Buddhism in Thailand (2013). 105 106 ตารากรรมฐานโบราณ. 90 Mūlakammaṭṭhāna Rom107 from Wat Methang, Chiangmai, in the north of Thailand. Mūlakammaṭṭhāna Rom was composed by Gandhiya Bhikkhu in 1875 but was based on an earlier manuscript by Khru Ba Kanchon Thera from Prae (1789–1878) who became the abbot of Wat Phra Sing in 1859 (Thammayuttika 2015: 143–160). Another recent research on the Thai borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition is the PhD thesis of Kitchai Urkasame (2013), which provides translations and commentaries on several Thai palm leaf manuscripts in Tham scripts, including the Dhammakāya verses from Wat Pasak Noi, San Kampaeng, Chiang Mai. The Dhammakāya verses, which are identified by Bizot (1992: 293) as a borān kammaṭṭhāna (yogāvacara) text, are found throughout Thailand and Cambodia. Inscriptions of these verses dated 1549 were found inside the cetiya of Wat Suea, Phitsanulok, Thailand, and provide the earliest evidence of the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition. With regard to the Sri Lankan borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, Crosby’s recent research reveals a much wider existence of the tradition in Sri Lanka than has previously been documented. Two important Sri Lankan texts, which are believed to have been imported into Sri Lanka in 1750s from the royal house of Ayutthaya of Siam (Thailand), have been ‘discovered’. Firstly, her article with Andrew Skilton and Amal Gunasena (2012) introduces ‘Sutta on Understanding Death’, a Sinhalese meditation manual regarding the story of Princess Citta who must find gems hidden in a fig tree with five branches, a text whose Khmer and Lanna versions have been previously identified by Bizot and 107 มูลกรรมฐานรอม. 91 Lagirarde.108 Secondly, her book Traditional Theravada meditation and its modern-era suppression, published in 2013, introduces another Sri Lankan manual, Amatākaravaṇṇanā, a Pāli-Sinhala meditation manual, also believed to have been imported from Siam in the 1750s. It was held in the Nevill collection of the British Library and in the Museum für Indische Kunst in Berlin. The book also provides a systematic presentation of the evidence of borān kammaṭṭhāna in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka and the various historical and cultural conditions leading to their suppression and marginalization in the modern era. Myanmar is so far the only Theravāda Buddhist country in which no evidence of borān kammaṭṭhāna has previously been recorded. However, Skilton and Choompolpaisal (2015: 208) mention their forthcoming publication regarding a recent identification of a Mon tradition that may close this gap and provide evidence that borān kammaṭṭhāna was practised across the whole of the Theravāda region. I shall now present Bizot’s and Crosby’s summaries of the common and distinctive characteristics and the various scholarly discussions regarding the tradition’s history, practices and names. Bizot, in La pureté par les mots (Bizot and Lagirarde 1996), summarizes the tradition’s practice as follows: The yogāvacara must: 108 See Bizot’s Le figuier à cinq branches (1976) and Crosby, Skilton and Gunasena (2012: 178). 92 1. Memorise the stages of the embryonic development (with their alphabetic equivalents) which form the stages of his own formation; 2. Through these stages build himself another body using the organs and constituents that are the letters, i.e. the portions of the Dhamma; 3. Become conscious that this new body which he is going to produce outside of himself, first takes form within him, in his stomach at the level of the navel, taking the form of a Buddha the height of a thumb; 4. Pursue and achieve in this life the construction of this immortal vehicle because it leads the person who possesses it to Nibbāna, in that it takes the place of the spent physical form at the moment of death. (translated in Crosby 2000: 170) La pureté par les mots is the work of 11 scholars and discusses the text Saddavimala (Purity by sound), which has been widely circulated in Southeast Asia. The above summary is derived from various texts of the tradition, but in particular is based on Le chemin de Laṅkā, textes bouddhiques du Cambodge (Bizot 1992), which discusses a meditation text found in Cambodia, preserved in a mixture of Khmer, Pāli and Thai whose title (The Road to Lanka) the work is named after (see Crosby 2000: 156). Despite the mention of Lanka, Bizot believes this text to be of Thai origin. In her summary of Bizot and other scholars, Crosby further points out the distinctive features of this tradition (Crosby 2000: 141): 93 1. The creation of a Buddha within through the performance of a ritual by placing and recognising within one’s body the qualities of the Buddha, which in turn become the Buddha. This Buddha then replaces the unenlightened, physical individual at death. 2. The use of sacred language, combined with microcosm to macrocosm identity. Sacred syllables or phrases are used to represent a large entity. Groups of syllables of a particular number represent other significant groups of the same number. This use of sacred language includes use of heart syllables (akin to Mahāyāna dhāraṇī), mantras and yantras. 3. Sacred language as the creative principle. The Dhamma arises out of the Pali alphabet and sacred syllables. This refers to formation of Dhamma in all senses of the term: in the sense of spiritual teaching, in the sense of the qualities of a Buddha, and also Dhamma in the sense of the material and living world. 4. The application of the substitution of items and the substituted item then being treated as the original. 5. Esoteric interpretations of words, objects and myths that otherwise have a standard exoteric meaning or purpose in Theravāda Buddhism 6. The necessity of initiation prior to the performance of a ritual or practice. 94 7. The application of the methodologies outlined above to both soteriological ends, i.e., the pursuit of Nibbāna, and worldly ends, such as healing, longevity, protection, invincibility and, potentially, the harming of others. (Crosby 2000: 141–142) Another important characteristic identified by Crosby (2000: 142) and Harris (2005: 94) is the significance of Abhidhamma categories and the books of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. An example of this is the northern Thai text ‘Summary of the Seven Books of the Abhidhamma’, translated by Swearer (1995), in which syllables symbolizing the seven books of the Abhidhamma are said to ‘create human beings’, ‘the body, bodily faculties and the mind’ and have astrological significance assigned to the days of the week (Swearer 1995: 337). Although not all characteristics mentioned above are present in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, one particular aspect appears to be very similar, namely the practice of constructing another body within oneself in the form of a Buddha at the level of the navel, which leads the practitioner to nibbāna. In borān kammaṭṭhāna, the practitioner takes one or several of 40 meditation subjects mentioned in the Visuddhimagga and aspects of the meditative path, all of which are to be seen as luminous sphere nimittas, and internalizes them by drawing them via the nostrils and down through the energy centres of the body to the level of the navel, to be deposited at the practitioner’s ‘womb’. According to Crosby (2013: 93), the visions of the nimittas vary in different borān kammaṭṭhāna texts, but are usually experienced as spheres of light 95 and may be marked by Pāli syllables. The practitioner, then, combines these nimittas in various possible permutations, i.e. by placing them in and around the body in different sequences and orders, and in doing so he/she is bringing each element of the Buddha into his/her body and creating a Buddha within (Crosby 2013: 15–16). Through the process of substitution, these nimitta light spheres and Pāli syllables can represent qualities, concepts, objects and aspects of meditation, the qualities of the substituted being retained in the substitute (Crosby 2013: 93). This process is, of course, similar to the basic level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, in which a nimitta of a crystal sphere is moved along the seven bodily bases from the nostril to two finger widths above the navel. The idea of the Buddha within is also similar to the vision of dhammakāya within the practitioner’s inner minds and bodies. The sphere nimittas and the vision of the Buddha appearing at the navel have been identified in several borān kammaṭṭhāna texts. For example, Bizot (1992: 211‒224; summarized in Crosby 2000: 158), translating the Cambodian text The Road to Lanka (Phlūv Braḥ Dhamma Laṅkā), mentions the ‘sphere of the mind’ (tuoṅ citta), which the practitioner sees in the centre of the navel. Later in the same text, the practitioner sees the Buddha in his navel, ‘radiating six colours’, and within the Buddha, the Dhamma and the ‘sphere of the Saṅgha’ (1992: 211‒224; Crosby 2000: 159). Another important example of this is the mention of the attainment of ‘Buddho sphere’ in Achan Maha Boowa’s biography of Achan Man Bhūridatta (1871–1949), the founder of the modern Thai forest tradition. In a conversation with the hill tribes of Chiang Mai, Achan 96 Man describes the ‘Buddho sphere’, a treasure of the Buddha to be found within one’s body, which enables one to gain knowledge of all three worlds. The following is my translation: ‘Buddho’ is a glass sphere that is precious in the three realms. It is a sphere of cleverness, knowing all in the three worlds […] The Venerable [sphere] is very bright, brighter than 100 and 1,000 suns. For the sun cannot illuminate heaven and hell to be seen, but the ‘Buddho sphere’ can illuminate all […] ‘Buddho’ is a bright glass sphere of numerous and uncountable colours. ‘Buddho’ is the splendid treasure of the Buddha. ‘Buddho’ is a bright body of knowledge, and not material. (Maha Boowa 1971: 166‒167)109 Achan Man, then, instructs the hill people to practise walking and sitting meditation, reciting the word ‘Buddho’ and keeping their minds within their bodies in order to find this sphere (Maha Boowa 1971: 167). These descriptions of the ‘Buddho’ sphere as ‘a bright glass sphere of numerous and uncountable colours’, ‘precious in the three realms’ and ‘the splendid treasure of the Buddha’, to be found within the body of the practitioner, indicate an aspect of borān kammaṭṭhāna in Achan Man’s teachings. The usage of the Thai honorific ‘Than’, which can be translated as ‘Venerable’, to designate the ‘Buddho’ sphere is also a characteristic of borān kammaṭṭhāna. As I shall discuss below, in Saṅgharāja Suk 109 ่ าพระอาทิตย ์ตั่งร ้อย พุทโธเป็ นดวงแก ้วอันประเสริฐเลิศโลกในไตรภพเป็ นดวงฉลาดรอบรู ้ทั่วไตรโลกธาตุ […] ท่านสว่างมาก ยิงกว่ ดวงพันดวง เพราะอาทิตย ์ไม่สามารถส่องเห็นนรก-สวรรค ์ได ้ แต่ดวงพุทโธสามารถส่องเห็นหมด […] พุทโธเป็ นดวงแก ้วสว่างไสวและมี ้ นสมบัตอิ น หลายสีจนนับไม่ได ้ พุทโธนี เป็ ั วิเศษของพระพุทธเจ ้า พุทโธเป็ นองค ์แห่งความรู ้ความสว่างไสวไม่เป็ นวัตถุ. 97 Kai Thuean’s meditation, the honorifics ‘Phra’ (Honourable) and ‘Chao’ (Majesty) apply not only to persons but also to meditation subjects, which are to be seen as light spheres in the body as well. In Saṅgharāja Suk’s tradition, the honorifics indicate these spheres as ‘a living presence of an exalted status that can be experienced’ (Skilton and Choompolpaisal 2014: 93). Crosby’s characteristics of taking syllables of a particular number to represent other significant groups of the same number and the practice of substitution of items are also noted by McDaniel (2011: 103–4), who identified these practices as involving ‘manipulating letters, sounds and movements (like the names of the Buddhas of the past, the days of the week, the names of the years, the parts of the body and the five khandhas) in an algebraic logic to achieve desired ends. These names, letters, sounds and so on are all possible Xs and Ys that can be shifted around and used to replace unknowns. Knowing when and where these primary numbers can be used to replace unknowns is one of the powers of the monk or lay ritualists. For example, in Cambodian borān kammaṭṭhāna texts, syllables of the mantra ‘namo buddhāya’, which in Pāli means ‘praise the Buddha’, are identified with the names of past and future Buddhas, various bodily bases, the virtues of mother and father, and different colours of light (Crosby 2000: 158). A similar equation can also be found in Thailand, in which ‘namo buddhāya’ is used to evoke past and future Buddhas, the five aggregates, the five elements etc. Na refers to the Buddha Kakusandha, form and the water element; mo to the Buddha Konagamana, feelings and the earth element; bu to the Buddha Kassapa, perception and the fire element; ddhā to the Buddha Gotama, mental formations and the air element; and ya to the future Buddha Metteyya, 98 consciousness and the atmosphere. Moreover, the five syllables also correspond to different colours, parts of the body, eras of Indian time and letters of the Pāli alphabet. The syllables are sometimes depicted in pictorial form as the island of Lanka (McDaniel 2011: 104). Despite the widespread use of these practices in the Theravāda region at the beginning of the modern era, borān kammaṭṭhāna has greatly declined since the colonial period. The causes, according to Crosby (2013: 10), were the separation of science and religion and the colonial removal of structures underlying the technologies of transformation that informed borān kammaṭṭhāna. These traditional technologies, such as Indic Ayurvedic obstetrics, group theory mathematics, generative grammar and alchemy, which were a part of healing, ritual and meditation practices associated with the traditional role of Buddhist monks, were dismissed, discarded and/or suppressed in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka from the beginning of the colonial period, and relegated to the spheres of ‘magic’ and ‘superstition’ as mainstream Buddhism was increasingly defined as ‘an other-worldly and rational/scientific religion’ (Crosby 2013: 54). In Sri Lanka, the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, which was brought from Ayutthaya to the Kandyan court by the missions of the 1750s to revive the saṅgha, seems to have died out by the end of the nineteenth century, and when the meditation manual associated with this mission was discovered by Hugh Nevill, it had already fallen into disuse (Crosby 2013: 106-‒7). In Cambodia, a country that was once the centre of borān kammaṭṭhāna with lineages extending back possibly to even earlier than the sixteenth century, during the Pol Pot regime, the tradition seemed to have been on the verge of extinction as most of the 99 country’s 65,000 monks disappeared, defrocked, disrobed and murdered by the Khmer Rouge (Harris 2013: 174 note 15). Crosby (2013: 103‒4) observes that a teacher of this tradition, Venerable Phong Vorn of Wat Damrei Sar, north-east of Phnom Penh, who died in 2002, concerned lest his meditation tradition should die out, asked an experienced female disciple to teach it, which went against Cambodian custom. Borān kammaṭṭhāna, however, was revived for a brief period during the 1990s, but struggled to sustain itself because of the lack of experienced practitioners and those who could understand and master its texts (Crosby 2013: 104). In Thailand, one of the oldest surviving traditional meditations, the system of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (1733‒1822), which was made the standard practice at the 1821 Council (saṅghāyanā) of Meditation Practice during the reign of King Rama II (1809‒1824), is today practised and taught only in one temple, Wat Ratchasittharam.110 Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro (Phra Khru Sitthisangwon), the current lineage holder at Wat Ratchasittaram, bears the sole responsibility for preserving and passing on the tradition. However, despite their marginalization, some borān kammaṭṭhāna methods survived and practices that are derived from and/or influenced by borān kammaṭṭhāna are still widely performed today. For example, McDaniel (2011: 104) links the practices and beliefs found in borān kammaṭṭhāna texts to one of the most popular chants in Thailand, the Jinapañjaragāthā. The Jinapañjaragāthā (Thai: Khatha Chinabanchon) or The Verses on the Victor’s Armour, whose popularization is attributed to Somdet To of Wat Rakhang, Bangkok, is a chanting and protective text composed in Pāli. Its date and author are unknown. This text evokes past Buddhas and arahants to dwell at various places of the 110 For more information regarding the rehearsal see Wira Ṭhānavīro (2012: 408). 100 body to offer protection: 28 Buddhas are evoked on the head of the reciter; the Dhamma in the eyes; the arahants, suttas and parittas in/on various other parts of the body. Today, this text, along with other famous chants such as the Jayamaṅgalagāthā, is distributed in temples all over Thailand in the form of pamphlets, leaflets, CDs and DVDs. It has also been printed on pillowcases and sold in shopping malls. The identification of the Buddhas, etc. with various bases of the body conforms to characteristics of the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition. Moreover, the Jinapañjaragāthā also suggests the practices of tattooing and meditation. It is supposed to be chanted on Thursdays and is used to infuse amulets with power. Borān kammaṭṭhāna and its related beliefs and practices in the understanding of the body, the internalization of stages of meditation in the practitioner’s navel through the various energy channels, the use of sacred languages, initiation rituals, transmission in closed teacher-pupil lineages, and ‘a mythology that personifies forces of good and evil’ show similarities with Indo-Tibetan tantra (Crosby 2013: 4). This led Bizot, Crosby, Swearer, Finot, Ray, Lagirarde and Strong in some publications to refer to a range of practices related to borān kammaṭṭhāna as ‘tantric Theravāda’ (see McDaniel 2012: 103 and Crosby 2000: 141–42). Cousins, in his 1997 article, terms this tradition ‘Esoteric Southern Buddhism’. Some scholars, however, question the use of the terms ‘tantric’ and ‘esoteric’ to describe the tradition. Harris (2005: 94), discussing the works of Bizot, finds the term ‘tantric Theravāda’ problematic as, according to him, there is no independent evidence to support 101 the theory of a syncretization between Theravāda and tantric ideas. He argues that the terminology and doctrinal background of all textual records appear to be entirely Theravāda and that the cycle of divinities characteristics of the Hindu and Buddhist tantras are absent. Crosby (2013: 4) observes similarly that Vajrayāna Buddhist concepts, doctrines and practices, such as tāntrikas, deity yoga, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha, are not found in borān kammaṭṭhāna, but only the concepts, doctrines and practices of Theravāda Abhidhamma, Visuddhimagga and commentarial texts are found. McDaniel (2012: 100–7) argues that some texts and practices related to this tradition, such as the Jinapañjaragāthā, are still commonly found today and are neither secretive nor reserved for initiates or the ordained. Thus to call this tradition ‘tantric’ and ‘esoteric’ can be misleading because it suggests that these practices and texts are not mainstream, are hidden, difficult to understand and only practised by ritual experts. Moreover, the term ‘tantra’ is associated with certain areas and traditions of northern Buddhism, such as Kashmir, Tibet and Shingon Buddhism in Japan etc., and it is also an umbrella term that covers a wide range of diverse Hindu and Buddhist practices (McDaniel 2012: 106). McDaniel (2012: 107) also questions the use of the term yogāvacara as it is a vague and broad term, and although used in Cambodian sources, it is generally not found in Thai texts or stated explicitly by Thai practitioners. As I have already noted, yogāvacara is a Pāli term found throughout the Visuddhimagga and Pāli commentaries. It is used to refer to the practitioner who is devoted to mental training. Likewise, borān kammaṭṭhāna also consists of broad terms referring to traditional/old meditation, terms that other old meditation 102 traditions not belonging to this tradition would also call themselves. For example, the meditation method of Somdet Phra Wannarat (Thap Buddhasiri) (1806‒1891) of Wat Sommanat, Bangkok, whose details I shall discuss below, could be called a traditional/old meditation method, but it does not conform to the characteristics of borān kammaṭṭhāna as outlined by Bizot and others. The Chai Yasothonrat anthology describes itself as a collection of traditional meditation texts (kammaṭṭhāna baeb borān) (Chai 1935: 2), but among this collection are the teachings of a Thammayut monk, Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando). Although Phra Upāli took an interest in collecting and preserving traditional meditation manuals, many of his teachings, including ones presented in this anthology, contain very little borān kammaṭṭhāna features. It is clear that the anthology neither views these teachings as part of a separate tradition from the rest of the anthology nor sees the rest of the anthology as an integrated coherent system or tradition, but a diverse range of practices. Moreover, many texts and practices of this tradition do not see themselves as constituting a single tradition separate from the Pāli or Theravāda tradition more generally. It is still unclear whether the practitioners of these different methods would accept the other practices grouped under the umbrella term borān kammaṭṭhāna as belonging to the same tradition. However, despite these limitations, I shall refer to this group of meditation texts and practices with characteristics similar to the ones described above as borān kammaṭṭhāna. Therefore, certain elements that make up Sammā Arahaṃ meditation are not at all unique, but rather are common characteristics found in many important meditation texts and practised and taught by influential figures in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia prior to Luang 103 Pho Sot. I have identified four main features of borān kammaṭṭhāna that are related to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. These are: 1) visions of the bright spheres, which are associated with various attainments of the Buddhist path; 2) the ___location of bodily bases for the practice of visualization; 3) the attainment of spiritual bodies and dhamma body (dhammakāya); and 4) the epithet of nibbāna as a place. Although features 3 and 4 are not listed by Bizot and Crosby as common features of borān kammaṭṭhāna, they have been found in a number of important borān kammaṭṭhāna texts. However, there are also many aspects of borān kammaṭṭhāna that are absent or significantly downplayed in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation: for example, aspects such as the use of sacred syllables, combined with microcosm to macrocosm identity; the application of the substitution of items and the substituted items then being treated as the original; the esoteric interpretations of words, objects and myths; the references to Abhidhamma categories; and initiation rituals. These are absent in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The usage of mantras and the association of meditation practice with embryonic development are downplayed in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The only ‘mantra’ used in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is the words sammā arahaṃ. However, unlike the treatment of the syllables ‘namo buddhāya’ as described above, Luang Pho Sot neither treats sammā arahaṃ as sacred syllables nor identifies them with other significant groups of the same number. His understanding of these words is that they solely represent the qualities of the Buddha and their recitation the practice of recollection of the Buddha. They are not written down in ancient scripts, drawn in yantras, visualized nor associated with other concepts except the wisdom and purity of the Buddha. 104 Moreover, the spheres and inner bodies in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation are not described as nimittas, but actual visual manifestations of the attainments of the Buddhist path. Luang Pho Sot sees them as manifesting simultaneously when each of the attainments is achieved. They are thus the same entity as the attainments themselves, and not their substitutes or representations. Embryonic development is briefly and occasionally mentioned with regard to the seven bodily bases. Luang Pho Sot describes the path to the centre of the body as corresponding to an individual following the seven bases and descending into the mother’s womb before being reborn at conception. However, he does not provide any further connection between embryonic development and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is also not an esoteric meditation tradition. Luang Pho Sot made the technique available to the public. Even the higher levels have been made available through the publication of the Abbot’s handbook. There are no initiation rituals or transmission in closed teacher-pupil lineages involved in its practice. As I shall mention below, one of the teachers recognized by Wat Paknam, Phra Khru Phawana Sitthikhun (Bancha Sirivijjayo), the abbot of Wat Mongkhonthep, Chachoengsao, claims that his training of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation has been completely self-taught. I shall now discuss two borān kammaṭṭhāna meditation manuals from the late Ayutthaya and early Bangkok periods (eighteenth to nineteenth centuries) and two living meditation traditions connected to these manuals whose practices have been confirmed to have influenced Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation: 105 1. Eighteenth- to nineteenth-century meditation manual composed by Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean and the living tradition at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi 2. Eighteenth-century meditation manual and the living tradition at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya As mentioned above, the meditation system of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean has been confirmed by the research of Newell (2008) to be one of the sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. With regard to Wat Pradusongtham, this research confirms that Luang Pho Sot took up residence and studied meditation under a renowned lay meditation master, Achan Chap Suwan (1883‒1958), at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya, prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. 2.4.1 Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation manual and living tradition at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi The first borān kammaṭṭhāna system to be confirmed as one of the sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is ‘Kammathan Matchima Baep Lamdap’111 of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (1733‒1822). Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean or ‘Somdet Suk’ was born during the reign of King Boromakot of Ayutthaya (1733‒1758) and died during the reign of King Rama II (1809‒1824). His meditation method is believed to have been the predominant form of meditation in Bangkok during the reigns of Rama I, II, III and IV as Saṅgharāja กรรมฐานมัชฌิมาแบบลาดับ translated as ‘the progressive training of the mind in the middle way employing meditation subjects’ (Skilton and Choompolpaisal 2014: 90). 111 106 Suk taught meditation to all four kings of the House of Chakri (Wira 2012: 27).112 Saṅgharāja Suk was abbot of Wat Thahoi, a temple belonging to the forest tradition, in Ayutthaya. After King Taksin of Thonburi (r. 1767‒82) was deposed, Saṅgharāja Suk, who was believed to be a non-returner (anāgāmī), was invited by Rama I to the new city of Bangkok to reside at Wat Phlap as the head of meditation (Wira 2012: 27 and 74).113 Wat Ratchasittharam was later built by Rama I next to Wat Phlap. The two temples then merged to become a single temple and has been known as Wat Ratchasittharam up to the present day. Saṅgharāja Suk was appointed the Supreme Patriarch in 1819 by order of Rama II, a position he held for two years. A renowned teacher and meditation master, Saṅgharāja Suk headed the council that conducted the purification (saṅghāyanā) of meditation practices in 1821. The council, whose members comprised mostly Saṅgharāja Suk’s students, was set up by order of King Rama II to examine meditation practitioners throughout Bangkok (Wira 2012: 408). According to Saṅgharāja Suk’s biography, it was his Kammathan Matchima Baep Lamdap system that was made the standard practice at the council (Wira 2012: 408‒10). The second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh Supreme Patriarchs of the Bangkok era, and the famous Somdet To Brahmaraṃsī of Wat Rakhang (1788–1872), were also among Saṅgharāja Suk’s meditation students (Wira 2012: 27). In addition to his reputation as a meditation master, Saṅgharāja Suk is also known for his amulets, of which he made two models: Phra Krueang Wat Phlap and Somdet Wat Phlap. For a biography of Saṅgharāja Suk see Wira Ṭhānavīro (2012), which can be downloaded from Wat Ratchasittharam’s website. 113 พระราชาคณะฝ่ ายวิปัสสนาธุระ ‘Phra Rachakhana Fai Wipatsanathura’. 112 107 Figure 2.8: Image of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean at Wat Ratchasittharam (photograph taken by the author). Saṅgharāja Suk’s meditation system is still practised today at Wat Ratchasittharam, Thonburi, and the living tradition is discussed in Newell (2008), Ong (2011), and Skilton and Choompolpaisal (2014 and 2015). The basic levels of this system consist of the recitation of mantras, the visualization of sphere nimittas along various bodily bases and the use of monastic devices such as the luk sakots to aid concentration. The samatha or calm meditation stage consists of 13 meditation subjects, the first four being the rooms of: 1) five delights or joys (pīti); 2) six pairs (yugala); 3) bodily and mental happiness (kāyasukha and cittasukha); and 4) mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati). 108 The five delights section is discussed in detail in Skilton and Choompolpaisal (2014). This section consists of the practitioner experiencing the five kinds of delights both as bodily sensations and also to be seen as light spheres. The five delights, namely minor joy (khuddhakā-pīti), momentary joy (khaṇikā-pīti), showering joy (okkantikā-pīti), uplifting joy (ubbegā-pīti) and pervading joy (pharaṇā-pīti), and their equivalent light spheres are given the honorifics of ‘Phra’ and ‘Chao’. These last two terms, which can be translated as ‘honourable’ and ‘majesty’, indicate that they are to be experienced as ‘tangible’ and ‘living entities’ of ‘exalted status’ that are ‘to be honoured’ (Skilton and Choompolpaisal 2014: 93‒4). Moreover, the light spheres in Saṅgharāja Suk’s system are also called ‘dhamma sphere’ (duang tham). Once the light spheres are invoked by the practitioner, they are moved around the body at various bodily bases between the nostril and the navel in specific patterns and sequences. The dhamma sphere is, of course, a very important vision in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. As mentioned above, the dhamma sphere, also called the dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere, indicates a visual manifestation of an attainment and is one of the most often used terms in Luang Pho Sot’s meditation teachings. Each inner body from the refined human to dhammakāya arahatta also has a dhamma sphere and is endowed with the qualities specific to that particular body and attainment. For example, the dhamma sphere of the human body appears when one achieves purity of body, speech and mind; the dhamma sphere of the brahmā body when one attains first, second, third and fourth jhānas; the dhamma sphere of dhammakāya sotāpanna when one abandons sakkāyadiṭṭhi (false view 109 of the individual), vicikicchā (doubt) and sīlabbataparāmāsa (adherence to rules and rituals) etc. As I shall argue below, the coining of the dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere is another example of Luang Pho Sot reinterpreting borān kammaṭṭhāna practices in terms of the four satipaṭṭhānas. One of the devices employed at the conclusion of each of the three foundation levels is the luk sakots, balls made of lead that look like the pips of a fruit. Luk sakots are studded on a candle that is balanced on a T-shaped wooden object. The object is then placed on the mouth of an alms bowl. As the practitioner meditates, the candle is lit and the luk sakots drop into the alms bowl with a loud noise. The sound is aimed at training the practitioner’s mind to remain in concentration and not to be distracted by loud noises, and also serves as an auditory signal to alert the practitioner to set the mind at a different point along the torso (Ong 2011: 101). Different-coloured light spheres are experienced at different stages, and at the end of each session the practitioner must discuss these experiences with the meditation teacher. To progress to higher levels the practitioner must experience the correct visions. The first jhāna is achieved at the completion of the seventh stage, in which the practitioner contemplates the repulsiveness of the body. Deeper levels of concentration culminating in the four formless absorptions follow, and after thirteen levels of samatha meditation, the practitioner moves on to practise vipassanā meditation, of which there are nine levels. However, because of their esoteric nature, the higher levels of samatha and vipassanā meditation are not disclosed to the public. 110 As mentioned above, Mettanando (1998: 25–6) was the first scholar to introduce the Chai Yasothonrat anthology to an English language audience. In his analysis of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation text in the anthology, he observes that the text is composed of three independent parts. The first part consists of instructions for the practice of calm and insight meditation, and the second is a description of the five kinds of joy (pīti) and their association with the five Buddhas of this aeon, different colours, the five elements and the mantra namo buddhāya. The third part of the text contains the description of the nine bodily bases and their application in meditation, healing and solving personal problems, and contains magical diagrams, drawings, mantras, puzzles and cryptic phrases (Mettanando 1998: 25–6). This part is the longest part of the text. In her attempt to find the precursor of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Newell (2008: 209), following Mettanando, came across the Chai Yasothonrat anthology, and in her analysis of Saṅgharāja Suk’s text, she finds similarities between his system, the Sri Lankan Yogāvacara’s manual (Woodward 1916) and the characteristics of borān kammaṭṭhāna. Newell links this manuscript to Luang Pho Sot’s biographical note that at one point he had studied meditation at Wat Ratchasittharam and practised the visualization method until he was able to see a sphere at the centre of the diaphragm (Newell 2008: 82). Newell (2008: 67), following Wat Luang Pho Sot’s biography, mentions eight temples and meditation masters whom Luang Pho Sot studied with. She goes on to cite Magness (2007: 5), who claims that at the ‘fifth centre’, Luang Pho Sot managed to achieve a vision of a bright sphere in his diaphragm and was elected to teach by his teacher (Newell 2008: 67). 111 Newell saw the list of eight temples and teachers in Wat Luang Pho Sot’s biography and assumed that this fifth centre was Wat Ratchasittharam. However, according to his autobiography, the fifth centre where Luang Pho Sot achieved a vision of the bright sphere is actually Wat Lakorntham, which is the fifth centre in the autobiography.114 For it is stated explicitly in the biography by Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, the late deputy abbot and head of meditation at Wat Paknam, that Luang Pho Sot achieved this vision while he was studying with Achan Sing at Wat Lakorntham (63 sermons 1984: (45)). Moreover, the autobiography also mentions that he was elected to teach by not only one, but two of his meditation teachers. After Luang Pho Sot visited Wat Ratchasittharam, he went to study with Phra Khru Yanwirat (Po) of Wat Pho and Achan Sing Wat Lakhontham (63 sermons 1984 (3)) until they were both satisfied with his progress and invited him to become a meditation teacher of their traditions, but as he felt that he was not ready to teach, he declined their offers (63 sermons 1984: (3)). According to Newell’s comparison of Saṅgharāja Suk and Luang Pho Sot’s systems, both systems make use of the sammā arahaṃ mantra and share the use of the vision of a sphere (Newell 2008: 256). Sammā arahaṃ are repeated in both the pīti and ānāpānasati sections and are also mentioned on page 215 in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology, towards the end of Saṅgharāja Suk’s text. Moreover, the illustration of Saṅgharāja Suk’s method also shows 114 As I mentioned above, the autobiography only lists five teachers and centres in chronological order, namely: 1) Luang Pho Nong, Wat Amphawan; 2) Luang Pho Niam, Wat Noi; 3) Achan Aium, Wat Ratchasittharam; 4) Phra Khru Yanwirat (Po), Wat Pho; and 5) Achan Sing, Wat Lakorntham (63 Sermons 1984: (3)). 112 a figure in meditation with the bodily bases, similar to the one utilized by Luang Pho Sot as described above. Newell shows two different illustrations of the bodily bases, one from Saṅgharāja Suk’s system consisting of nine bases and the other from Luang Pho Sot’s seven-base diagram, which show great similarities to the extent that it is clear that Luang Pho Sot may have borrowed the diagram of the bodily bases from the Chai Yasothonrat anthology (Newell 2008: 257). Her hypothesis was then confirmed when she went to Wat Ratchasittharam and was informed by Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro (Phra Khru Sitthisangwon), the meditation instructor and lineage holder, that Luang Pho Sot had studied at the temple and adopted Saṅgharāja Suk’s system. In Saṅgharāja Suk’s system, the bodily base diagrams are employed in several levels of samatha meditation. For example, in the fourth level, in which the practitioner performs mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati), the practitioner focuses on fixing the mind at nine specific bodily bases located along the breathing passage from the tip of the nose down to the navel. Awareness of these points is aimed at helping the practitioner mindfully to follow the breath as it moves in and out of the body while contacting these specific areas. As the practitioner’s mind is fixed on each of the bodily bases, nimittas specific to each base arise (Skilton and Choompolpaisal 2015: 222). Identifying the correct nimittas at each ___location enables the practitioner to move on to the next stage. I find this aspect of employing the bodily bases as contact points to observe the in- and outbreaths as the nimitta moves from the nose to the navel particularly similar to the preliminary level in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, the usage 113 of the first to sixth bodily bases ends at the level of parikamma nimitta (preliminary sign), and the rest of its practice is focused on stopping still at the seventh base, two finger widths above the navel. The seventh base is where most of Sammā Arahaṃ’s practice occur, whereas in Saṅgharāja Suk’s system, the nine bases are used much more frequently at different levels, and applied to various purposes. Apart from the goal of achieving mental concentration, in Saṅgharāja Suk’s system the nine bodily bases, together with the five joys, mantras and nimittas, are also used in healing. The Chai Yasothonrat anthology (following Mettanando’s translation) states that: The meditator who has mastered both the technique of cultivation of inner peace (samatha) and insight meditation (wipassanā) can transfer a wellestablished visualized image which he has cultivated, or any member of the five joys (pīti) which he has well cultivated, or a visualized image of the relic of the Buddha (ong-phra-thāt) to one of the nine Bases and work according to the specific purposes, for warding off pain and curing diseases. (Mettanando 1998: 90–91) Ong (2011: 63) adds that in Saṅgharāja Suk’s system, mental concentration is employed to shift or move the bases of the four elements inside the body to cure illnesses. The unclean wind or ‘lom’ can be moved by the concentrated mind to one of the nine bodily bases to be expelled through exhalation or via the anus. This is also assisted through the use of nimittas and mantras. 114 The second part of Saṅgharāja Suk’s text in Chai Yasothonrat’s anthology contains another aspect of borān kammaṭṭhāna, namely groups of syllables of a particular number representing other significant groups of the same number (Crosby 2000: 141‒142). The ubiquitous mantra namo buddhāya is again mentioned and linked not only to different colours, five elements, five Buddhas of this aeon and five animal symbols, but also to the five joys arising in meditation. The five joys are given the honorifics of ‘Phra’ and ‘Chao’ here and are translated as ‘honourable majesty’. I have made some modifications to Mettanando’s translation as follows: The [honourable majesty] minor joy [phra khuddhakā-pīti chao] is the Lord [Kakusandha] Buddha whose symbol is a cock. Giving thrills to the body hair and head hair to stand on end, the earth element [paṭhavī-dhātu] of 21 attributes. The [honourable majesty] momentary joy [phra khaṇikā-pīti chao] is the Lord [Koṇāgamana] Buddha whose symbol is a serpent, giving a glaring quality like of spark of a lighter, the fire element [tejo-dhātu] of six attributes. The [honourable majesty showering] joy [phra okkantikā-pīti chao] is the Lord Kassapa Buddha whose symbol is a turtle, giving oscillating body movement, the water element [āpo-dhātu] of 12 attributes. 115 The [honourable majesty uplifting] joy [phra ubbegā-pīti chao] is the Lord Gotama Buddha whose symbol is a bull, giving a towering body, either to the front or to the back, the wind element [vāyo-dhātu] of seven attributes. The [honourable majesty] pervading joy [phra pharaṇā-pīti chao] is the Lord Metteyya Buddha whose symbol is a lion king with an ability to create a tingling sensation over the skin surface, giving a towering body, either to the front or to the back, the [air] element [ākāsa-dhātu] of ten attributes. (Mettanando 1998: 84–5) The attributes of the five joys, 56 in total, correspond to the 56 syllables of the iti pi so formula. This Pāli formula, as mentioned above, is found throughout the Pāli canon and describes the qualities of the Buddha. This characteristic is, of course, not found in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. I shall now discuss two more aspects in Saṅgharāja Suk’s tradition, which also influenced Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely the visions of one’s inner bodies and the epithet of nibbāna as a place. In Saṅgharāja Suk’s manual in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology (1935: 253), there are references to visions of ‘one’s own body decorated with a crown, a necklace and a breast chain’. Towards the end of Saṅgharāja Suk’s text, two pages after the reference to the sammā arahaṃ mantra, it describes the practice of mindfulness of breathing, reciting of the mantra ‘buddho’ and the attainments 116 of the five joys; then the text instructs the meditator to take the Buddha’s qualities as a refuge and a vision of ‘one’s own body decorated with a crown, a necklace and a breast chain’ will appear.115 The text does not state exactly where this vision is to appear, but its description bears a lot of similarities to the vision of the celestial or deva body, which appears around the meditator’s body in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The crude and refined deva body is seen after the refined human body and prior to the crude brahmā body. The picture below is an illustration of the crude and refined deva bodies in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (Saman: 2000: 272). Figure 2.9: Illustration of the crude and refined deva bodies in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (Saman 2000: 272). 115 ่ ปรากฏเห็นรูปร่างตนเอง ทรงเครืองมงกุ ฎสร ้อยสังวาลย ์. 117 Furthermore, the description of nibbāna as ‘the glass city’ is briefly mentioned in Saṅgharāja Suk’s biography. The biography, compiled and edited by Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro (Phra Khru Sitthisangwon), the current and only lineage holder of the tradition, makes this reference at the end of the accounts of Saṅgharāja Suk’s two-year meditation training at Wat Rongchang, Ayutthaya, prior to his residency as the abbot of Wat Thahoi, Ayutthaya. The biography states that after Saṅgharāja Suk had mastered controlling and contemplating all the elements (dhātus) at Wat Rongchang, he was able to cultivate the path (magga) dhamma and fruit (phala) dhamma in order to reach ‘the glass/crystal city, the great eternal nibbāna dhamma’ (Wira 2012: 68).116 This epithet is not mentioned anywhere else in the biography nor in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. I visited Wat Ratchasittharam and conducted three interviews with Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro (Phra Khru Sitthisangwon).117 Each time, I showed the references in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology and asked him to explain the meaning of the visions. The first two times, Luang Pho Wira merely confirmed that the passage refers to the vision of the meditator’s inner body.118 The third time, he explained further that, in Saṅgharāja Suk’s system, when the mind reaches pre-jhāna access concentration (upacāra samadhi), the practitioner’s inner body, or the body that is within the mind of the practitioner, will appear in front of him/her (Sitthisangwon 2019). The vision of the inner body appears as the manual states, ‘decorated with a crown, a necklace and a breast chain’, not surrounding the practitioner, as in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, but facing the practitioner, like a mirror 116 ่ งเมืองแก ้วอมตมหานิ พพานธรรม. เพือถึ 117 22 March 2014, 26 April 2018 and 10 July 2019. 118 กายในกาย. 118 image. The first vision of one’s inner body is usually achieved in the third stage, bodily and mental happiness (kāyasukha and cittasukha), and from this stage, more inner bodies are seen up to the highest level, the path of the arahant (arahatta magga). As the practitioner progresses to higher stages, he/she will see more refined inner bodies, each body appearing differently depending on the purity of the practioner’s mind (Sitthisangwon 2019). When asked whether Luang Pho Sot could have adopted the visions of the inner bodies in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, he admitted that it was possible as Luang Pho Sot had reached the third and fourth levels in Saṅgharāja Suk’s method. According to Luang Pho Wira, Luang Pho Sot had reached the fourth level of Saṅgharāja Suk’s method, the mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati), and did not complete the entire system before going off and developing his own meditation system (Sitthisangwon 2019). Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, according to him, resembles the first four levels of Saṅgharāja Suk’s system but skips the intermediate levels and goes straight to the level of dhammakāya (Sitthisangwon 2019). I asked him whether the vision of a translucent Buddha image, like dhammakāya in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, exists in Saṅgharāja Suk’s method. He stated that the vision of the Buddha in meditation exists in the higher levels, but it is not called dhammakāya and does not appear translucent (Sitthisangwon 2019). Saṅgharāja Suk’s method also has the attainment of dhammakāya but interprets dhammakāya differently from Luang Pho Sot (Sitthisangwon 2019). Lastly, I showed Luang Pho Wira the reference to the glass city of nibbāna in Saṅgharāja Suk’s biography and asked him to explain the meaning of this epithet. He said that this description of nibbāna is derived from older sources and that it is 119 the way ancient teachers used to describe it (Sitthisangwon 2019). For both questions, due to the esoteric nature of the higher levels of meditation, Luang Pho Wira was unable to comment further. From reading the above statement of Luang Pho Wira regarding Luang Pho Sot’s training at Wat Ratchasittharam one can be misled into assuming that Luang Pho Sot had only a basic grounding in meditation prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. However, as this dissertation has shown from Luang Pho Sot’s autobiography, before visiting Wat Ratchasittharam, he had studied with Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti, Wat Noi and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi province. After he visited Wat Ratchasittharam, he went to study with Phra Khru Yanwirat (Po) of Wat Pho and Achan Sing Wat Lakhontham, until they were both satisfied with his progress and invited him to become a meditation teacher of their traditions (63 sermons 1984 (3)). There is no record of Phra Khru Yanwirat Po’s meditation system. However, Achan Sing’s meditation consists of visualizing a light sphere in the abdomen, a common characteristic of the socalled borān kammaṭṭhāna texts. This is mentioned in Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo’s biography of Luang Pho Sot (63 sermons 1984: (45)). Somdet Pun’s biography also mentions Luang Pho Sot studying the Visuddhimagga in preparation for meditation practice (63 sermons 1984: (10)). Thus, according to these records, it seems clear that Luang Pho Sot had much more than a basic training in various meditation methods prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Much of his training at Wat Ratchasittharam was perhaps a reiteration and a confirmation of what he had already practised and achieved. 120 Sammā Arahaṃ meditation Saṅgharāja Suk’s system Seven bodily bases Nine bodily bases Visions of spheres as a visual Visions of spheres of various meditation manifestation of various attainments; the subjects to be experienced as tangible and term dhamma sphere living entities of exalted status; the term dhamma sphere Sammā arahaṃ mantra Sammā arahaṃ mantra Visions of inner deva bodies with a Visions of inner bodies with a crown, a crown, a necklace and a breast chain necklace and a breast chain in front of the surrounding the practitioner’s body practitioner’s body No luk sakots Employment of luk sakots The practice of ānāpānasati; calming of First four stages: five joys (pīti), six pairs bodily, verbal and mental activities; the (yugala), bodily and mental happiness citta contemplating joy; no mention of (kāyasukha and cittasukha), and all five joys and six pairs ānāpānasati No mention of namo buddhāya and its Namo buddhāya linked to five colours, association with five colours, elements, elements, Buddhas, animals and joys Buddhas, animals and joys arising in meditation Table 2.2: Main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the first four stages of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system The above table shows the main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the first four stages of Saṅgharāja Suk’s system. In summary, there is clear 121 evidence that Luang Pho Sot has taken and adapted aspects of Saṅgharāja Suk’s meditation system and incorporated them into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely the bodily bases, the visualization of the sphere nimitta, the usage of the term dhamma sphere (duang tham), the sammā arahaṃ mantra and the visions of inner bodies with a crown, a necklace and a breast chain. The visions of inner bodies also exist in Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s teachings, but the description of them having a crown, a necklace and a breast chain is only found in Saṅgharāja Suk’s system. With regard to the description of nibbāna as a glass city, as it is only a single reference, and without any further clarification by Luang Pho Wira, it is still inconclusive whether Luang Pho Sot has come across it. The only explanation Luang Pho Wira gave with regard to this epithet is that it was taken from older sources and used by ancient teachers. As I mentioned above, the epithet of nibbāna as a ‘city’ is mentioned in a collection of sermons by the nineteenth Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, Somdet Phra Yansangwon (Charoen Suvaḍḍhano), the late abbot of Wat Bowonniwet. I agree with Luang Pho Wira that this epithet seems to be derived from older sources as it is found in a number of borān kammaṭṭhāna texts. For example, Kitchai Urkasame’s PhD thesis (2013) discusses a text titled ‘Buddhanorakan’ from Wat Bodhi Sri, Mahasarakam province, dated 1923. This text, composed by a high-ranking monk, ‘Somdet Tha’, also describes nibbāna as ‘the glass/crystal city’119 and ‘a comfortable and peaceful place entirely free from sensations of suffering’ and a place where ‘one could see the Buddha’ (Kitchai 2013: 78‒79). I shall now 119 เมืองแก ้ว. 122 discuss another borān kammaṭṭhāna manual, which contains a similar epithet of nibbāna, namely the meditation manual of Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya. 2.4.2 Meditation manual and living tradition at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya The second borān kammaṭṭhāna method that is confirmed to be one of the sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is that of Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya. Wat Pradusongtham was an important borān kammaṭṭhāna centre during the Ayutthaya period associated with forest-dwelling monks’ (araññavāsī) division of the saṅgha and was the residence of Phra Rachakhana, who was responsible for overseeing meditation practices (Choompolpaisal forthcoming: 24).120 It was first mentioned in the Royal Chronicles as receiving the patronage of Phra Chao Songtham or King Boromracha I (r. 1608–1628), the 21st king of Ayutthaya and the fifth monarch of the House of Sukhothai.121 It is also the temple where King Uthumphon, the penultimate monarch of Ayutthaya, resided as a monk after being forced to abdicate, having reigned for only two months in 1758. In 1760, King Uthumphon disrobed to help the Ayutthaya forces against the invading Burmese armies, and after the latter’s retreat was ordained again at Wat Pradusongtham. King Taksin, shortly after his coronation, invited Phra Achan Dee, a monk from Wat Pradusongtham, to become the first Supreme Patriarch of Thonburi. Two borān kammaṭṭhāna masters, namely Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean and Saṅgharāja Don, whose meditation manuals have been preserved in the 120 During the Ayutthaya period, the saṅgha was divided into two divisions: forest-dwelling monks (araññavāsī) and town-dwelling monks (gāmāvāsī). The forest-dwelling monks were responsible for overseeing meditation practices and the town-dwelling monks (gāmāvāsī) were responsible for administrative duties. Both divisions had their own Saṅgharāja appointed by the king. 121 For a history of the temple, see Wat Pradusongtham (2012) and May (2009). 123 Chai Yasothonrat anthology, also studied meditation at the temple (Choompolpaisal forthcoming: 24). Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean was ordained as a monk at Wat Pradusongtham prior to taking up residence as the abbot of a nearby temple, Wat Thahoi, Ayutthaya. Thus, this meditation tradition may have been an influence on Saṅgharāja Suk’s and other borān kammaṭṭhāna systems during the Thonburi and early Bangkok periods. Mettanando’s thesis (1998) first introduced me to Wat Pradusongtham’s collection of meditation manuals in the Chai Yasothorat anthology. One of the manuals titled ‘Kammaṭṭhāna method: the rooms of buddhaguṇa, dhammaguṇa and saṅghaguṇa’ (Chai 1935: 267‒285), which has yet to be translated and analysed, is of particular importance as it mentions twice the attainment of ‘dhammakāya’. However, as the temple is neither referred to in any biographies of Luang Pho Sot nor came up in any of the interviews I conducted with teachers and practitioners of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, I did not think of visiting it. Having already analysed and translated passages from the above manual, I was later made aware by Choompolpaisal (2019) of the living meditation tradition at the temple, and recalled that Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam made references to the temple in connection with Luang Pho Sot’s ordination-proclaiming teacher (anusāvanācāriya) and first meditation teacher: Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, Wat Amphawan, Suphanburi. According to Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, Luang Pho Nong travelled to Ayutthaya to practise ‘dhutaṅga’ by sleeping in the open air in the vicinity of Wat Pradusongtham 124 several times (Phra Ratchaphromyan 2005: 227).122 On one occasion, Luang Pho Nong met a layman who volunteered to construct a Buddha image for him. This image became the principal image in the ordination hall of Wat Amphawan (Phra Ratchaphromyan 2005: 227). Although there is no direct mention of Luang Pho Nong studying meditation there, the fact that he practised dhutaṅga in the vicinity of the temple more than once probably means that he was at least aware of the significance of the temple and the meditation tradition there. I made a hypothesis that due to the temple’s influence and its connection with Luang Pho Nong, Luang Pho Sot may have made a visit to the temple and even practised meditation there. I went to Wat Pradusongtham and discussed this with the abbot, Phra Athikan Damrong Ṭhiṭāsapo (1951‒), who recommended that I contact Prayok Niamnet or Achan Daeng (1950‒), a lay meditation teacher and one of the lineage holders of the tradition. Achan Daeng was a monk at Wat Huchang, Nonthaburi, for almost ten years. He studied meditation at Wat Pradusongtham for four years and became a meditation teacher of Wat Pradusongtham’s tradition. After disrobing in 1980, he continued to teach meditation at Wat Pradusongtham up to the present day (Prayok 2019). I visited Achan Daeng at his home in Nonthaburi, and it was confirmed by him that Luang Pho Sot visited Wat Pradusongtham and studied meditation under a renowned lay meditation teacher, Achan Chap Suwan (1883‒1958), prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Dhutaṅga is a group of 13 non-compulsory ascetic practices available for monks. These are: 1) wearing robes made from abandoned cloths; 2) having only three robes; 3) eating only food collected on alms round; 4) not skipping any house while going for alms; 5) eating one meal a day; 6) eating only from the alms bowl; 7) not accepting any extra food; 8) dwelling in the forest; 9) dwelling under a tree; 10) dwelling in the open air; 11) dwelling in or nearby a charnel ground; 12) being satisfied with whatever dwelling; and 13) renouncing the lying posture (see Th 842‒865). 122 125 I shall provide translations and an analysis of the manual ‘Kammaṭṭhāna method: the rooms of buddhaguṇa, dhammaguṇa and saṅghaguṇa’ focusing on the two mentions of the attainment of ‘dhammakāya’, and then discuss the living tradition at Wat Pradusongtham and my interview with Achan Daeng. This manual in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology claims a lineage of teachers going back to ancient India. In the preface, Chai Yasothonrat states that Wat Pradusongtham’s collection was obtained from Wat Manichonkhan, Lopburi, in B.E. 2478 (1935 C.E.), and the original manuscript was obtained from ‘Wat Pradurongtham, Ayutthaya’ and (in brackets) ‘Old City’ (Chai 1935: 10–11). This is most likely to mean that Chai believes that the collection goes back to the Ayutthaya period prior to its final destruction by the Burmese army in 1767. Choompolpaisal’s 2019 article, which discusses all borān kammaṭṭhāna texts in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology, dates this collection to some time during the late Ayutthaya period (c. eighteenth century). ‘Pradurongtham’ is the former name of the temple and is derived from the merging of two temples Wat Pradu and Wat Rongtham. The name was changed to Pradusongtham during the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V, r. 1868– 1910). According to the text, the method was passed down from ‘56 prominent teachers of India123 in B.E. 572’124 (Chai 1935: 369). It consists of visualizing three diagrams described as มัธยมประเทศ, literally ‘middle country’ and is synonymous with India. The number 56 is an auspicious number that corresponds to the 56 syllables of the iti pi so formula. 124 This would be the year 29 C.E. 123 126 yantras.125 The diagrams represent three rooms (hong) of the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and saṅgha. The room of the qualities of the Buddha contains 56 circles. Each circle has a number and a Khom syllable taken from the Pāli verse describing the qualities of the Buddha: iti pi so bhagavā arahaṃ sammāsaṃbuddho vijjācaraṇasaṃpanno sugato lokavidū anuttarapurisadammasārathī satthā devamanussānaṃ buddho bhagavā ti.126 In the Dhajagga Sutta (S I 218), the Buddha advises the monks that they should recite this formula to recollect his qualities in order to dispel fear. In Thailand and other Theravāda countries, they are part of standard chanthing texts and are chanted regularly by monastics in ceremonies. The usage of the formula as mantras and yantras in Cambodia has been identified by Bizot and von Hinüber (1994: 69‒84) in La guirlande de joyaux and summarized in Crosby (2000: 161‒165). The visualization of yantras as a meditation exercise is also common in borān kammaṭṭhāna. The Chai Yasothonrat anthology contains many elaborate diagrams, one of which is a diagram of mythical serpents or nāgas, which became its front cover. The Vientiane text in the anthology contains a diagram of the footprint of the Buddha as an object of visualization (Chai 1935: 162). This practice, or course, is absent in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. 125 Yantras are protective diagrams consisting of geometrical, animal and deity designs accompanied by Pāli phrases. They can come in different forms, such as an etching on a flat piece of metal, ink drawn on a piece of cloth, or as tattoos on different parts of the body. 126 ‘The Blessed One is an arahant, perfectly enlightened, accomplished in true knowledge and conduct, fortunate, knower of the world, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of devas and humans, the Enlightened One, the Blessed One’; translation by Bodhi (2000: 319). 127 Figure 2.10: Qualities of the Buddha yantra in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology (Chai 1935: 267). The room of dhammaguṇa contains 38 circles, each with a number and a Khom syllable taken from the Pāli verse describing the qualities of the Dhamma: svākhāto bhagavatā 128 dhammo sandiṭṭhiko akāliko ehipassiko opanayiko paccataṃ veditabbo viññūhī ti.127 The room of saṅghaguṇa, likewise, contains 121 circles each with a number and a Khom syllable taken from the Pāli verse describing the qualities of the saṅgha: supaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho ujupaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho ñāyapaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho sāmīcipaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasaṅgho yadidaṃ cattāri purisa yugāni aṭṭha purisa puggalā esa bhagavato sāvagasaṅgho āhuneyyo pāhuṇeyyo dakkhiṇeyyo añjalikaraṅīyo anuttaraṃ puññakhettaṃ lokassā ti.128 In preparation for visualization, the system utilizes nine bodily bases. A diagram with descriptions of the functions and qualities of the nine bodily bases is not provided in this manual but is given in another manual within the Wat Pradusongtham collection and translated in Mettanando’s thesis (1998: 300‒2). ‘The Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise’; translation by Bodhi (2000: 320). 128 ‘The Saṅgha of the Blessed One’s disciples is practising the good way, practising the straight way, practising the true way, practising the proper way; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals ‒ this Saṅgha of the Blessed One’s disciples worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world’; translation by Bodhi (2000: 320). 127 129 Figure 2.11: Illustration of the nine bodily bases in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology (Chai 1935: 293). The base at the navel has the quality of ‘appeasing all suffering’.129 The chest is where ‘the consciousness of rebirth is joined with the Dhamma of wholesomeness, unwholesomeness and neutrality’.130 The end of the throat is for ‘sleeping’; the tip of the nose is ‘the origin of joy and delight’.131 The eyes are ‘the origin of the wisdom eye’ for ‘seeing good and evil’.132 Between the eyebrows is ‘for purification of the mind’.133 The top of the head is 129 130 131 132 133 ่ บทุกข ์ทังปวง. ้ เป็ นทีระงั ่ เป็ นทีปฏิสนธิวญ ิ ญาณเจือไปด ้วยกุศลธรรม อกุศลธรรมและอัพยากฤต. ่ าให้เกิดปี ติและปราโมทย ์. เป็ นทีท ่ เกิดปัญญาจักษุ พิจารณาเห็นบาปบุญคุณโทษ. เป็ นทีให้ ่ าระมลทินโทษ. เป็ นทีช 130 the ‘house of patience and graciousness’.134 The occipital part of the head houses ‘mindfulness’ and is ‘the controller of all feeling and abnormal thoughts’ etc. (Mettanando 1998: 301–2).135 The base just above the navel, three finger breadths beneath the skin, which is the closest to the seventh base of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, is said to ‘quench all unwholesome thoughts and fosters wholesome thoughts’ and is ‘the ___location of the four elements and the assembling ground for the six elements, eighteen elements’ etc. (Mettanando 1998: 301).136 The description of this last base as the ___location of the elements bears similarities to the description of the dhamma sphere in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, which resides at the seventh base, two finger widths above the navel. As I mentioned above, inside the dhamma sphere located at the seventh base there are five basic elements: water, earth, wind, fire and space. The water element controls the fluidity of the body. The earth element controls the solidity, the wind element the internal movement of gases, the fire element the body temperature, the space element the spaces in the body. Inside the space element lies the consciousness element (viññāṇadhātu), which controls the consciousness. Out of the nine bodily bases, Sammā Arahaṃ only uses seven, and focuses most of its practice at the seventh base. The remaining six bases serve merely as resting places of the mind and are only used at the basic level. 134 135 136 ่ งแห่ ้ งขันติและโสรัจจธรรม. เป็ นทีตั ่ ้ ทของสติสม ่ บเวทนาทังปวง ้ ่ บวิสภาคารมณ์ทงปวง. เป็ นทีตังสนิ ั ปชัญญะ เป็ นทีเก็ เป็ นทีระงั ั้ ่ ้ ่ เป็ นทีระงับอกุศลจิตต ์ยังกุศลธรรมให้เกิดขึนได ้โดยสะดวก เป็ นทีประชุมธาตุ๔ และสัมปยุตต ์ธาตุ ๖ ธาตุ ๑๘ ชุมนุ มลงเป็ นธาตุ. 131 The Rooms of buddhaguṇa, dhammaguṇa and saṅghaguṇa manual mentions various times the Pāli words lokuttaraṃ cittaṃ jhānaṃ, which are described as ‘the mind’, ‘neutral dhamma’, ‘the resting place and the food of the mind [citta] having happiness and delight as food’ and ‘the refuge of the mind’ (Chai 1935: 269).137 From looking at other borān kammaṭṭhāna texts in conjunction with this manual, lokuttaraṃ cittaṃ jhānaṃ, which are Pāli terms referring to a supra-mundane jhāna or mental absorption, is most likely to be both a mantra, which is to be recited during meditation, and also a vision of a luminous sphere perhaps marked by Pāli syllables in Khom script, as these are the most common visions in borān kammaṭṭhāna. For each diagram, the text instructs the practitioner to place lokuttaraṃ cittaṃ jhānaṃ at the base between the eyes, then move it to the tip of the nose, and visualize the first circle to the last circle and in reverse order. After visualizing the diagram of buddhaguṇa, the text describes the attainment of ‘dhammakāya’. Below is my translation of this passage: Then, lift the mind, lokuttaraṃ cittaṃ jhānaṃ, until one destroys prakṛti = parā = aparā.138 Kāyasukhaṃ, bodily happiness, and cittasukkhaṃ, mental 137 ่ กแลเป็ นอาหารของใจ คือมีปีติและปราโมทย ์เป็ นทีภั ่ กษา. ธรรมกลางสาหรับเป็ นทีพั The text repeats this instruction after one has visualized the room of dhammaguṇa. The Sanskrit word aparā is stated to consist of earth, water, wind, fire, space, mind (mana), intelligence (buddhi) and false ego (ahaṃkāra) and parā is said to be the subject and cause of lokānuvaṭţa or the saṃsāric world (Chai 1935: 269 and 277). These concepts are found in Hindu texts, notably in verses four and five of the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, and refer to the physical aspect (aparā prakṛti) and the phenomenal mental aspect (parā prakṛti) of created nature (prakṛti). Parā prakṛti or mental aspect is superior to aparā prakṛti or physical aspect as parā prakṛti is a fragment of the Supreme Being or Puruṣa. Parā is synonymous with the word jīva, or the individual souls of living beings, which, in Hindu thought, are eternal and in their manipulation of matter sustain the universe. In the text, it is not clear how exactly the practitioner is to ‘destroy’ them. I speculate that prakṛti, parā and aparā represent the practitioner’s negative mental and physical energies that one must get rid of in order to progress to the higher attainments. 138 132 happiness, arise within me. When the body and the mind are happy, one becomes santuṭṭho, one who is content, sallekho, one of pure conduct, pahitatto, one who directs oneself towards a future goodness.139 Then, set up the mind to examine dhammakāya in rūpakāya by proceeding in the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, until the mind realizes and penetrates rūpadhamma and nāmadhamma. Then, one has self as refuge, has dhamma as refuge in this way. (Chai 1935: 269)140 After the diagram of dhammaguṇa has been visualized, the text mentions the attainment of ‘a luminescent and inconceivable deva form’: Dhamma that is first from the mind obtains a refuge, which is abundant in happiness that one is able to know and see for oneself. Because one whose mind consists of samādhi does not consist of restlessness, and proceeds through each level with one’s mental stream, the mind will attain a deva state that is very pure; the knowledge that knows all [sabbaññutañāṇa]; Bhagavad-gītā (7.4-5): bhūmir āpo 'nalo vayuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṡṭadhā apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat Translation: Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego ‒ all together these eight constitute my separated material energies. Besides these, O might-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources or this material, inferior nature. From Bhaktivedanta (1972). ต่อนั้นให้ยกจิตต ์ โลกุตต ฺ ร จิตต ฺ ฌาน จนทาลาย ประกฤติ = ปรา = อปรา ได ้แล ้ว กายสุข ความสุขกาย จิตต ฺ สุข ความสุขจิตต ์ ่ จักเกิดมีทอาตมา ี่ เมือกายเป็ นสุข จิตต ์เป็ นสุขแล ้ว สนฺ ตุฏโฐ ั โดษ สลฺเลโข เป็ นผูป้ ระพฤติขด ั เกลา ปหิตตฺโต เป็ นผูม้ ต ี นส่ง ฺ เป็ นผูส้ น ้ ไปสู่คุณความดีเป็ นเบืองหน้ า. 140 ้ ตังจิตต ์พิจารณาดูธรรมกายในรูปกายด ้วยการดาเนิ นในโพชฌงค ์ทัง้ ๗ ประการ จนจิตต ์รู ้แจ ้งแทงตลอดในรูปธรรมและนามธรรม ่ ง่ จักมีธรรมเป็ นทีพึ ่ ง่ ด ้วยประการนี […] ้ ได ้แล ้ว จักมีตนเป็ นทีพึ 139 133 clearly sees; knows the ends of the world; lasting; is the controller and the most refined of all refined things. Because it has a form [rūpa] that is inconceivable [acinteyya], luminescent and clear, floating above darkness that is ignorance. (Chai 1935: 277)141 Lastly, at the very end, after the diagram of saṅghaguṇa has been visualized, the text again mentions the attainment of dhammakāya: The yogāvacara who realizes that dhammakāya exists in the country of the heart [hadayapradeśa] of all beings [sabbabhūta], this causes them to spin like a robot. The venerable thus persists in the cultivation of insight knowledge to reach dhammakāya, which is the greatest refuge, and reach the place of calmness, nobleness and permanence, for that which the dhammakāya brings is eternal. (Chai 1935: 283)142 Although the word nibbāna is not mentioned here, the place of calmness, nobleness and permanence clearly refers to nibbāna and the attainment of arahatship as it is to be reached through the cultivation of insight knowledge (vipassanā ñāṇa). The descriptions of dhammakāya being ‘in’ the physical body (rūpakāya), existing ‘in the country of the hearts 141 ่ งอั ่ นอุดมสุข อันเจ ้าตัวจะพึงรู ้เองเห็นเอง เพราะว่าผูม้ ใี จประกอบด ้วยสมาธิ ไม่ประกอบด ้วยใจฟุ้ งส ธรรมอันเอกด ้วยจิตต ์ จักได ้ทีพึ ่ สุทธิอย่ ์ างยิง่ อันเป็ นส่วนสัพพัญญุตญาณ เห็นชัด หยั่งทราบ ร ้าน ดาเนิ นกระแสจิตต ์เป็ นลาดับ จิตต ์ย่อมบรรลุสภาพอันเป็ นทิพย ์ทีบริ ่ ดโลก ยั่งยืน เป็ นผูบ้ งั คับ และละเอียดทีสุ ่ ดแต่บรรดาสิงที ่ ละเอี ่ ทีสุ ยดด ้วยกัน เพราะมีรูปเป็ นอจินไตย รุง่ เรืองสุกใส ลอยเด่นอยู่เหนื อ ความมืด คือ อวิชชา ฯ. 142 ้ พระโยคาวจรผูร้ ู ้ว่าธรรมกายดารงอยู่ในหทัยประเทศ แห่งสรรพภูต ทาให้หมุนดังว่าหุ่นยนต ์ ท่านจึงตังใจเจริ ญพระวิปัสสนาญาณ ่ ่ นทีพึ ่ งอั ่ นยอดเยียมโดยสิ ่ ้ ง ถึงสถานทีอั ่ นสงบระงับประเสริฐเทียงแท้ ่ ้ น อมตะ. เพือให้ถึ งธรรมกายทีเป็ นเชิ เพราะความอานวยของธรรมกายนันเป็ 134 of all beings’ and the equation of dhammakāya with arahatship and the place of calmness, nobleness and permanence bear similarities to Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of dhammakāya and āyatana (nibbāna). According to Luang Pho Sot, dhammakāyas exist within the enlightened ones’ minds while they are still alive, and after their final nibbāna, their dhammakāyas forever dwell in āyatana (nibbāna), the unconditioned realm. The attainment of dhammakāya being the greatest refuge and as equivalent to having oneself as a refuge are also similar to Luang Pho Sot’s explanation of reaching the inner bodies and dhammakāya as having oneself as a refuge. The mind that attains ‘the deva state’ that is described as having the ‘knowledge that knows all’ (sabbaññutañāṇa) and ‘a form (rūpa) that is inconceivable (acinteyya), luminescent and clear’ also bears certain similarities to the vision of dhammakāya in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation being luminous and clear as a crystal and the description of nibbāna in the teachings of Luang Pho Nong and Luang Pho Niam. As described above, Luang Pho Nong’s and Luang Pho Niam’s understanding of nibbāna as a special deva state that is beyond saṃsāra became an influence on Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of nibbāna. However, Luang Pho Sot does not describe dhammakāya as a deva state but as an appearance of the Triple Gems. Choompolpaisal’s article (2019: 23‒24) introduces me to the living meditation tradition whose technique has links with Wat Pradusongtham manuals in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. In his interview with Achan Surat Songsakaew (1936‒), a lay meditation teacher and another lineage holder at Wat Pradusongtham, Choompolpaisal (2019: 24) states that in contrast to Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s tradition, which relies heavily on textual authority, the current technique taught at Wat Pradusongtham relies only in part on 135 textual authority due to the loss of many manuals, especially the ones for beginners. Choompolpaisal (2019: 24) showed the Chai Yasothonrat anthology to Achan Surat and the only manual in the anthology that Surat recognized was the one with the diagram of the nine bodily bases and their characteristics and functions, as shown above. The technique currently taught is a simplied version of the old system based mainly on previous teachers’ practice and experience (Choompolpaisal 2019: 24). From his description of the current technique, it is clear that the system has links with Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The basic technique consists of mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati), visualization of a sphere nimitta at the end of the breath passage, around the stomach, until a vision of a bright light, which is termed ‘ong bhāvanā’, or ‘meditation entity’ appears (Choompolpaisal 2019: 25). This is very similar to the basic technique of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in its practice of ānāpānasati and the visualization of the bright sphere at the end of the breath passage. In Wat Pradusongtham’s current system, the nine bodily bases are utilized in more advanced levels as the ‘ong bhāvanā’ light sphere is used to invoke meditation subjects, also to be seen as light spheres, which are moved around the body in forward and reverse orders. The different meditation subjects invoked include brahmavihāras,143 kasiṇas, asubhas,144 and buddhaguṇas (Choompolpaisal 2019: 25). In my interview with Achan Daeng, he confirmed that Luang Pho Sot had studied meditation with Achan Chap Suwan at Wat Pradusongtham prior to developing Sammā Brahmavihāras are the four divine or holy abidings. They consist of mettā (loving kindness), karuṇā (compassion), muditā (sympathetic joy) and upekkhā (equanimity). 144 Asubhas are the ten types of foulness or corpses at different stages of decay: bloated corpse, bluish corpse, festering corpse, cut-up corpse, gnawed corpse, scattered corpse, mutilated corpse, bleeding corpse, worm-infested corpse and skeleton. 143 136 Arahaṃ meditation. He informed me that one of his meditation teachers, Luang Pho Sala Therapañño (1914‒1993), often pointed out to him the hut that Luang Pho Sot slept in while studying meditation at Wat Pradusongtham (Prayok 2019). Achan Chap Suwan or ‘Kong Chap’145 (1883‒1958) was a lay meditation teacher, an adept in earth (paṭhavī) kasiṇa, who taught many renowned meditation masters, including: 1) Luang Pho Thiam (1904‒1979), Wat Kasattrathirat, Ayutthaya; 2) Luang Pho Ki (1901‒1979), Wat Huchang, who was Achan Daeng’s uncle and meditation teacher; 3) Luang Pho Pluem (1907‒2002), Wat Suan Hong, Suphanburi; and 4) Luang Pho Yongyut (1927‒2002), Wat Khao Maidaeng, Chonburi (Wat Pradusongtham 2012: 28). Achan Chap was also a friend of Luang Pho Pan Sonando, Wat Bang Khonom, Ayutthaya. As I mentioned above, Luang Pho Pan was Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s main meditation teacher and a friend and meditation colleague of Luang Pho Sot. Luang Pho Sot and Luang Pho Pan had to examine each other’s meditation progress while studying with Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti at Wat Noi, Suphanburi. According to Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, Achan Chap was an adept not only in meditation but also in traditional medicine, and was responsible for curing Luang Pho Pan from ‘a black magic curse’ that almost took Luang Pho Pan’s life (Phra Ratchaphromyan 2001: 20‒21). 145 จาบ สุวรรณ (ก๋ง จาบ). 137 Figure 2.12: Photograph of Achan Chap Suwan. The caption states: ‘Achan Chap Suwan: the meditation teacher of Wat Pradusongtham school, Ayutthaya province’ (courtesy of Wat Pradusongtham). 138 Figure 2.13: Stūpa containing the ashes of Achan Chap Suwan at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya (photograph by the author). I showed Achan Daeng all the manuals in Wat Pradusongtham’s collection in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology and asked him whether he had come across any of them. Like Achan Surat Songsakaew, the only manual Achan Daeng recognized is the one with the diagram of the nine bodily bases and their characteristics. This means that the rest of the collection, including The rooms of buddhaguṇa, dhammaguṇa and saṅghaguṇa, were lost 139 sometime after the publication of the Chai Yasothonrat anthology in 1935. I informed Achan Daeng that there are similarities between the current technique at Wat Pradusongtham and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The similarities include visualization of a sphere nimitta around the stomach and at the bodily bases. This led me to believe that this technique may have influenced Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Achan Daeng agreed with me and added the recitation of ‘sammā phra arahaṃ’ as another aspect that Luang Pho Sot may have adopted (Prayok 2019). In Wat Pradusongtham’s current system ‘sammā phra arahaṃ’ is recited while performing mindfulness of breath. ‘Phra’, which in Thai can be translated as ‘honourable’ or ‘venerable’, indicates the respect given to the Buddha’s qualities while reciting the Pāli words that represent them. According to Achan Daeng, Luang Pho Sot may have dropped the word ‘phra’ from Wat Pradusongtham’s mantra and opted to use just ‘sammā arahaṃ’ instead (Prayok 2019). I then asked whether the visions of inner bodies, dhammakāya and the epithet of nibbāna as a place exist in the current technique. Achan Daeng replied that they do not. Sammā Arahaṃ Wat Pradusongtham’s Wat Pradusongtham’s meditation current technique manual (eighteenth century) Seven bodily bases Nine bodily bases Nine bodily bases Sammā arahaṃ mantra Sammā phra arahaṃ Lokuttaraṃ cittaṃ jhānaṃ mantra mantra No yantra visualization Visualization of yantra No yantra visualization 140 Visions of spheres; the Visions of spheres; the No mention of dhamma term dhamma sphere; no term ong bhāvanā; no sphere or ong bhāvanā mention of ong bhāvanā mention of dhamma sphere Visions of inner bodies; No mention of visions of Dhammakāya in the visions of dhammakāya inner bodies, dhammakāya, physical body; appearing like a or nibbāna as a place dhammakāya as the translucent Buddha statue; greatest refuge; dhammakāya as a refuge; dhammakāya synonymous āyatana (nibbāna) as an with the luminescent and unconditioned and inconceivable deva form permanent realm and the place of calmness, nobleness and permanence Table 2.3: Main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and Wat Pradusongtham’s current technique and the eighteenth-century manual The above table shows the main similarities and differences between Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and Wat Pradusongtham’s current technique and the eighteenth-century manual, The rooms of buddhaguṇa, dhammaguṇa and saṅghaguṇa in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. The aspects of Wat Pradusongtham’s current technique that are similar to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely the recitation of ‘sammā phra arahaṃ’, visualization of a light sphere and the bodily bases, are also present in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system and are common characteristics of borān kammaṭṭhāna found in many systems of the tradition. In the light of these recurring aspects, it is clear that these common elements 141 in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation are not derived from a single source but are the outcomes of Luang Pho Sot having been trained in a number of borān kammaṭṭhāna systems, not only at Wat Ratchasittharam and Wat Pradusongtham but also at other temples as well. As mentioned above, the visualization of the sphere nimitta around the stomach is also taught by another teacher of Luang Pho Sot, namely Achan Sing, Wat Lakhontham, the one who invited Luang Pho Sot to become a meditation teacher of his tradition (63 sermons 1984 (3)). With regard to The rooms of buddhaguṇa, dhammaguṇa and saṅghaguṇa, this manual should not be overlooked as a possible source of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Although there is currently no evidence to support this claim, in my opinion there is a strong possibility that Luang Pho Sot studied or came across this manual and its references to dhammakāya while residing at Wat Pradusongtham. The only period in which Luang Pho Sot could have visited Wat Pradusongtham was between 1905 and 1916, which was 19 to 30 years before the publication of the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. If the manual was accessible to Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando) prior to 1932 (the year of Phra Upāli’s death), then it is most likely to have been accessible to Luang Pho Sot between 1905 and 1916. The most striking aspects of the manual are its mention of the attainments of dhammakāya, which is described as being in the physical body (rūpakāya) and as the greatest refuge, and its equation with the luminescent and inconceivable deva form and the place of calmness, nobleness and permanence. These aspects, along with the teachings of Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong, could have influenced Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of dhammakāya and nibbāna. 142 2.5 Other possible influences on Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 2.5.1 Meditation manual and Traibhūmi manuscript of King Taksin of Thonburi Another important borān kammaṭṭhāna manual worth mentioning is the meditation manual of King Taksin of Thonburi. Although there is currently no evidence that Luang Pho Sot came across it, I have included this meditation text under this section due to its significance and the ___location of the temple where it is preserved. King Taksin (r. 1767‒82) is among past Thai monarchs who are today called ‘Mahārāja’ or the Great King by the Thai public, having claimed ‘independence’ from Burmese occupation after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767. King Taksin established Thonburi as the Thai capital and became the only king of this capital. He reigned for 15 years before he was deposed and executed by King Rama I in 1782. Apart from being a warrior, King Taksin was also known as a devoted Buddhist and meditation practitioner. Arthid Sheravanichkul (2012b) points to two contradictory groups of narratives regarding King Taksin’s deposition, which relate to his meditation practice. One set of narratives, which includes the Thonburi Chronicle, the Memoir of Her Royal Highness Princess Kromluang Narintharathewi and the Annals of the Astrologers, blames meditation for King Taksin’s insanity, which led to disruption, chaos and the justification of his execution and King Rama I’s succession to the throne. However, according to Arthid (2012b), another group of ‘popular narratives’ paints the king’s meditation practice in a more positive light. 143 Some of these accounts were obtained from popular legends and from renowned Thai meditation masters’ contacts with the spirit of King Taksin. These meditation masters include Phra Thamsinghaburachan (Luang Pho Charan Ṭhitadhammo), the abbot of Wat Amphawan, Singburi; Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh, the first Thai woman to receive ordination from both the male and the female saṅgha, and Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, the founder of the Manomayiddhi meditation tradition. They rejected the story of the king’s insanity and execution, and claimed that the king, through meditation practice, achieved a high level of spiritual attainment, wanted to give up the throne, was ordained and fled to live in a cave in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, where he continued to practise meditation and attained arahatship. Other sources, such as Som Suchira, also claim that he was a bodhisatta.146 Arthid introduced me to a meditation manual allegedly composed by King Taksin. It was obtained by Mali Phromroek from Wat Ratchadathitthan, Bangkok, and printed in an article titled The final days of Somdet Phachao of Thonburi Kingdom and the khoi manuscript from Wat Ratchadathitthan147 by Phairot Photsai in the book Mystery of King Taksin edited by Pramin Khrueathong.148 Wat Ratchadathitthan, along with Wat Ratchasittharam and Wat Rachativat, were the three most important borān kammaṭṭhāna centres during the reigns of King Rama I (1782‒1809) and King Rama II (1809‒1824). While the traditions at Wat Ratchadathitthan and Wat Rachativat died out sometime during 146 For details of these accounts, see Ruesi Lingdam (1975), Suthatsa (2009), Som (2011), Saowalak (2017b) and Voramai (2018). 147 148 ปัจฉิ มกาลของสมเด็จพระเจ ้ากรุงธนบุรก ี บ ั สมุดข่อยวัดรัชฎาธิฐาน. ปริศนาพระเจ ้าตาก. This was published in Bangkok in 2012 by Matichon. The article covers pages 314 to 321 of the book. 144 the nineteenth century, the Suk Kai Thuean tradition at Wat Ratchasittharam survives to the present day (Choompolpaisal forthcoming: 7). The following is my summary and translations of the important parts of the meditation manual. Unfortunately, the Pāli verses in Khom script in the manual have been left out by the copier. This has been indicated as [อักษรขอม] in the article and I have indicated these omissions as [Khom] in the translation. The manual is dated day 21 of the full moon of the year of the goat and 1137 of the minor era, which is equivalent to the year 1775 C.E. Its content is said to have been reviewed by Thongkham Alaksanachup, Rachakhana.149 The method consists of mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati) in order to achieve divine eye and the vision of ‘the Buddha’s dhamma sphere’. To achieve the vision of the sphere, the practitioner is to use his/her divine eye and focus his/her concentration at the bodily base known as the ‘kaeo chat unalom space’. The sphere of Buddha’s Dhamma is a secret to all the worlds. The Buddha’s Dhamma is within the mind, at the end of the mind, where the inbreaths and outbreaths are separated.150 149 ราชาคณะ. Rachakhana is the third-highest rank in the Thai saṅgha, below the Supreme Patriarch and Somdet Phra Rachakhana. ้ ่ ดแห่งทีลมอั ่ พระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้าดวงนี ้ เปนลับแลแก่โลกยทังหลาย พระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้าอยู่ท่ามกลางจิตร ทีสุ สสาสะ ปัสสาสะจ ขาดต่อกันนั้นแล. 150 145 The place where all Dhammas gather is at the [kaeo] chat unalom space151 between the brows where the eyes meet, which is also the place [Khom] of falling asleep. To see the Buddha’s Dhamma, one must close one’s eyes completely and look still into this kaeo chat unalom space with both divine eyes, and then one shall see the Buddha’s Dhamma there.152 Develop one’s outbreaths up on the left and inbreaths down on the right, exhale that air gently to refine it until one masters this. Look at the Buddha’s Dhamma sphere with both divine eyes. It will appear rising on the left [Khom] and falling on the right on the in- and outbreaths.153 The unalom space refers to the area of the pituitary gland behind the eye sockets, which corresponds to the third base in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Kaeo chat means the ‘birth’ or ‘arising’ of the ‘glass’. The word kaeo probably refers to the dhamma sphere, which appears like a glass sphere at the unalom space. The above translation refers to another bodily base: ‘where the inbreaths and outbreaths are separated’, which is the area around the navel, corresponding to the sixth and seventh bases in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. ช่องแก ้วชาติอุนาโลม, literally ‘unalom space of the arising of the glass/crystal’. The word kaeo here is indicated by the copier as ‘faded’ from the text, but I have obtained it from the next sentence. It refers to the bodily base at the area of the pituitary gland behind the eye sockets. 151 ่ มนุ มพระธรรมทังปวงนั ้ ้นตรงช่อง [แก ้ว]ชาติอุนาโลมทีหว่ ่ างคิวที ้ สุ ่ ดสายตาทังสองรวมกั ้ ทีชุ น แลเปนที่ [อักษรขอม] หลับแห่งนั้นแล ้ ถ ้าแลจให้เหนองคพระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้าใส ้ ให้หลับตาลงจงมิด จึงให้เอาตาทิพย ์ทังสอง เลงดูพระธรรมพระพุทธเจา้ ตรงช่องเก ้วชาติอุ ่ ้นแล. นาโลม ลงมานิ่งอยู่กจเหนพระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้า ในทีนั 153 ่ ้ ้ ้ จึงให้จาเริญปัสสาสะ ขึนเบืองซ ้าย แล ้วให้จาเริญอัสสาสะ ลงเบืองขวา ให้ค่อยระบายลมนั้นออกมาให้เบา ให้เลอิยด ออกมาจงชานิ ่ เอาตาทิพย ์ทังสองเลงดู ้ ้ องซ ้ ้ องขวาเปนอนุ ้ ้ ชานาน จึงให้ ดวงพระธรรมพระพุทธเจา้ จขึนเบื ้าย [อักษรขอม] จขึนเบื โลมปฏิโลม เบิองบน ลมอัสสาสะ ปัสสาสะนั้นแลฯ. 152 146 The text, then, gives three Pāli verses in Khom script. These three ‘Dhamma verses’ are described as ‘leading to the seven books of the Abhidhamma’ and ‘the gathering place of all 84,000 dhammakhandhas (the entire teaching of the Buddha) and the factors of enlightenment’.154 After visualizing their syllables, the practitioner will see the sacred syllables appearing in the dhamma sphere in his/her body. Examine and see the Dhamma with both divine eyes and know with wisdom that the Buddha’s Dhamma that arises at the kaeo chat unalom space [Khom] The Buddha’s Dhamma is permanent. Once it is seen with wisdom, one knows that the Buddha’s Dhamma truly arises in the Dhamma Maṇḍala Web/Thread155 [Khom] Then, take the Tipiṭaka Dhamma Verses and place the wisdom along the Dhamma lines arising in this Dhamma Maṇḍala Web/Thread.156 The three Dhamma verses are very subtle; they are the gathering place of all 84,000 dhammakhandhas and the factors of enlightenment. Once the shoot of the Buddha obtains this Buddha’s Dhamma sphere with wisdom, place the Great Syllables of this verse down into this Dhamma sphere of the Buddha. When the Dhamma rises on the left recollect ‘tu’ [Khom] and when 154 ่ าเข ้ามสู่ แห่งพระอภิธรรมทังเจดพระก ้ ้ ขม ่ มนุ มเข ้ามาแห่งพระ ‘พระธรรมสามบทนี ้ เปนทีน าภีแล’ ‘พระธรรมสามบทนี สุ ุ นักเปนทีชุ ่ พั ่ นขันธ แลโพธิปักขียธรรมทังปวงแล'. ้ ธรรมแปดหมืนสี 155 ไญมณฑลธรรม. From reading the passage below, this refers to the Buddha’s dhamma sphere. 156 ่ ้ ้ าพระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้า อันเกิดขึนมาตรงช่ ้ จึงพิจารณาให้เห็นพระธรรมด ้วยตาทิพย ์ทังสอง แลรู ้ดว้ ยพระปัญญาจงหมันว่ องแก ้ว ่ ้ ่ ้ว่าพระธรรม ชาติอุนาโลม [อักษรขอม] พระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้าเทิยงแท้แลครังเหนพระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้าแจ ้งแก่พระปัญญาแล ้วใส ้ จึงรู ้ พระพุทธเจ ้าเกิดขึนในไญมนทลธรรมพระองค ์แล ้วแท้จริงแล [อักษรขอม] แลเอาบทพระไตรปิ ฎกธรรมอยั่งพระปัญญาลงไปตามแถว ธรรม อันเกิดในไญยมนทลธรรมนี ้ จงทุกประการแลฯ. 147 the Dhamma rises on the right side recollect [Khom]. One is to cultivate and master this, until the Great Syllables appear constantly in the Dhamma sphere.157 The dhamma sphere here is described as the Dhamma Maṇḍala Web/Thread, probably referring to a line(s) appearing on the sphere, along which one is to place the Khom syllables. The significance of this text is that the attainment of a luminous sphere, which is a common nimitta in borān kammaṭṭhāna, is here described by King Taksin as ‘the Buddha’s dhamma sphere’. The Buddha’s dhamma sphere is located in two places, one place being the area around the navel. The dhamma sphere in King Taksin’s meditation manual is described as ‘a secret to all the worlds’, ‘permanent’, ‘the best in this conditioned world’,158 ‘the duty of all Venerable Disciples’,159 which, similarly to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, seems to refer to the attainments of the paths and fruits leading to arahatship. However, in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, the dhamma spheres are not marked by any Pāli syllables. The vision of the dhamma sphere was not only practised and taught by the king himself, and approved by one of the heads of the saṅgha, but also depicted in his edition of the Traibhūmi (Three World cosmology) drawings. Barend Jan Terwiel’s 2014 article titled ้ ขม ่ มนุ มเข ้ามาแห่งพระธรรมแปดหมืนสี ่ พั ่ นขันธ แลโพธิปักขียธรรมทังปวงแล ้ ้ พระธรรมสามบทนี สุ ุ นักเปนทีชุ ครันหน่ อพุทธางกูร ้ นแก่ ้ ้ ้ ่งลงสู่พระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้าดวงนี ้ ครันพระธรรม ้ เจ ้าได ้พระธรรมพระพุทธเจ ้าดวงนี หมั ปัญญาแล ้วใส ้ จึงเอาพระมหาอั กษรบทนี อยั ้ ้ ้ ้ ้ ้ ่ในดวง ขึนเบืองซ ้าย ให้นึกว่า ตุ [อักษรขอม] ครันขึนเบืองขวาให้นึกว่า [อักษรขอม] ให้จาเริญจงชานิ ชานาญ ให้พระมหาอักษรนี อยู ้ ้. พระธรรมอย่าคลาดจากธรรมนี ้ นี ใส 157 158 159 ้ ่ ดแห่งขันธโลกยนีแล. ้ พระธรรมดวงนีเปนที สุ ้ นกิจแห่งพระขิณาสพเจ ้า. พระธรรมดวงนีเป็ 148 ‘On the Trail of King Taksin’s Samutphāp Traiphūm’ introduced me to these drawings. Two illustrated manuscripts of the Three Worlds, one kept in the National Library of Bangkok and the other in the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin, both state that they were made by the order of King Taksin in 1776. In the drawing of the eight types of noble persons (ariyapuggala), only the last of the noble persons, the one who has achieved the fruit of arahatship (arahattaphala), is depicted as holding a sphere with both hands. Although the drawings do not state the meaning of the sphere, I suggest that they are the drawings of the Buddha’s dhamma sphere and represents the attainment of nibbāna. The sphere is positioned just above the navel around the area of the stomach, which is the same place as the bodily base mentioned in King Taksin’s manual: at the end of the breath where the in- and out-breaths are separated. 149 Figure 2.14: Picture of an arahant holding a sphere in King Taksin’s 1776 Traibhūmi manuscript in the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin (catalogued as II 650) (photograph by Barend Jan Terwiel).160 Moreover, the epithet of nibbāna as a ‘place’ is also depicted literally in King Taksin’s Traibhūmi drawings (see Terwiel 2014). Both the Bangkok and Berlin manuscripts provide one full-page sermon on nibbāna enumerating its physical features: the number of its walls, the gates, the palace, the resting place, the lake with lotus flowers and bees, various birds, etc., and an illustration of it as a city (Terwiel 2014: 47 and 65). As mentioned above, the epithet of nibbāna as a place is mentioned in other borān kammaṭṭhāna texts: for example, in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s biography and Wat Pradusongtham’s meditation manual in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. It is also mentioned in a collection of sermons by the 19th Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, Somdet Phra Yansangwon (Charoen Suvaḍḍhano), the late abbot of Wat Bowonniwet. However, in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, although nibbāna is described by Luang Pho Sot as an āyatana or the dwelling place of dhammakāyas of the Buddha and arahants, he never conceived it as a physical place or a city, and understood it as an unconditioned, supra-mundane and supra-physical place. None of the physical objects and living things that are made up of the five aggregates and the four elements exist in āyatana (nibbāna). The similar aspects in King Taksin’s manual and Traibhūmi manuscript include the attainment and the vision of ‘the Buddha’s dhamma sphere’ in the area of the navel and the 160 I would like to thank Achan Barend Jan Terwiel for kindly sending me the picture. 150 epithet of nibbāna as a place. However, there is currently no evidence that Luang Pho Sot came across these texts prior to developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. As these two aspects are already present in Suk Kai Thuean’s and Wat Pradusongtham’s system, and are found in other borān kammaṭṭhāna sources, they could have been adopted from these traditions without the need to attribute them to King Taksin. In Nibbāna as self or not self: Some contemporary Thai discussions (Potprecha 2009: 132‒ 138), I made a comparison between the understanding of dhammakāya (dharmakāya) and self in Sammā Arahaṃ tradition and the Mahāyāna Tathāgatagabha teaching and found a number of similarities between the two. Tathāgatagarbha is a stream of thought or a philosophical trend in Mahāyāna Buddhism. It advocates the presence of the tathāgatagarbha (embryo of the tathāgata) in all beings, which is their potentiality to attain Buddhahood. In Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanāda Sūtra, the tathāgatagarbha is described as ‘neither self nor sentient being, nor soul, nor personality’, but when it is liberated from all defilement stores, it becomes dharmakāya, which has the perfections of permanence, pleasure, self and purity (Potprecha 2009: 133). These four qualities bear similarities to Luang Pho Sot’s description of dhammakāya as niccaṃ (permanent), sukhaṃ (happy), and attā (self) and virāgadhamma (passionless dhamma). In the Ratnagotravibhāga, the four qualities are explained as an antidote to the mistakes of those who wrongly apply the Buddha’s four remedies of impermanence, suffering, non-self and impurity with the dharmakāya, when the dharmakāya has the opposite qualities to those. The dharmakāya, according to the Ratnagotravibhāga, is the ‘true self’ in the sense that ‘all conceptual elaboration in terms of self and non-self is totally stilled’ (Potprecha 2009: 133). Moreover, 151 in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, a tathāgatagarbha sūtra of the Mahāyāna tradition, the Buddha’s dharmakāya is described as the adamantine, indestructible, eternal body, and the body of peace (Page: 1999‒2000: 44). The words ‘adamantine body’ or vajrakāya can also be translated as ‘diamond-like body’ and allude to the vision of dhammakāya in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation appearing as bright, translucent and crystal-like. I then connect these similarities to the Tibetan shentong (other-empty) school of thought, which interprets these statements as the ultimate truth (Potprecha 2009: 135). This school describes the tathāgatagabha as being synonymous with dhātu (element), gotra (lineage), tathatā (suchness), paramārthasatya (ultimate truth/reality), dharmakāya, buddhajñāna (Buddha’s consciousness) and ‘Clear Light Nature of Mind’, in the sense that they are different aspects of the same ultimate reality (Potprecha 2009: 136). This same reality in an ordinary being is called tathāgatagarbha and in the Buddha is called dharmakaya, which is endowed with four ‘transcendental’ qualities as described as the four perfections above: transcendental purity, self, bliss and permanence (Potprecha 2009: 136). The transcendental self is the quality of the uncompounded reality and is called the ‘Tathatā Self’ or the ‘Pure Self’ (Potprecha 2009: 136). This understanding of dharmakāya being synonymous with the Clear Light Nature of the Mind and having the quality of the transcendental self alludes to Luang Pho Sot’s vision of the dhamma sphere appearing luminous like the sun and dharmakāya as the unconditioned and liberated self (attā vimutti). In making this comparison, I was attempting to contextualize the Thai nibbāna as self or not-self discussions in a wider Buddhist context without making any suggestions regarding 152 the origins of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In the light of the above findings and in the absence of any evidence of their presence in Thailand prior to Luang Pho Sot, it is unlikely that in his development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Luang Pho Sot came across and was influenced by tathāgatagabha and/or shentong ideas. 2.6 The centrality of Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation examined This part is a survey of meditation practices in Thailand prior to Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in order to better understand his focus on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in the context of pre-modern Thai Buddhist meditation traditions. Newell (2008: 66‒7) in her thesis does not acknowledge the significance of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, but only the influence of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean and the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition. However, I would like to argue that the centrality of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the four satipaṭṭhānas (also termed the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the Four Frames of Reference) is one aspect that distinguishes Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from borān kammaṭṭhāna. Sammā Arahaṃ, in my opinion, is not just a simple and straightforward continuation of borān kammaṭṭhāna, but by incorporating Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas into its practice, it aims to offer a new take on borān kammaṭṭhāna. It is possible, but unlikely, that Luang Pho Sot came across the Rise and Fall technique prior to his development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. As I mentioned above, the ‘Rise 153 and Fall’ or Yup No Phong No meditation system, developed by Mahasi Sayadaw (1904– 82), is today the most widely practised Burmese vipassanā method in Thailand. It is a form of ‘bare’ or ‘dry’ insight method based on an interpretation of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and Visuddhimagga’s stages of insight knowledge (vipassanā ñāṇa), omitting the parts that are regarded as samatha (calm or tranquillity) meditation in these texts. There is currently no evidence of this technique being practised and taught in Thailand prior to 1953. The account of Luang Pho Sot’s obtaining of a palm leaf manuscript of the sutta in the autobiography and the mention of the sutta and the four satipaṭṭhānas in his earliest surviving sermons are crucial because they provide evidence that Luang Pho Sot developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in mind from the very beginning (1916), and not after the introduction of the Rise and Fall method in Thailand. As I mentioned above, according to the autobiography, Luang Pho Sot obtained the palm leaf manuscript of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta at Wat Songphinong shortly after his ordination in 1905. The sutta became so significant to Luang Pho Sot that he made it his goal to be able to translate the sutta into Thai (63 sermons 1984: (3)). Having achieved this in the 11th year after his ordination, he discontinued his Pāli studies and focused solely on meditation practice (63 sermons 1984: (3)). His focus on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta may be due to his view that the four satipaṭṭhānas constitute the ‘only path’ to nibbāna, which is derived from one of the several translations of the Pāli expression ‘ekāyanamagga’.161 Single manuscripts of Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta were certainly found Ekāyanamagga is Pāli expression, which describes the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (satipaṭṭhānas) in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. It has been variously translated as ‘one way’, ‘sole way’, ‘only path’, ‘direct path’, ‘unified path’ etc. 161 154 in Thailand in both Pāli and in the bilingual nissaya form prior to Luang Pho Sot. According to the biography of Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean, Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is one of the texts Saṅgharāja Suk studied in detail while he was in residence at Wat Thahoi, Ayutthaya, during the years leading up to the destruction of the kingdom by the Burmese army in 1767 (Wira 2012: 146). Palm leaf manuscripts of the sutta dated from the early nineteenth century are preserved in various collections throughout Thailand. For example, an undated palm leaf manuscript of Pāli Satipaṭṭhāna written in Khom script is kept at Phranakhon Si Ayutthaya Rajabhat University’s Ayutthaya Studies Institute, Ayutthaya.162 Another palm leaf manuscript of Pāli Satipaṭṭhāna dated 1835, written in Tham-Lanna script, is preserved in the Khru Ba Mahāthera Palm Leaf Manuscript Museum collection at Wat Sung Men, Prae province.163 In the Mahasarakham University North-Eastern Palm Leaf Manuscript Preservation Project’s online catalogue, two sets of undated Pāli Satipaṭṭhāna palm leaf manuscripts written in Tham-Isan script are said to be kept at Wat Wari Udom, Roi Et province.164 In the Chiang Mai Rajabhat University Centre for Palm Leaf Studies, Language, Art and Culture Institute’s online catalogue, four bundles of the text in Lanna script, dated 1918, are found at Wat Namcham, Chiang Mai province.165 The palm leaf manuscript of Pāli Satipaṭṭhāna Nissaya in Burmese script, dated 1864, is also among the collection of manuscripts that Dr Anatole Peltier gave to Khunying Khaisi Si- 162 Manuscript catalogue number: 855/25. http://asi.aru.th/?page_id=6273 Manuscript catalogue number: 01-02-209-01-07. http://emuseum.in.th/watsungmen/emuseum/projects/objects/indexzoom.php?objref=e19#!prettyPhoto 164 No catalogue number. http://www.bl.msu.ac.th/gps/index.php 165 Manuscript catalogue number: CMRU-CM-06-A-059-3. http://www.culture.cmru.ac.th/manuscript_database/bailan_dblist.php 163 155 arun, and is now kept at Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Bangkok.166 However, despite the existence of single manuscripts and their translations, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is rarely mentioned in any meditation manuals and teachings in Thailand prior to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In this part, I examined all the available Thai meditation texts and teachings prior to Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (1916), such as the manuals in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology, King Taksin’s meditation manual and some of the leading Thammayut figures’ meditation teachings and found that although some of these texts incorporate practices described in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, such as mindfulness of breath, mindfulness of the body, the ten loathsome (asubha) objects etc., they appear to be mentioned among a variety of other practices. The scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas, namely mindfulness established on four objects ‒ 1) body (kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna); 2) feelings (vedanānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna); 3) mind (cittānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna); and 4) dhammas (dhammāupassanā satipaṭṭhāna) ‒ are not often mentioned in these manuals and teachings, and when they are, they are usually referred to in passing and among a variety of canonical and non-canonical practices. Therefore, according to the evidence currently available, Luang Pho Sot appears to be among the first Thai meditation teachers of his time to incorporate the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas as a central text and practice of his meditation system. 166 Manuscript catalogue number: SAC001-022. http://www.sac.or.th/databases/manuscripts/main.php?m=home&p=index 156 Apart from the sermon by the Thammayut monk, Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando), the abbot of Wat Baromniwat who ordered the compilation of the Chai Yasothonrat anthology, the rest of the anthology is copied or derived from texts composed prior to the nineteenth century. Two of the stated authors, namely Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (1733‒1822) and Saṅgharāja Don (1761‒1852), definitely lived from the late Ayutthaya to early Bangkok periods. Saṅgharāja Don was born during the reign of King Ekkathat of Ayutthaya and died in the second year of the reign of King Mongkut. He developed close relationships with Rama II and Rama IV, being appointed the Supreme Patriarch by decree of King Rama II, a position that he held for 20 years, and having taught Rama IV. Wat Pradusongtham’s collection, as discussed above, is dated sometime during the late Ayutthaya period (c. eighteenth century). With regard to the Vientiane texts, Choompolpaisal (2019: 9) thinks that these collections of manuals are based on manuscripts composed from the late seventeenth to early eighteenth centuries. One of its composers, Supreme Patriarch Sutthisomphrammanachan, lived from 1637 to 1714. Somdet Phra Mahawichaithat Rajamahamuni, who composed the second Vientiane collection, is speculated to have lived sometime during the late seventeenth century (Choompolpaisal 2019: 9). All of the meditation manuals in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology dated prior to the nineteenth century contain no reference to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and hardly any references to the four satipaṭṭhānas. Out of 410 pages, there are only two very short mentions of the four satipaṭṭhānas in these texts. The Vientiane texts contain only half a 157 page of explanation of satipaṭṭhānas by Phra Mahatheraphutrangsi Bawonmuniyan. Mahatheraphutrangsi does not list satipaṭṭhānas under his description of vipassanā but talks about it separately after he discusses jhānas. He explains satipaṭṭhānas as follows. First, the practitioner must be mindful of the body, the feelings, the mind, and wholesome and unwholesome dhammas as merely body, feelings, mind and dhammas and not grasp them as being, person or self. Then he adds that while being mindful of the body, the practitioner is to recite ‘kāyo asubho’, while being mindful of feelings, recite ‘vedanā dukkhā’, while being mindful of the mind, recite ‘cittaṃ aniccaṃ’, while being mindful of dhammas, and recite ‘dhammā anattā’, thereby incorporating mantric practice into satipaṭṭhāna practice. In the Vientiane text attributed to Somdet Phra Mahawichaithat Rajamahamuni, the Pāli terms of the four satipaṭṭhānas, namely kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna, vedanānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna, cittānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna and dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna, are used as mantras to cure a ‘dry and swollen throat’ (Chai 1935: 196). The Mūlakammaṭṭhāna Rom text from Wat Methang, Chiangmai, which was added to the 2015 reprint of the Chai Yasothonrat anthology by the Thammayut nikāya, mentions the recollections of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the saṅgha, and the contemplation of the bodily parts, but does not directly mention the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta or the four satipaṭṭhānas (Thammayuttika 2015: 143–160). The text was composed by Gandhiya Bhikkhu in 1875 but was based on an earlier manuscript by the well-known meditation master Khru Ba Kanchon Thera from Prae (1789–1878). The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the four satipaṭṭhānas are not mentioned either in King Taksin’s meditation manual. 158 The longest explanation of the four satipaṭṭhānas in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology is the non-borān kammaṭṭhāna text taken from a sermon by the Thammayut monk, Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (1856–1932). He provides a six-page explanation in the first part and a half-page explanation in the second part. In the first part, he provides the same translation of the Pāli expression ekāyanamagga as Luang Pho Sot, describing the four satipaṭṭhānas as the only path: ‘the path of purity, the end of becoming [bhava], the end of rebirths [jāti], and the crossing of the flood [ogha] of all beings, satipaṭṭhāna is the only way.’167 Phra Upāli Khunupamachan was 28 years Luang Pho Sot’s senior and died before the publication of the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. Therefore, this sermon and its translation of ekāyanamagga as the ‘only path’ may have been based on a translation that was prior to Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in 1916. There is nowhere else in this anthology where satipaṭṭhānas are described in this way. His explanation appears to be a straightforward summary of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. In contrast to how the modern vipassanā movements present satipaṭṭhānas, Phra Upāli sees them as both samatha and vipassanā and mentions them in both sections. He gives a long explanation of satipaṭṭhānas as part of samatha meditation, and then mentions them again in passing in the context of the realm of insight (vipassanā bhūmi), which is the traditional position of the Visuddhimagga.168 167 ้ ้ ้ ทางความบริสุทธิสิ์ นภพสิ นชาติ ข ้ามโอฆะของสัตว ์ทังหลาย สติปัฏฐานทางเดียวเท่านั้น (Chai 1935: 55). The Visuddhimagga’s understanding of the satipaṭṭhānas as both samatha and vipassanā follows from the way it treats kāyagatāsati, ānāpānasati and asubha practices as samatha, all of which are topics within the kāyānupssanā section of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. See, for example, Vism 3, 243, 265‒7, 275‒6, 277, 289‒91, 464, 522 and 679‒680. 168 159 With regard to Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation system, although the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the four satipaṭṭhānas are not mentioned in his manuals in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology, the sutta is said to be among the texts that Saṅgharāja Suk studied and its translation is cited in his biography (Wira 2012: 146‒166). The biography, compiled and edited by Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro, the current meditation instructor at Wat Ratchasittharam, does not translate the words ‘ekāyanamagga’ as the only path but provides a partial translation of ‘this way is the way that is eka’ and interprets it as the path that one has to ‘practise by oneself’, ‘walk by oneself’ and ‘cannot ask others to practise or walk for them’ (Wira 2012: 166).169 As I shall discuss below, this interpretation is one among the five explanations provided in the Pāli commentaries (Sv III 743–4 and Ps I 229– 30). In my interview with Luang Pho Wira, he informs me that the four satipaṭṭhānas are very profound teachings and exist only at the highest level of Saṅgharāja Suk’s system, after the practitioner has passed the 13 samatha stages and mastered all the eight jhānas ‒ a level very rarely achieved among practitioners past and present (Sitthisangwon 2019). At the stage of insight knowledge (vipassanā ñāṇas), which precedes the attainment of paths (magga) and fruits (phala), the 37 factors of enlightenment (bodhipakkiyā dhammā) are developed. These 37 factors are grouped into seven sets of qualities, the first of which are the four satipaṭṭhānas.170 When I asked him why Saṅgharāja Suk’s system does not incorporate the four satipaṭṭhānas into the lower levels, Luang Pho Wira explained that 169 ้ นทีไปอั ่ นเอก คือทาคนเดียว เดินคนเดียว ให้คนอืนท ่ าแทนเดินแทนไม่ได ้. หนทางนี เป็ 170 The 37 factors of enlightenment (bodhipakkhiyādhammā) are qualities conducive to enlightenment. These qualities are grouped into seven sets: the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhānas), the four right efforts (sammappadhānā), the four bases of supernatural powers (iddhipādā), the five spiritual faculties (indrīya), the five strengths (bala), the seven factors of enlightenment (bojjhaṅga) and the eightfold noble path (ariyamagga). They are mentioned regularly throughout the Pāli canon. See, for example, Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (D II 100) and Mahā Sakuludāyi Sutta (M II 1). 160 there is no need to incorporate them as these levels already consist of practices mentioned in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Sitthisangwon 2019). For example, the fourth level consists of mindfulness of breath, a practice that is included in the mindfulness of the body section of the sutta. As one progresses through the different stages, all of the four satipaṭṭhānas are practised automatically. However, they are not fully developed until one has attained all the jhānas and reached the stage of insight knowledge (Sitthisangwon 2019). With regard to ekāyanamagga, Luang Pho Wira states that this translation is in accordance with Saṅgharāja Suk’s understanding and based on the 1788 Buddhist Council’s (saṅghāyanā) edition of the Tipiṭaka. The council, convened to carry out a revision and correction of the Pāli canon, was held during the reign of King Rama I (Sitthisangwon 2019). The Thai Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta edited by Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya (Charoen Ñāṇavaro) (1872‒1951), the late abbot of the Wat Thepsirin, Bangkok, published in 1919, which is cited in Chapter 2.2, also shares the same understanding of the four satipaṭṭhānas as a path be to travelled by oneself. Although it was published three years after Luang Pho Sot’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya Charoen was 12 years Luang Pho Sot’s senior. This publication is also the sixth edition. Its first edition is most likely to have been published before 1916 and derived from an older translation. It translates ekāyanamagga exactly the same as Saṅgharāja Suk’s biography as ‘this way is the way that is eka’ and interprets it similarly as ‘the path of a single person’ (Thamtrailokachan 1919: 3).171 171 ่ เป็ นทีไปของบุ คคลผูเ้ ดียว. 161 I shall now discuss the meditation teachings of the two most influential Thammayut figures of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, namely Somdet Phra Wannarat (Thap Buddhasiri) (1806‒1891) of Wat Sommanat, Bangkok, and Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan Warorot (1860‒1921) of Wat Bowonniwet, Bangkok. During his lifetime, Somdet Thap was a highly revered meditation master among the Thammayut nikāya reformists and was a close companion of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and a teacher of Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan. Somdet Thap is known for being a member of the first group of monks to be reordained in the Thammayut lineage founded by King Mongkut in 1828, and was among the group of monks who presided over King Chulalongkorn’s (Rama V) ordination ceremony in 1875.172 Somdet Thap excelled in both scriptural studies (he passed the ninthgrade Pāli examination) and meditation. So highly influential were his meditation teachings within the Thammayut nikāya that, although over a century old, they are still relatively accessible and have been preserved and taught as part of the monastic curriculum at the Thammayut’s Mahamakut Buddhist University up to the present day. Somdet Thap is known as a practitioner of the ten loathsome objects (asubha), namely the contemplation of ten different stages of corpses. He formed a close friendship with King Mongkut, often accompanying him into the forest to practise asubha on charnel grounds. One of the few surviving photographs of him was taken while he was sitting in meditation contemplating a human skeleton. During his abbotship at Wat Sommanat, Somdet Thap requested artists to paint scenes depicting these practices on the murals of the temple’s ordination hall (see Taylor 1993: 42‒43). 172 For a biography of Somdet Thap, see Yukhonthon (1984: 7‒14). 162 From the accounts of two compilations of Somdet Thap’s teachings titled Siri of the Buddha (Yukhonthon 1984) and Biography, works and Dhamma sermons of Somdet Phra Wannarat (Thap Buddhasiri Thera),173 it is clear that Somdet Thap’s meditation practice is centred on the three contemplations: the body (kāyagatāsati), death (maraṇassati) and the ten loathsome (asubha) objects. These three practices are related and can be performed simultaneously while contemplating one’s own body or a stage of a corpse. Thus, many of his meditation sermons consist of detailed descriptions of the 32 constituents of the body, their loathsomeness, and the inevitability of death and decay. These descriptions are followed by elaborations on the five aggregates and the three characteristics (annicaṃ, dukkhaṃ, anattā). A lengthy elaboration of the saṅkhāra aggregate section consists of explanations of each of the 52 cetasikas, the mental concomitants that colour the mind. Somdet Thap’s teaching can also be characterized as a break away from Thai traditional meditation practices in its exclusive reliance on the Pāli textual tradition eschewing all aspects of the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, which, at that time, was still a predominant meditation tradition in Thailand. In these two collections, Somdet Thap never mentions the bodily bases, healing practices, sacred syllables, esoteric associations, visions of the sphere, etc. 173 สิรแิ ห่งพุทธ. Siri of the Buddha was published in Bangkok in 2013. The 150-page book consists of five sections: 1) biography of Somdet Thap; 2) history of Wat Somanat; 3) sermon on sīla (precepts); and 4) five sermons on meditation practices. ประวัติ ผลงาน และ รวมธรรโมวาท ของ สมเด็จพระวันรัต (ทับ พุทธสิรเิ ถร). Biography, works and Dhamma sermons of Somdet Phra Wannarat (Thap Buddhasiri Thera) was published in Bangkok in 1986. The book was published on the occasion of Somdet Phra Wannarat (Chap Ṭhitadhamma Thera) the late abbot of Wat Sommanat’s 80th birthday anniversary. It is 288 pages long and consists of four sections: 1) two biographies of Somdet Thap (the second one written by Somdet Phra Mahawirawong (Yang); 2) a collection of Dhamma sermons; 3) the biography of Phra Khru Winaithon (who wrote down and published some of Somdet Thap’s sermons); and 4) the similarities bewtween Somdet Thap and Somdet Chap’s biographies. It is unfortunate that neither of the two books provides the dates that these sermons were given. 163 Despite completely abandoning borān kammaṭṭhāna, the two collections never mention the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and rarely mention the four satipaṭṭhānas. The three contemplations of the body, death, the ten loathsome objects and the five aggregates are part of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and are explained under the mindfulness of the body and dhammas sections, but Somdet Thap never subsumed these practices under the scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas. In Siri of the Buddha’s collection of sermons, consisting of 122 pages, Somdet Thap only mentions four satipaṭṭhānas directly once (Yukhonthon 1984: 142). This explanation is short, only two paragraphs. He explains that in order for one’s mind to be endowed with merits, one should always be mindful of these four things, namely body, feelings, citta and dhammas (Yukhonthon 1984: 142). Being constantly mindful of these four objects means that one has established the four satipaṭṭhānas in oneself (Yukhonthon 1984: 142). There is no mention of ekāyanamagga and/or its translation. In Biography, works and Dhamma sermons, out of 235 pages, Somdet Thap provides only a two-page explanation of the four satipaṭṭhānas under sammā sati or right mindfulness as part of his elucidation of the Eightfold Noble Path (Thap 1986: 271‒2). The description is similar to the one above, but more academic in nature, like a summary of doctrine rather than a guideline for meditation practice. Again, there is no mention of ekāyanamagga and/or its translation. The little mention of the four satipaṭṭhānas and the lack of mention of the sutta and ekāyanamagga probably mean that Somdet Thap did not view the four satipaṭṭhānas as constituting the ‘only path’ to nibbāna and may have understood these contemplations of the body, death, 164 the ten loathsome objects and the five aggregates similarly to Saṅgharāja Suk’s tradition, as automatically conforming to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the four satipaṭṭhānas. As mentioned in Chapter 2.1, Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan Warorot, the 47th son of King Mongkut (Rama IV), was responsible for the reform of monastic education during the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V, r. 1868–1910). The abbot of Wat Bowonniwet developed the curricula for Pāli and Dhamma studies and wrote many important textbooks, some of which are still part of the monastic curricula today, such as the Navakovāda (Instructions for newly ordained monks and novices) and Vināyamukha (Entrance to the Vināya). In 1910, King Vajiravudh (Rama VI, r. 1910‒1925) appointed him the tenth Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, a position he held for 11 years. From Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan’s vast academic output, his longest writing on meditation can be found in Huachai samatha kammathan (The heart of samatha meditation) composed in 1912.174 This work, written to commemorate the death of Phra Panyawisat (Sing), the abbot and meditation instructor at Wat Pathumwanaram, consists of explanations of five objects of samatha meditation, namely contemplation of the body (kāyagatāsati), loving kindness (mettā), recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusati), kasiṇas and analysis of the four elements (catudhātuvavatthāna) (Wachirayan 1966: 87‒ 113). These five are among the 40 objects of samatha meditation described in the Visuddhimagga.175 The reason why Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan did not include vipassanā This work was published together with Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan’s autobiography and other selected writings in His autobiography and writings on various topics (Wachirayan 1966). 175 See Vism 110. 174 165 in this writing may be because he may have viewed vipassanā meditation as more appropriate for advanced practitioners than for ordinary readers. In the 26 pages, the work mentions Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta only once in passing. In the analysis of the four elements, Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan (1966: 109) briefly states that this practice is found in the mindfulness of the body (kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna) section of the sutta. There is no mention of ekāyanamagga and/or its translation. Apart from the section on satipaṭṭhāna in Phra Upāli Khunupamachan’s sermon in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology, another description of the four satipaṭṭhānas as the only path, prior to 1916, is mentioned in the sermon titled ‘Phra Rattanatrai’ (Triple Gems) by Phra Winairakkhit in a collection of King Mongkut’s (Rama IV) writings on Buddhism.176 The text states that the author, Phra Winairakkhit, is a Thammayut monk ordained by King Mongkut. The reason why his sermon is included within the collection of King Mongkut’s writings is most likely because Phra Winairakkhit was a student of the king, and it was assumed that this sermon was a summary of the king’s teachings. Nothing else is stated about the author apart from this. The title Phra Winairakkhit is a common monastic title, and without his personal name and ordination name it is very difficult to figure out who he was. The name Winairakkhit is not included in the first batch of Thammayut monks that was ordained by King Mongkut at Wat Bowonniwet. However, this might be because back พระรัตนตรัย. This sermon is a part of a collection of King Mongkut’s writings on Buddhism printed in the cremation volume of Princess Bunchirathon Chuthathut published by Wat Bawon, Bangkok, in 1980. The 98-page volume is made up of two parts: 1) the biography of King Mongkut written by King Chulalongkorn; and 2) King Mongkut’s writing on Buddhism, which consists of three texts. The first and the third texts are written by King Mongkut. The second text, the ‘Triple Gems’, is written by Phra Winairakkhit. 176 166 then he was referred to by his ordination name. As a monk ordained by King Mongkut himself, he was most likely a contemporary of Somdet Thap and probably lived most of his life in the nineteenth century. Of the 25 pages (pp. 61–86 of the cremation volume), the sermon devotes one and a half pages at the beginning, and seven lines on two more pages (pp. 73–75), altogether almost two pages, directly to the four satipaṭṭhānas. Phra Winairakkhit also describes the four satipaṭṭhānas as the ‘only path’ and equates them with the practice of dwelling with oneself as an island and refuge. He begins the sermon with a Pāli quotation from the beginning of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (D II 290): ekāyano ayaṃ bhikkhave maggo [...],translating it as ‘Monks, this is the one and only path’ (Winairakkhit 1980: 61).177 He explains that both the Buddha and his disciples achieved enlightenment through the cultivation of the four satipaṭṭhānas, then quotes from the well-known passage: ‘Monks, be islands unto yourselves, be your own refuge’ and explains that the words ‘island’ (dīpa) and ‘refuge’ (saraṇa) here also refer to satipaṭṭhānas. This description is a reference to at least a couple of places in the nikāyas where dwelling with oneself as an island and refuge is explained with reference to the practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas (see D III 77, S V 154), and is also similar to Luang Pho Sot’s explanation. As I mentioned above, Luang Pho Sot also equates the practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas with dwelling with oneself as an island and refuge. However, Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of the practices extends the scope of mindfulness to the inner bodies, feelings, cittas and dhammas as well as the human body (see Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 53). 177 มรรคาเอกอันเดียวนี ,้ literally ‘this eka and only magga’. 167 However, despite stating the importance of the four satipaṭṭhānas at the beginning, the rest of the article does not focus on them, but on recollections of the Triple Gems (buddhānussati, dhammānussati and saṅghānussati). Phra Winairakkhit states the reason for this: he believes that elaborating on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta would not benefit the ordinary reader, but only those who are ‘striving for nibbāna’ (Winairakkhit 1980: 68). He therefore chose the more accessible subject of the qualities of the Triple Gems (Winairakkhit 1980: 68). This view of the four satipaṭṭhānas being only suitable for more advanced practitioners is similar to that of Saṅgharāja Suk’s tradition. For the rest of the article Phra Winairakkhit focuses on the iti pi so formula, and as part of the recollection of Dhamma, he explains each constituent of the Eightfold Noble Path, in which the four satipaṭṭhānas are mentioned again briefly under sammāsati (Winairakkhit 1980: 73 and 75). The most interesting part of this article is that for the recollections of the Triple Gems, Phra Winairakkhit incorporates two aspects of borān kammaṭṭhāna practices into his sermon. He advises that one should focus one’s mind on one of the three bodily bases ‒ 1) two finger widths above the navel (the same base as Sammā Arahaṃ’s seventh base); 2) the heart base (the middle of the chest); and 3) the throat base ‒ and also recollect the Triple Gems by repeating the three Pāli words: arahaṃ, dhammo and supaṭipanno (Winairakkhit 1980: 76–7): 168 If one wishes to recollect [the Buddha] concisely in another way, one must repeat in one’s mind arahaṃ arahaṃ and place one’s mind at two fingers above the navel, or the middle of one’s chest or at the base of one’s neck. Repeat in one’s mind arahaṃ, with vitakka directing the mind, with sati recalling, with vicāra examining the word: arahaṃ, the Buddha’s citta and character are pure, far from defilements and desire [...]. Recollect the Dhamma’s qualities briefly as follows. Repeat in one’s mind dhammo, dhammo, placing one’s mind at two fingers above the navel, having applied thought directing it, mindfulness recalling, and sustained thought examining the word: dhammo [...]. Recollect the saṅgha briefly as follows. Place one’s applied thought, sustained thought and mindfulness in the same way as stated in the recollection of the Buddha. Repeat in one’s mind: supaṭipanno, supaṭipanno, the noble disciple’s cittas are endowed with sīla, refraining from evil conduct of the body, speech and mind.178 For most of the article, Phra Winairakkhit seems to be providing the doctrinal descriptions of the qualities of the Triple Gems and, as part of the recollection of Dhamma, the Eightfold Noble Path. However, the above-quoted section, in marked contrast to the rest of the article, seems to be providing a practical guide to the three recollections that is based on borān kammaṭṭhāna practices. Here Phra Winairakkhit is probably giving an example based on 178 ถ ้าจะระลึกโดยย่ออีกนัยหนึ่งดังนี ้ จงบริกรรมทาในใจว่า อรหๆ แล ้วเอาใจวางลงไว ้ทีเหนื ่ อศูนย ์สะดือ ๒ นิ ว้ หรือหว่างอกหรือต ้นคอ ้ จึงบริกรรมทาในใจว่า อรหๆ ไป จึงเอาวิตกกดใจไว ้ เอาสติระลึกไปตามความ เอาวิจารพิจารณาไปตามเนื อความว่ า อรหๆ พระพุทธเจ ้า ้ ่ อ ท่านมีจต ิ สันดานบริสุทธิ ์ ไกลสินจากกิ เลสราคะ [...] ระลึกในธรรมคุณสังเขปดั่งนี ้ พึงบริกรรมทาในใจว่า ธมฺโมๆ เอาจิตวางลงไว ้ทีเหนื ้ ศูนย ์สะดือ ๒ นิ ว เอาวิตกกดใจไว ้ เอาสติระลึกไปตามความ เอาวิจารพิจารณาไปตามความว่า ธมฺโม [...] ระลึกถึงสังนุ สสติโดยสังเขป ้ ดังนี ้ วิธท ี ตั ี่ งใจวางวิ ตกวิจารสติเหมือนกล่าวแลว้ ในพุทธานุ สสติ บริกรรมทาในใจว่า สุปฏิปนฺ โนๆ หมู่พระอริยสงฆ ์สาวก ท่านมีจต ิ เจตนา ่ั ปฏิบต ั ศ ิ ล ี งดเว ้นขาดจากการประพฤติชวในกายวาจาใจ. 169 his own meditation training (with the bodily bases and mantras). However, being trained as a Thammayut monk, probably by King Mongkut, he chose not to add many aspects to this article but seems to focus more on doctrinal explanations. His interpretation of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is also different from the Burmese vipassanā understanding, as it includes the Eightfold Noble Path and the recollections of the Triple Gems. The Eightfold Noble Path is, of course, mentioned in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta as part of the mindfulness of dhammas. The recollections of the Triple Gems, however, are not found in the sutta but can be interpreted as part of the mindfulness of dhammas or understood generally as sati. In the last sense, satipaṭṭhāna can be extended to include the six anussatis as well as maraṇasati, ānāpānasati and kāyagatāsati. As I shall show below, where satipaṭṭhāna practice is stated to be the ‘only path’, it is not uncommon to see many types of Buddhist practices interpreted as part of the mindfulness of dhammas or regarded generally as sati. In summary, although the practices mentioned in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta were incorporated into a number of meditation manuals and teachings prior to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (1916), the explicit reference to the sutta is rarely found. Direct references to the four satipaṭṭhānas are not often found, and when they are, they are usually mentioned together with various other canonical and non-canonical practices. For example, Saṅgharāja Suk’s meditation system incorporates the four satipaṭṭhānas at the highest level as part of the development of the 37 factors of enlightenment. Therefore, according to the evidence currently available, Luang Pho Sot appears to be among the first Thai meditation 170 teachers of his time to incorporate the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas as a central text and practice of his meditation system. Among the four figures who provided translations of the terms ekāyanamagga, namely 1) Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (1733‒1822); 2) Phra Winairakkhit (c. nineteenth century); 3) Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (1856–1932); and 4) Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya (Charoen Ñāṇavaro) (1872‒1951), there seems to be no consensus as to the ‘correct’ translation of the terms as both the ‘only path’ (2 and 3) and the ‘path of a single person’ (1 and 4) readings are equally found. This issue will be explored further in Chapter 2.9. 2.7 Preliminary conclusion Figure 2.15: Confirmed and possible sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The above chart shows all the confirmed and possible sources of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation discussed in this dissertation. The straight lines indicate the four confirmed sources: 171 1. The Pāli textual authorities, namely Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, other Pāli suttas and the Visuddhimagga. The most influential Pāli text is, of course, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. Other Pāli suttas here refer to those cited by Luang Pho Sot in his sermons, for example Ānāpānasati Sutta, Aggañña Sutta, Vakkali Sutta, Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, Udāna 80, etc. 2. Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti, Wat Noi and Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, Wat Amphawan, who were renowned meditation masters of Suphanburi province and Luang Pho Sot’s first two meditation teachers. 3. Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system or Kammathan Matchima Baep Lamdap: the lineage holder who taught Luang Pho Sot was Phra Sangwaranuwong (Achan Aium) (1831‒1913), the third teacher listed in Luang Pho Sot’s autobiography. 4. Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya, meditation system as taught by the lay meditation teacher Achan Chap Suwan (1883‒1958). Achan Chap Suwan’s influence on Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation has been confirmed by Achan Daeng (Prayok Niamnet), the current lineage holder at Wat Pradusongtham. Their distances from the words Sammā Arahaṃ meditation indicate the extent of their influences on Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The nearest to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, i.e. the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and other Pāli texts, exert the most 172 influence, closely followed by the teachings of Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong, and Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation system. The least influential of the confirmed sources is Wat Pradusongtham’s meditation system, whose confirmed influence overlaps with Saṅgharāja Suk’s influence. I have also added the two unconfirmed possible sources in the chart, namely King Taksin’s meditation manual and the Traibhūmi manuscript, and other borān kammaṭṭhāna systems, indicated by the two broken lines. There is currently no evidence linking Luang Pho Sot to King Taksin’s manual and manuscript. However, I have included them here as possible sources due to their significance and influence, and the proximity of Wat Ratchadathitthan to Wat Pho and other residences of Luang Pho Sot. Other borān kammaṭṭhāna systems here refer to the teachings of Luang Pho Sot’s other meditation teachers, for example Achan Sing, Wat Lakhontham, who most likely taught a form of borān kammaṭṭhāna. Sources Confirmed Aspects borrowed and adapted 1. YES For example, the scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas; Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati); recollection of Sutta, other Pāli the Buddha (buddhānussati); dwelling with oneself suttas and the as an island and refuge explained with reference to Visuddhimagga the practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas; the terms dhammakāya and āyatana; parikamma nimitta and parikamma bhāvanā; six vipassanā bhūmis etc. 173 2. Luang Pho YES Kāyagatāsati as extending to one’s inner bodies; Niam (1828– seeing one’s inner bodies in comparison with the 1909) and Luang inner bodies of devas, brahmā and all the noble ones Pho Nong who have died; nibbāna as a deva state higher than (1865–1933) brahmā and beyond saṃsāra where one can see and come into contact with the Buddha 3. Saṅgharāja YES Visions of the light spheres; bodily bases; sammā Suk Kai arahaṃ mantra; the term dhamma sphere; and vision Thuean’s of one’s inner body decorated with a crown, a meditation necklace and a breast chain system (Achan Aium, 1831‒1913) 4. Wat YES Visions of the light spheres; bodily bases; sammā phra arahaṃ mantra Pradusongtham’s meditation system (Achan Chap Suwan, 1883‒1958) 5. Wat NO Attainment of dhammakāya in rūpakāya; Pradusongtham’s dhammakāya as the greatest refuge; dhammakāya meditation equated with a luminescent and inconceivable deva manual 174 (eighteenth form and the place of calmness, nobleness and century) permanence 6. King Taksin’s meditation NO The attainment of Buddha’s dhamma sphere at the navel; the epithet of nibbāna as a place manual (1775) and Traibhūmi manuscript (1776) Table 2.4: Aspects in the confirmed and possible sources adapted and incorporated into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation The above table shows a list of aspects in the confirmed and possible sources, which were and may have been adapted by Luang Pho Sot and incorporated into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Wat Pradusongtham’s system is here divided into confirmed and unconfirmed aspects. The confirmed aspects refer to those in the system currently practised and taught at Wat Pradusongtham. The unconfirmed aspects refer to those in the eighteenth-century meditation manual The rooms of buddhaguṇa, dhammaguṇa and saṅghaguṇa, in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. As mentioned above, despite being stated by Chai Yasothonrat as originally from Wat Pradusongtham, neither Achan Surat nor Achan Daeng, the two current lineage holders at Wat Pradusongtham, recognized the manual. However, if a future research is able to establish a concrete link between this manual and Luang Pho Sot, the manual will become another significant influence on Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. 175 References to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, other Pāli suttas and the Visuddhimagga as sources are found in Luang Pho Sot’s autobiography, his sermons and the biography written by Supreme Patriarch Somdet Pun Puṇṇasiri. Their influences on Luang Pho Sot, especially the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, exceed those of other confirmed sources, for if one strips Sammā Arahaṃ meditation of its borān kammaṭṭhāna aspects, what is left is essentially the practice of mindfulness of breathing, the recollection of the Buddha and the contemplation of one’s body, feelings, mind and dhammas, but extended to the inner bodies as well as the human body. The coining of the term ‘dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere’ as synonymous with the dhamma sphere is the most obvious example of Luang Pho Sot reinterpreting borān kammaṭṭhāna practices in terms of the four satipaṭṭhānas. Luang Pho Sot takes the vision of the light sphere, which is found in Saṅgharāja Suk’s, Wat Pradusongtham’s and King Taksin’s systems and throughout the borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, and adapts it by linking it to the practice of mindfulness of dhammas. The Dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere, according to Luang Pho Sot, is seen after bodily, verbal and mental activities are calmed (kāyānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna), joy arises (vedanānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna) and the citta contemplates that joy (cittānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna). The most significant aspect in Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s teachings is their interpretation of kāyagatāsati (contemplation of the body). Whilst Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong interpreted kāyagatāsati to include the observation of one’s inner bodies in comparison with other beings’ and the noble ones’ inner bodies, Luang Pho Sot extended that observation to include not just the inner bodies but also the feelings, cittas and 176 dhammas of those inner bodies as well, and thus shifted this practice from kāyagatāsaticentred to satipaṭṭhāna-centred. With regard to Saṅgharāja Suk’s system, the most important aspect is the vision of the meditator’s inner body decorated with a crown, a necklace and a breast chain, which became an influence on Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of inner deva bodies. As Luang Pho Sot’s autobiography states, on the full-moon night of the tenth month, in his 15th year of monkhood (1916), Luang Pho Sot sat in meditation at Wat Botbon Bangkhuwiang, a temple in Nonthaburi, and saw the ‘real chart of the Buddha’ (63 sermons 1984: (4)). This account provides another source of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely Luang Pho Sot’s own meditative visions and understanding. While Sammā Arahaṃ meditation borrowed elements from various older traditional meditation practices and systems, it does not correspond in any simple or straightforward way to any one particular traditional form. Despite these findings, many aspects are still unique to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. These include: 1) the 18-body system; 2) the inclusions of the coarse and refined inner bodies; 3) the usage of the terms dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna, sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana to refer to the five inner spheres; 4) the vision of dhammakāya as appearing like a translucent Buddha image; 5) the description of dhammakāya as permanent, happiness and self (attā); and 6) the description of nibbāna as an āyatana. These aspects could have been developed independently by Luang Pho Sot through his own meditative visions and understanding. 177 Born in 1884 in the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and living in Bangkok and studying at Wat Pho soon after King Chulalongkorn and Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan Warorot initiated the centralizing, modernizing and canonizing reform of the Thai saṅgha, Luang Pho Sot would have directly felt the impact of the reform. This may be one of the reasons why, in developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Luang Pho Sot did not mention Luang Pho Niam, Luang Pho Nong, Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean, Wat Pradusongtham or any other meditation systems he had studied as a source or influence, but only what he considered the most important suttas of the Pāli canon and the Visuddhimagga. This was probably because Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system, as with other traditional forms of meditation, was at that time receiving the negative impact of the reforms. Luang Pho Sot may have felt that referring to any of his teachers’ systems, or any other influences, would have been more detrimental than beneficial. It was best to align his meditation system with the Theravāda textual tradition as embodied in the Pāli canon and the Visuddhimagga. At the same time, I also suggest that, unlike Somdet Phra Wannarat Thap, Luang Pho Sot did not want his system to completely break away from traditional Thai meditation practices. Luang Pho Sot may have decided not to abandon these practices entirely for a number of reasons. Firstly, although at the time these practices were in decline, they were still in Thailand the most prevalent forms of meditation, and ones that he studied for many years. Secondly, he saw and experienced the effectiveness of some of their practices. His teachers and friends who practised and taught these forms of meditation were revered as holy monks and noble ones. This was definitely the case with regard to Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean, as it is clearly stated in his biography that he was a non-returner (anāgāmī) 178 (Wira 2012: 27). Luang Pho Niam and Luang Pho Nong are today revered throughout Suphanburi as arahants. Luang Pho Niam is believed to have been taught by the renowned Somdet To (Brahmaraṃsī) of Wat Rakhang. Luang Pho Sot probably saw in their biographies, teachings and conducts the efficacy of these practices in providing practitioners with the means to attain nibbāna. Thirdly, he also saw their worldly applications, such as healing and protective practices, as being useful as well. As I mentioned above, Luang Pho Sot was born and grew up in a province that was considered one of the most dangerous in the country. His decision to become a monk was a result of his father’s untimely death and an incident that caused him to fear for his own life. These incidents in the autobiography not only highlight the danger of the lay life but also the political and economic uncertainty of that time. Moreover, during the time of the development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, access to modern health care was very limited and expensive, and most people sought out monks and traditional medicine for treatment of diseases. They also sought out amulets and other sacred objects for protection. Luang Pho Sot could have broken away from the traditional forms of meditation altogether, as Somdet Phra Wannarat Thap did, but instead he chose to incorporate these practices into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation because they provided him with the necessary protective and healing skills needed at the time. Two decades after he developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram allowed the Japanese army to pass through and occupy Thai territory, and in 1942 he declared war against the United States and Great Britain. This alignment with the Japanese forces had disastrous consequences, namely increased taxation and 179 disruption of Western exports and imports, which led to a commodity shortage and inflation, and subsequently Allied air raids (Wyatt 2003: 248). During this period, the healing and protective techniques proved extremely useful in providing the people of Bangkok, especially the poor, with protection and traditional remedies. As a result, Wat Paknam became a shelter for those who were affected by the bombing during World War II. Achan Tritha (1984: 45–52) states that not only during the war, but also after the war, many casualties still flocked to Wat Paknam, some with serious mental illnesses, and Luang Pho Sot meditated and administered to them with his own concocted remedies. 2.8 The impact of Burmese vipassanā traditions on Sammā Arahaṃ tradition Since the second half of the twentieth century, Thailand has been a witness to the popularization of Mahasi Sayadaw’s Rise and Fall meditation method and other Burmese vipassanā systems.179 Their introduction and spread have resulted in the increasing centrality of the view that equates the four satipaṭṭhānas (Four Foundations of Mindfulness) with vipassanā meditation and the ‘only path’ to nibbāna. As the above section shows, very few of the meditation manuals and teachings prior to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation needed to mention or attempted to conform to the Mahāsatipatthāna Sutta and the four satipaṭṭhānas in order to provide what they thought was the most correct form of meditation practice. Out of the four mentions of the terms ekāyanamagga, only two, namely the sermons of Phra Winairakkhit, a monk ordained by King Mongkut, and Phra 179 For further discussions regarding Burmese vipassanā and its popularization in Thailand, see, for example, Houtman (1990), Jordt (2007), Cook (2010), Schedneck (2012) and Braun (2013). 180 Upāli Khunupamachan, the abbot of Wat Baromniwat, translate them as the ‘only path’. Thus, at that time the opinion that the practice in this sutta constituted the only path to nibbāna was not so widespread in Thailand. However, the popularization of Burmese vipassanā has greatly impacted on meditation practices in Thailand, and the pervasiveness of this view among the educated segment of the Thai saṅgha and meditation practitioners in Thailand has introduced, for the first time, the common notion that the four satipaṭṭhānas constitute the ‘correct’ meditation practice. There are two main traditions of Burmese vipassanā, one associated with Mahasi Sayadaw (1904–82) and another associated with his predecessor, Ledi Sayadaw (1846‒1923), both of which were developed to meet the needs of people of the modern world. Mahasi’s technique is the Rise and Fall meditation, a form of ‘bare’ or ‘dry’ insight method based on an interpretation of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and Visuddhimagga’s stages of insight knowledge (vipassanā ñāṇa), omitting the parts that are regarded as samatha (calm or tranquillity) meditation. In this technique, there is absolutely no samatha involved. The concentration (samādhi) level employed in this method is only temporary or momentary concentration (khaṇika samādhi), i.e. the level of concentration that exists in day-to-day activities such as reading. This meditation method does not require its practitioner to develop appanā samādhi (attainment concentration reaching jhāna) or even upacāra samādhi (access concentration, approaching, but not reaching, jhāna). However, its practitioners argue that deeper levels of concentration equivalent to upacāra samādhi and appanā samādhi can be developed by bare insight meditators as well. However, in contrast to one who practises calm meditation, which develops access and full concentration right 181 at the beginning, one who practises bare insight develops similar levels of concentration much later (see Mahasi 1994: 5–8). The practitioners in this tradition are not supposed to recite any mantras, or visualize any object or arrive at any visionary experience. The characteristics of borān kammaṭṭhāna are not found in this method. Supernatural powers are also viewed as unnecessary and a distraction. Meditation practice in this tradition also consists of few rituals and liturgical practices, and lay people as well as monastics are encouraged to practise it. The objects of meditation for this method are all mental and material phenomena.180 The method also introduces various new techniques aimed at aiding the practice of mindfulness such as observing the rise and fall of the abdomen, the body scan, analysing the different phases of taking steps, etc. The teachers of this school tend to view and describe samatha meditation as a method that existed before Buddha, a worldly meditation method, which means that although it produces a lot of merits, leads to jhānas and supernormal knowledges and attainments, it does not by itself lead to insight and the ultimate cessation of suffering. However, vipassanā meditation is emphasized as a method only taught exclusively in Buddhism and the only way leading to the cessation of suffering and nibbāna. As a result, the school’s meditation and other teachings tend to bypass samatha meditation. For example, the method’s reading of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta omits the practice of mindfulness of 180 Theoretically, all objects of insight meditation consist of the five aggregates (khandhas), the 12 spheres (āyatanas), the 18 elements (dhātu), the 22 faculties (indrīyas), the Four Noble Truths and the 12 factors of dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda). 182 breath, which it sees as samatha. Instead it reinterprets the observation of the rise and fall of the abdomen as the mindfulness of the air element. The seventh and eighth factors of the Eightfold Noble Path are right mindfulness (sammā sati) and right concentration (sammā samādhi). Right mindfulness in this method is interpreted traditionally to mean the four satipaṭṭhānas. In relation to right concentration, however, this school does not mention developing concentration through samatha meditation leading to jhānas, but refers to concentration that is developed through the practice of mindfulness, which leads to insight.181 Moreover, although the school relies on the stages of insight according to the Visuddhimagga, the 40 objects of samatha meditation in the Purification of Mind section of the Visuddhimagga are omitted, whereas the stages of insight from the Purification of View onwards are emphasized. Another well-known insight meditation tradition from Burma is one founded by Ledi Sayadaw. Several meditation lineages acknowledge him as the founding teacher, including the lineage of S. N. Goenka (1924‒). According to Braun (2013: 161), Ledi may have been an influence on Mingun Sayadaw, the meditation teacher of Mahasi, and on Mahasi as well. Unlike Mahasi’s method, Ledi’s method provides an option to practise calm meditation (samatha), and mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati) is taught as a precursor to vipassanā. However, despite teaching samatha, Ledi on occasions encouraged practitioners to skip the development of deep concentration and to begin with the practice of insight. In one of his most influential books, Manual of insight meditation, composed With regard to right mindfulness explained in terms of the four satipaṭṭhānas and right concentration in terms of the development of jhānas, see, for example, Saccavibhaṅga Sutta (M II 248). 181 183 for Europeans in 1915, Ledi states that ‘those whose perfection of knowledge is ripened need not cultivate concentration’ and advises the meditator to skip the stages of access concentration (upacāra samādhi) and attainment concentration (appanā samādhi) and proceed directly to vipassanā using momentary concentration (khaṇika samādhi) (Braun 2013: 141). According to Braun (2013: 139), ‘Ledi was one of the first teachers in the modern era to offer this approach of pure insight practice as a viable, even preferred option’. In skipping these levels, Ledi, like Mahasi, simplified the traditional practice and opened it up to a much wider audience. Meditation in these two traditions became an everyday practice for the laity. This was done in order to revitalize Buddhism and as a response to the threat of colonialism and Christian proselytization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Burma. Burma has been in contact with the West since at least the fifteenth century, but Buddhism in Burma was radically challenged by the British conquest, which began in 1824 with the annexation of lower Burma and the rest of the country in 1886, 40 years after Ledi was born and 18 years before Mahasi was born. During the period of colonial rule, which spanned over a century from 1824 to 1948, missionaries and colonial officials exercised considerable influence on Burmese religious life (see Houtman 1990: 56). The Burmese Buddhists perceived these events as the beginning of the deterioration of Buddhism. The conquest by a foreign government uninterested in the religion resulted in a decline in governmental support for Buddhism, which was followed by the collapse of monastic unity through sectarian disputes, and the waning of its moral standards (Houtman 1990: 57). 184 In the case of Thailand, when the threat of colonialism was felt, King Mongkut and King Chulalongkorn reacted by instituting reforms in all sectors of Thai society. The royal reformists adopted European models of progress, culture and world view. During the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V, r. 1868–1910), there emerged a new trend in the study of Buddhism in Thailand, whereby Buddhism began to be studied ‘academically’ and ‘critically’ by the community of royal scholars, and not, as in the past, only for the purpose of religious instruction (Arthid 2012a: 433). According to Arthid (2012a: 434), source materials were no longer restricted to the Tipiṭaka, the commentaries or other Pāli texts, but also included books written or translated by Western and emerging Japanese scholars, and archaeological and inscriptional evidence. Like his Thai counterparts, Ledi’s thought was also informed by Western and Westerninfluenced scholars of Buddhism. Ledi’s mentor, Hpo Hlaing (1830‒1883), a minister of King Mindon, was deeply engaged with the West, had a library full of Western books and had some of them translated into Burmese. Hpo Hlaing’s book, Meditation on the body (Kāyānupassanā), drew on Abhidhammic explanation of different parts of the body and compared them with the same parts described in an Italian anatomy textbook (Braun 2013: 32). Similarly, Ledi’s meditation writings also focused on contemplation of the body and attempted to link the Buddhist knowledge with Western anatomical facts (Braun 2013: 33). His emphasis on the Abhidhamma is derived from his belief that it is the most rational and scientific of all Buddhist texts and one that would appeal to non-Buddhists. Ledi corresponded with Westerners throughout his life. In a letter to Caroline Rhys-Davids of the Pali Text Society in 1917, Ledi states that the Abhidhamma philosophy ‘gives delight 185 to scientific men of other religions’ and can also ‘resist the interference of foreign religions’ (Braun 2013: 81). Mahasi was also aware of Western ideas and criticisms of Burmese Buddhism. He was acquainted with Myin’ Hswei, a medical doctor, and went to see him seeking answers to questions thrown up by his Western medical education and to ones raised by foreigners’ view on Buddhism (Houtman 1990: 62). Among his first Western students was the former British Rear Admiral E. H. Shattock, who went on leave from Singapore to study meditation at Sasana Yeiktha in Yangon in 1952. On his return to England, he wrote a book titled An experiment in mindfulness, published in 1958, which describes his trip and experiences in Yangon. In the book, Shattock (1958: 17–18) explains that the reasons he became interested in Mahasi’s method were because it was ‘simple’, ‘could be fitted into a normal daily routine’ and ‘required no philosophical understanding or any particular religious beliefs’. He described Mahasi as being ‘well versed in Western philosophy at least so far as it conflicted with Buddhist thought’ and ‘at home with the idiosyncrasies of Western thought’ (Shattock 1958: 58 and 72). Both the traditions of Ledi and Mahasi formed bases for the internationalization of insight meditation and its spread to the West (Braun 2013: 162). The well-known American-born meditation teachers Jack Kornfield (1945‒), Sharon Salzberg (1952‒) and Joseph Goldstein (1944-‒) were trained in Mahasi’s method. Kornfield practised it at the Mahasi Centre in Yangon, and both Goldstein and Salzberg in India under Munindra, a pupil of Mahasi. These teachers all emphasize the bare insight practice and dispense with rituals, and supernatural and cosmological aspects of traditional meditation. Goenka, a pupil of U Ba Khin (1899‒1971), started teaching meditation in India in 1969. His famous ten-day 186 retreats, popular among Westerners, spread throughout India and later to the rest of the world. Currently, his organization consists of over 120 meditation centres in every continent. It promotes bare insight as the heart of the Buddha’s teaching and as a universal practice for all religious adherents. The ‘bare insight’ method as developed by Mahasi Sayadaw (1904–82) is known in Thailand as the Rise and Fall or Yup No Phong No method, a name taken from its basic technique of observing the rising and falling of one’s abdomen. It was first introduced in Thailand in 1952 at Wat Mahathat, Bangkok, and since then has become one of the most popular and widely practised meditation methods in Thailand.182 The two monks largely responsible for the introduction of Mahasi’s meditation method at Wat Mahathat, Tha Phrachan, Bangkok are Phra Thamthiraratmahamuni (Achan Chodok Ñāṇasiddhi) (1918–88) and Somdet Phra Phuthachan (At Āsabhamahāthera) (1903–89) formerly known as Phra Phimontham. Somdet At was a Pāli scholar and a high-ranking Buddhist monk who had an interest in insight meditation.183 In 1948, Somdet At met the Burmese ambassador to Thailand and discussed with him the possibility of international exchanges. This resulted in the Burmese Buddhist Assembly sending two monks, Saddhammajotika Dhammācāriya and Techinta Dhammācāriya, to teach the Abhidhamma in Bangkok in 1949, and Somdet At sending Achan Chodok to study meditation with Mahasi at Sasana Yeiktha in Yangon, Burma, in 1952, for one year (Phimontham Institute 182 See Cook (2010: 26–35) and Schedneck (2012: 119‒124). A biography of Somdet At can be found on the website of the Phimontham Institute, Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, Khonkaen region: http://202.28.110.166/pimoldham 183 187 n.d.). When Achan Chodok returned from Burma he invited two Burmese monks, Bhaddanta Āsabhamahāthera, who also taught and examined Achan Chodok, and Indavaṃsa Kammaṭṭhānācāriya to teach this meditation method at the temple (Phimontham Institute n.d.). Subsequently, Mahasi’s method was promoted as part of the curriculum at Wat Mahathat and Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, and became the normative meditation for temples and institutions affiliated with Mahachulalongkorn. In Achan Chodok’s biography, he is cited as saying that prior to his trip to Burma, he received meditation training at Wat Rakhang, Thonburi, under Phra Phawanaphiram, which he describes as ‘samatha’ (Young Buddhists Association of Thailand 2008: 26). It consisted of a visualization of the Buddha image and reciting the word ‘Buddho’ (Young Buddhists Association of Thailand 2008: 26). Achan taught me a samatha method of bringing the Buddha inside, by concentrating on the Buddha image from the hair, the head, the face, the hand to the rest of the body, and reciting the word ‘Buddho, Buddho, Buddho’ with my eyes shut, until the mind has samādhi; then, bringing the mental image of the Buddha to dwell on the right hand, right shoulder, inside the head and two fingers above the navel. But I was not satisfied with the results. (Young Buddhists Association of Thailand 2008: 26) The meditation method briefly summarized by Achan Chodok contains a borān kammaṭṭhāna characteristic in identifying one’s physical body with the Buddha, and bears 188 similarities to Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s method in its emphasis on the bodily bases and the vision of a Buddha image in meditation. The position of two finger widths above the navel is the same position as the seventh position in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, the dwelling place of the dhamma sphere; and the mantra ‘buddho’ is also used in Achan Man forest meditation tradition. Furthermore, it is not a coincidence that this method echoes the practice described in the Jinapañjarakāthā, which evokes past Buddhas and arahants to dwell at various places of the body to offer protection. Jinapañjarakāthā’s popularization has been attributed to Somdet To, the former abbot of Wat Rakhang. I suggest that the method that Achan Chodok practised at Wat Rakhang had been handed down from Somdet To himself, who had adapted it from Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s method, and maybe used it in conjunction with reciting the Jinapañjarakāthā. Nevertheless, Achan Chodok and Somdet At were not satisfied with this method. Somdet At’s dissatisfaction was recorded in a conversation with Phra Phawanaphiram, in which the meditation teacher admits to Somdet At to having tried and failed to reach stream attainment (Young Buddhists Association of Thailand 2008: 60). Thus, Somdet At made the decision to travel to Burma with Achan Chodok in order to seek a meditation technique that was unique to the Burmese and different from the ones already popular in Thailand. Of all the techniques prevalent in Burma at the time, both Somdet At and Achan Chodok found the method taught by Mahasi to be the most interesting as it claims to be based on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Cook 2010: 27). Somdet At was looking for a generalized approach that did not require a method specific to a personality type and found this ‘bare’ or ‘dry’ insight method, without the practice of samatha, especially appropriate for the laity 189 as they could practise at home without supervision (Schedneck 2012: 121). Somdet At believed that practising samatha without supervision was dangerous as it could lead to supernatural powers (Schedneck 2012: 121). Achan Chodok also considered Mahasi to be a monk of great learning and believed that he had attained ‘the Supreme Dhamma’ (Young Buddhists Association of Thailand 2008: 22). As I mentioned above, the method’s uniqueness lies in its reading of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the Visuddhimagga and the omission of certain aspects of traditional meditation practices deemed incompatible with modern practitioners. According to Saṅgharāja Suk’s tradition, the four satipaṭṭhānas can only be fully developed when one has mastered all the eight jhānas through the practice of samatha meditation. In Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, the four satipaṭṭhānas are first practised when one has achieved the vision of the dhamma sphere, which occurs simultaneously with the attainment of the first jhāna. In skipping samatha meditation, rituals, liturgical and protective practices, Mahasi, like Ledi, simplified the traditional practice and opened it up to a much wider audience. Although terms that the practitioners of this school equate with ‘bare’ or ‘dry’ insight are mentioned in the Pāli canon, the Visuddhimagga and the commentaries, nowhere do these texts prescribe the practice as suitable for everyone, nor do they suggest that the samatha is unnecessary and a distraction. There are many places in the Pāli canon where the Buddha encourages his disciples to develop samatha and jhānas. In the Diṭṭhadhamma Nibbāna Sutta (A IV 454), the Buddha even refers to the four jhānas figuratively as a kind of nibbāna here and now. Thus, in omitting samatha and other traditional practices, and regarding them as unnecessary, this method contains the ‘ultimatist’ characteristic, which Cousins (1996: 39) defines as ‘the 190 perennial tendency [...] to emphasize the highest levels of wisdom or enlightenment and discard more elementary levels’. When Achan Chodok returned to Thailand in 1953, Somdet At set out to propagate the Rise and Fall method all over the country (Phimontham Institute n.d.). In 1955, he asked the Ecclesiastical Cabinet to set up a Division of Meditation in Thailand. This proposal was given approval and Wat Mahathat became the Central Office for this division with Somdet At as the director. When Somdet At became the president of Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, which is situated within the grounds of Wat Mahathat, he established in 1981 a Meditation Institute, which specialized in this meditation method. He set up a number of provincial meditation centres and sent monks who had completed the meditation programme at Wat Mahathat to teach there (Phimontham Institute n.d.). Thanks to the support of Somdet At and Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, the meditation method spread throughout Thailand. Achan Chodok taught this meditation method at Wat Mahathat throughout his life. He became the deputy abbot and the chairman of the Sangha Committee in charge of administering the temple. His other duties included teaching at Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University and establishing the Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University Press in Bangkok. Achan Chodok had numerous students, some of whom became famous meditation masters of this tradition: for example, Phra Khru Phawanawisit (Sisuwan Sirisuvaṇṇo), the abbot of Wat Daen Sa-ngop Asapharam, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. This method is also 191 propagated by the Young Buddhists Association of Thailand, which has headquarters in Bangkok, and branches in Pathum Thani, Chumphon, Ayutthaya and Rayong. The association was founded in 1949 but subsequently became the centre of the Rise and Fall method thanks to the charismatic leadership of Khun Mae Siri Karinchai, a renowned female lay meditation master. Her meditation courses are also taught at Wat Intharawihan, Bangkok. Other teachers in this tradition include Phra Thamsinghaburachan or Luang Pho Charan, the abbot of Wat Amphawan, Singburi, a well-known Dhamma teacher and meditation master who taught at Wat Amphawan and established a branch at Suan Weluwan meditation centre in Khon Kaen. Princess Mother, the mother of King Bhumibol (Rama IX), took an interest in this method and went to Wat Mahathat to study with Achan Chodok in 1955 for a month. Moreover, Bhaddanta Āsabhamahāthera, who came to Thailand with Achan Chodok, also established a meditation centre called Wiwekasom in Chonburi, which has a branch called Sommit-Prani in the same province. The spread of the new meditation method had an impact on meditation practices in Thailand in various ways. Firstly, the Rise and Fall tradition claims that its method provides vipassanā and not samatha technique and adheres most closely to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, and is thus superior to other existing methods. Secondly, the view that the four satipaṭṭhānas constitute the ‘only path’ to nibbāna, already present in Thailand, became even more widespread as the Rise and Fall tradition gained more and more influence and popularity. As I mentioned in Chapter 2.7, among the four figures who provided translations of the expression ekāyanamagga prior to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (1916), 192 there seems to be no consensus as to the ‘correct’ translation of the expression as both ‘the only path’ and ‘the path of a single person’ are equally found. Sources Translations and interpretations of ekāyanamagga 1. Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (1733‒ ‘This way is the way that is eka’; ‘the path 1822); prior to the Thammayut reform that one has to practise by oneself, walk by oneself, and cannot ask others to practise or walk for them’ 2. Phra Winairakkhit (c. nineteenth ‘This is the one and only path’; ‘the century), a monk ordained by King Buddha and his disciples achieved Mongkut; Thammayut enlightenment through the cultivation of the four satipaṭṭhānas’ 3. Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan ‘Only way’; ‘the path of purity, the end of Siricando) (1856–1932); Thammayut becoming and rebirth, and the crossing of the flood’ 4. Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya ‘This way is the way that is eka’; ‘the path (Charoen Ñāṇavaro) (1872‒1951); of a single person’ Thammayut 5. Somdet Phra Wannarat (Heng ‘The path that leads to the peace that is Khemacārī) (1882‒1943); Mahānikāya eka’; ‘the path that is eka’; and ‘the path of purity that is eka’ 193 6. Luang Pho Sot (1884‒1959); ‘The only path’; ‘the one way without Mahānikāya two, without a second way’ Table 2.5: References to ekāyanamagga, its translations and interpretations prior to the introduction of the Rise and Fall method to Wat Mahathat The above table shows references to ekāyanamagga, its translations and interpretations prior to the introduction of the Rise and Fall method to Wat Mahathat. As it is prior to 1953, I have also added two more figures to this list, namely Luang Pho Sot (1884‒1959) and Somdet Phra Wannarat (Heng Khemacārī) (1882‒1943). Somdet Heng was a Pāli scholar and the abbot of Wat Mahathat, Bangkok, from 1923 to 1943. He died ten years before the introduction of Rise and Fall to his temple. In a collection of ten sermons by various Thammayut and Mahānikāya monks published in 1925,184 Somdet Heng’s sermon titled ‘Satipaṭṭhānapāṭha’ provides three partial translations of ekāyanamagga: ‘the path that leads to the peace that is eka’, ‘the path that is eka’ and ‘the path of purity that is eka’ (Sawetanan 1925: 64 and 71).185 It is clear that the words ‘peace’ and ‘purity’ here refer to the attainment of nibbāna and the word eka can be translated as the ‘highest’ or ‘foremost’. Among the six figures who provided translations and interpretations of the terms ekāyanamagga prior to Rise and Fall at Wat Mahathat, there is still no consensus as to the ‘correct’ translation of the terms as the ‘only path’ is found among other translations and 184 The sermon is part of a cremation volume compiled and edited by the Sawetanan family and published in 1925. The volume consists of ten sermons by various monks given at the funeral rites of Phraya Aphichit Chanyut. ‘Satipaṭṭhānapāṭha’ is the eighth sermon in the volume (pp. 65‒73) and was given when Somdet Heng held the monastic title of Phra Thamtrailokachan. 185 ์ างเอก. 1. มรรคาทางดาเนิ รถึงความสงบอย่างเอก 2. มรรคทางอันเอก 3. มรรคหนทางแห่งความบริสุทธิอย่ 194 interpretations. With Somdet Heng translating them as ‘the path that leads to the highest peace/purity’, it is most likely that the ‘only path’ translation was not taken up by monks at Wat Mahathat until the arrival of Rise and Fall. The ‘only path’ is also not confined to one lineage, as two figures in Thammayut (Phra Winairakkhit and Phra Upāli Khunupamachan) and one in Mahānikāya (Luang Pho Sot) adopted this translation. After the introduction of the Rise and Fall method to Wat Mahathat in 1953, however, the view that the four satipaṭṭhānas constitute the ‘only path’ to nibbāna seems to have become much more prevalent. In a book titled Questions and answers regarding vipassanā meditation, Achan Chodok, following Mahasi, states that the practice of satipaṭṭhānas as prescribed in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is ‘synonymous with vipassanā meditation’ and the ‘only path’ to nibbāna (Thamthiraratmahamuni 2006: 19). When the founder and head teacher of this tradition in Thailand asserted this view, other teachers and practitioners of this tradition adopted it and there followed similar statements in the publications of Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University and the meditation books written by teachers and students of this school.186 Another influential figure in the Rise and Fall tradition who is also responsible for propagating this view in Thailand and the rest of the Theravāda world was Nyānaponika Thera. Nyānaponika Thera (1901–94) was a German-born Theravāda monk, ordained in Sri Lanka in 1936, the co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society and a teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi. In 1952, he participated 186 For example, at Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University (1995: 338; and 2012: 148). 195 in the Fifth Buddhist Council in Yangon and at the conclusion of the council remained in Burma to study the Rise and Fall method under Mahasi. His most influential book, The heart of buddhist meditation, first published in 1962, and based on his training in the bare insight method, has been reprinted many times, translated into more than ten languages and is a prescribed text in many universities’ programmes. In several places in the book, Nyānaponika (2005: 7, 25, 153, 211 and 212), following Mahasi, refers to satipaṭṭhāna as the ‘sole way’ and the ‘only way’. He explains that this statement derives from the Pāli expression ‘ekāyanamagga’ found in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and means that apart from satipaṭṭhāna ‘there is no other road that leads to nibbāna’ (Nyānaponika 2005: 212). The Thai translation, first published in 1985 and reprinted for the eighth time in 2010, also translates them as the ‘only way’ and offers the same explanation of ‘ekāyanamagga’. In the preface to the book, Chan Suwanwiphat, the translator, states that he consulted Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya (Prayudh Payutto), who wrote a preface and helped him edit the translation (Nyānaponika 2010: 14). The eighth edition also contains a preface by Sulak Sivaraksa, the well-known scholar, activist, follower of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and founder of the Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation. Although Phra Payudh approves the translation and explanation of the ‘only way’ in The heart of buddhist meditation, in his own Buddhadhamma he does not translate ‘ekāyanamagga’ as the ‘only way’ but offers a partial transliteration of ‘thang ni pen makha ek’187 or ‘this way is the eka magga’, and no explanation regarding the term (Payutto 1999: 810). A similar partial transliteration is also found in Bhaddanta Āsabhamahāthera’s book (2009: 31), which offers ‘thang ni pen thang 187 ้ นมรรคาเอก. ทางนีเป็ 196 pai an ek’, literally meaning ‘this path is the path of going that is eka’.188 ‘Ek’ in Thai is an ambiguous word that has several definitions, namely ‘one’, ‘first’, ‘main’ and ‘leading’, and can be interpreted as ‘highest’, as in the Thai for doctoral degree (parinya-ek). However, it can also mean ‘only’ and readers who are familiar with the ‘only path/way’ interpretation would understand it this way. Some books, for example Thang Ek, by a wellknown vipassanā meditation teacher, Achan Pramot Pāmojjo (2012: 4–5), offer ‘thang ek’ or ‘eka way’ as a translation and then explain that this means that satipaṭṭhāna, i.e. vipassanā meditation, is the ‘only path’. The 19th Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, Somdet Phra Yansangwon (Charoen Suvaḍḍhano), the late abbot of Wat Bowonniwet (1912– 2013), perhaps following his Thammayut predecessors like Phra Upāli and Wat Mahathat, in a sermon given in 1962, also describes the four satipaṭṭhānas as the ‘only path’ (Yansangwon 2014: 19).189 Despite its ubiquity, some modern Buddhist Studies scholars suggest that the word ‘only’ is a mistranslation. For example, Gethin (2001) argues that describing satipaṭṭhāna as ‘ekāyanamagga’ was not originally intended to indicate that the method of practice was the one and only way, nor was it taken as meaning this by the commentaries. The Pāli commentaries provide five explanations for this term: as ‘a single path, and not a forked path’; a path that is ‘to be travelled alone’; the path of ‘the one’, namely the Buddha; a path that ‘occurs or is found in just one place’, i.e. in Buddhism; and a path that ‘goes to one 188 ้ นทางไปอันเอก. ทางนีเป็ 189 This description is mentioned in a compilation of his meditation teachings titled Guide to the practising of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, published in 2014. 197 place only’, i.e. nibbāna (Gethin 2001: 60–1).190 He argues that the use of ekāyana in Pāli and Sanskrit literature suggests that the first explanation of a single path, and not a forked path, does not suggest a sole and exclusive path but that ‘the path is unified, clear, well defined and single – not confusing and difficult to follow as a result of forks and side roads’. He suggests a translation of this passage as ‘going straight to the one is this path for the purification of beings’ (Gethin 2001: 64). According to him, it is clear that the commentaries do not favour the interpretation of ‘only’, and that in opting for this interpretation the modernists are departing from tradition. Anālayo (2003: 28) also thinks that ‘only’ is not a correct translation and translates ekāyanamagga as ‘the direct path’. He states that ekāyano conveys a sense of directness rather than exclusiveness and adds that the translation of ‘direct path’ fits well with the final passage of the sutta, which mentions satipaṭṭhānas’ ‘potential to lead to the highest stages of realization within a limited period of time’. An obvious question arises: if the four satipaṭṭhānas are the only path to nibbāna, what of the other teachings and practices mentioned by the Buddha in the Tipiṭaka? Are they to be regarded as redundant? Nyānaponika Thera (2005: 212) explains that this is not so, as all factors of the Eightfold Noble Path are ‘comprised in’ satipaṭṭhāna and ‘cannot exist without it’. A similar but more detailed discussion is found in the book Buddhavipassanā by Sawet Piamphongsan (1909–2002).191 Sawet was a deputy prime minister and minister of finance who became interested in vipassanā meditation. After attending the meditation 190 191 Sv III 743–4 and Ps I 229–30. Published in Bangkok in 1960 by the Wat Mahathat Vipassanā Foundation. 198 programme at Wat Mahathat in 1955 for a month, Sawet was approached by Somdet At and asked to write this book. In the first chapter, Sawet attempts to offer an answer as to how the first five disciples of the Buddha (pañcavaggīya) were able to achieve stream attainment and arahatship after listening to his discourses and without having to practise or even listen to the Buddha’s explanation of satipaṭṭhānas. He explains that although the four satipaṭṭhānas were not imparted to the five disciples directly, they were able to understand its content, which the Buddha subtly inserted into his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, and the Discourse on Not-Self, the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, as the teachings of the noble Eightfold Noble Path and the three characteristics are contained within the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. After hearing the discourses, they were able to put them into practice and achieve stream attainment and arahatship (Sawet 1960: 83–4). This explanation coincides with the elucidation given by the renowned vipassanā teacher Achan Naeb Mahaniranonda (1897–1983).192 In lectures given in 1965 and 1966 to the Thailand Buddhist Association, Bangkok, Achan Naeb concluded that the practice of morality, concentration and wisdom, i.e. the content of the Eightfold Noble Path, must consist of satipaṭṭhānas as objects (Naeb 2010: 171). With regard to morality, in observing the body with mindfulness, one is practising morality by preventing the coarse defilements arising through bodily action and speech (Naeb 2010: 26). Therefore, in order to explain the ‘only path’, these teachers subsume the most important teachings of the Buddha into the practice of satipaṭṭhānas (Naeb 2010: 26). Achan Naeb is a ‘bare insight’ meditation teacher and a student of the Burmese meditation master Bhaddanta Vilāsa who was a student of U Chan Dun, who was in turn a student of Mingun Sayadaw. Her method is similar to Rise and Fall but emphasizes identifying and observing the impermanence of ‘name and form’ (nāma-rūpa). 192 199 Interestingly, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu does not solve the ‘only path’ puzzle in this way. In a lecture given in 1960, he did not equate the ‘only path’ with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness but reinterpreted it as referring to the Eightfold Noble Path, which has ‘samādhi bhāvanā’ or ‘the training of the mind’ as an important factor (Buddhadasa 2008: 159–62). Nevertheless, all of the above teachers assume without question that ekāyanamagga means ‘only path’. From all the publications surveyed, the only Thai meditation master who did not interpret ekāyanamagga as ‘only path’ was Luang Pho Charan, the abbot of Wat Amphawan, Singburi. In the book Kot haeng kam thamma patibat lem 10 (Law of karma and Dhamma practice), Volume 10, Luang Pho Charan argues, contradicting his teacher, Achan Chodok, that ekāyanamagga refers to one out of many paths (Phra Ratchasutthiyanmongkhon 1996: 456).193 He explains that while other paths are ‘rough, full of holes and other obstacles’, satipaṭṭhānas are described as ‘thang ek’ (eka way) because they are ‘the most convenient path from the start to the end and do not contain any obstacles’ (Phra Ratchasutthiyanmongkhon 1996: 456). However, Luang Pho Charan does not state what the other paths refer to. This explanation is similar to Gethin’s understanding of the first commentarial explanation as described above. In my opinion, the introduction, spread and popularization of the Rise and Fall method have resulted in a prevalent view of what constitutes the ‘correct’ meditation practice. This view equates satipaṭṭhānas with vipassanā meditation and the ‘only path’ to nibbāna. Its 193 กฎแห่งกรรม ธรรมปฎิบต ั ิ เล่ม10. 200 increasing pervasiveness among the educated members of the saṅgha and meditation practitioners has caused an unprecedented tension between this tradition and other meditation traditions in Thailand. This tradition’s opposition to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation was most evident when, between March and April 1955, Achan Chodok went to Wat Paknam to teach Luang Pho Sot the Rise and Fall method. Luang Pho Sot was 71 years old at the time and had been teaching Sammā Arahaṃ meditation for almost four decades. In Achan Chodok’s biography, it is stated that Achan Chodok was invited to teach Luang Pho Sot, who is described as the ‘renowned master of samatha meditation’, at Wat Paknam for one month. After he had finished training, Luang Pho Sot went to Wat Mahathat to listen to Achan Chodok’s lecture on the stages of ñāṇas (insight knowledges), and as a gift for Wat Mahathat, Luang Pho Sot signed a photograph of himself with a written statement that ‘he has been practising Wat Mahathat’s vipassanā method and confirms that it is all in accordance with the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta’ (Young Buddhists Association of Thailand 2008: 38–39). The written statement is dated 20 April 2498 (1955). The explanations of the two traditions regarding this incident diverge substantially. According to the Rise and Fall tradition, having completed his training, Luang Pho Sot abandoned Sammā Arahaṃ meditation for the Rise and Fall method, but because of his age, he did not get the chance to teach the Rise and Fall method. However, the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition claims that the invitation was the result of Luang Pho Sot not wanting to upset Somdet At, who was, at that time, the ecclesiastical minister directly in charge of Wat Paknam and Luang Pho Sot, and Achan Chodok. Luang Pho Sot did not want to argue with them and create tensions between Wat Paknam and Wat Mahathat, so he allowed Achan Chodok to instruct him. The signed photograph and the written statement were merely a symbol of the harmony 201 between the two temples. Afterwards, Luang Pho Sot continued to practise and teach Sammā Arahaṃ meditation until the end of his life (Singhon 2008: 120–21; and Sermchai 2015). One of the few people whose account could provide the least biased clarification of this controversy is Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh (1908–2003).194 Achan Voramai was the first Thai woman to receive ordination from both the male and the female saṅgha. She founded Thailand’s first bhikṣuṇī temple, Songdhammakalyani monastery in Muang District, Nakorn Pathom, and became the monastery’s first abbess. Throughout her life, Achan Voramai practised and taught both Sammā Arahaṃ and Rise and Fall along with three other methods. She learned Sammā Arahaṃ directly from Luang Pho Sot having ‘attained dhammakāya’ on 22 March 1954 (Voramai 2003: 110). A year later, on 30 May 1955, one month after Luang Pho Sot had finished his Rise and Fall training, Achan Voramai went to Wat Mahathat to study the Rise and Fall method under Phra Palat Thuan and Achan Thiap (Voramai 2003: 121). After she completed the 28-day course at Wat Mahathat, she went to Wat Paknam to visit Luang Pho Sot, who enquired whether she had managed to retain her dhammākāya while practising Rise and Fall. She informed him that while she was studying the method, she only used her human body to meditate, and had placed her dhammakāya at the top of her head so that her dhammakāya would not disappear during her training (Voramai 2003: 217).195 Luang Pho Sot was pleased with her answer and 194 วรมัย กบิลสิงห ์. The autobiographical accounts are taken from วิปัสสนา ๕ แบบ Wipatsana 5 baep (Five types of vipassanā) published in 2003. 195 In Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, those who have reached dhammakāya, but have not abandoned the three lower fetters (saṃyojana) and become stream-enterers (sotāpanna), are called gotrabhū persons. Gotrabhū persons can fall back on their attainments and become ordinary persons (puthujjana) (Sermchai 2017). 202 instructed her to always ‘maintain her dhammakāya’, for it is something that ‘cannot be bought’, ‘even if one has 10,000 or 100,000 [baht]’ (Voramai 2003: 217).196 However, despite the opposition from the Rise and Fall movement, the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition continued to flourish after the death of Luang Pho Sot under Wat Paknam’s two influential abbots, Somdet Phra Wannarat (Pun Puṇṇasiri), who later became Saṅgharāja Somdet Phra Ariyawongsakatayan, the 17th Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, and Phra Ratchathewi (Chuang Varapuñño), who became Somdet Phra Ratchmangkhlachan. These two figures, along with monks and mae chi197 direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot, played a major role in the continuation and spread of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition as a whole, especially during the first few decades after Luang Pho Sot’s death. 196 ่ นแสนก็หาซือไม่ ้ ได ้. เองรักษาไว ้ให้ดี มีเงินเป็ นหมืนเป็ 197 Mae chis are female renunciants who shave their heads, wear white and follow eight or ten precepts. They hold a position somewhere between the lay followers and the ordained monastics. For recent research regarding mae chis, see, for example, Lindberg Falk (2007), Collins and McDaniel (2010), Silaratano (2012) and Seeger (2010 and 2018). 203 Chapter Three 3. Sammā Arahaṃ tradition after Luang Pho Sot 3.1 Wat Paknam tradition After the death of Luang Pho Sot in 1959, Somdet Wannarat (Pun Puṇṇasiri) of Wat Pho, who later became Saṅgharāja Ariyawongsakatayan, the 17th Supreme Patriarch of Bangkok, was appointed as temporary abbot of Wat Paknam from 1959 to 1966. As mentioned above, Saṅgharāja Pun, who wrote the first biography of Luang Pho Sot, had long been acquainted with Luang Pho Sot, having been ordained at the same temple, Wat Songphinong, Suphanburi, and resided at Wat Pho together with Luang Pho Sot prior to the latter’s move to Wat Paknam. He held Luang Pho Sot in high regard and often visited Wat Paknam to pay respect to Luang Pho Sot’s body198 after he became the Supreme Patriarch. Saṅgharāja Pun became a member of the Thai Saṅgha Supreme Council (Mahatherasamakhom) and was appointed as Supreme Patriarch in 1972, a position that he held for almost two years. After Saṅgharāja Pun, Phra Ratchathewi (Chuang Varapuñño), whose current monastic title is Somdet Ratchmangkhlachan, became the abbot of Wat Paknam. Somdet Chuang, a Pāli scholar who holds five honorary doctorates from universities in Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, was the assistant abbot and head of scriptural studies at Wat Paknam prior to his appointment as abbot. During his long tenure of almost Luang Pho Sot’s body was not cremated, but was put into a coffin and placed inside a vihāra at Wat Paknam. 198 204 five decades, Somdet Chuang maintained and expanded the temple to its current size of 20 rais (eight acres), accommodating over 240 monks, 120 mae chis199 and 50 novices (Wat Paknam 2015). He raised funds for a number of branch temples in Thailand and abroad. At the time of writing, Wat Paknam has five foreign branches: 1) Wat Mongkhon Thepmuni in Philadelphia, USA; 2) Wat Paknam, Chiba, Japan; 3) Wat Paknam, Tauranga, New Zealand; 4) Wat Paknam, Ohio, USA; and 5) Wat Paknam, Michigan, USA. In Thailand, an important branch temple of Wat Paknam is Wat Chantharangsi in Angthong. The temple was built during the Ayutthaya period, and was renovated and patronized by the late Phra Thamrattanakon (Sa-ngat Aṅsumālī) (1938‒2018), Luang Pho Sot’s direct student and former assistant abbot of Wat Paknam. It is run by Phra Sa-gnat’s student Phra Khru Banthitanurak (Taem), who used to reside at Wat Paknam. The temple practises Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and receives funding from Wat Paknam. Other branches of Wat Paknam include Wat Mongkhon Thammakayaram in Chiang Rai, Wat Suan Lamyai in Lamphun, Wat Sombun Thammakayaram in Phichit and Wat Pa Charoen Thammakai in Roi-et. All of these temples practise Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and receive funding from Wat Paknam (Wat Paknam 2015). Wat Pa Charoen Thammakai’s current abbot, Phra Bhavanāmaṅgala (Wiwat Katavaḍḍhano) and his father, whom he calls Luang Pho Sai, are immediate students of Luang Pho Sot and Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), the late deputy abbot of Wat Paknam and Achan Sermchai’s meditation teacher. Wat Paknam also established a number of mae chi centres, the most prominent one being the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre in Ratchaburi established in 1997 by mae chi 199 Female renunciants. 205 Wanchai Chukon (1933‒), a direct pupil of Luang Pho Sot. Mae chi Wanchai started practising Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in 1952 at the age of 12, becoming a mae chi at Wat Paknam in 1958 at the age of 18, one year before Luang Pho Sot died. Today, she is among one of the few living direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot and resides both at Wat Paknam and the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre. In the next chapter, I shall incorporate my interview with her as part of the debates and discussions among the different lineages of the tradition regarding Sammā Arahaṃ meditation (Wanchai 2016). Saṅgharāja Pun and Somdet Chuang, along with monks and mae chis who were direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot, played a major role in the continuation and spread of Wat Paknam’s lineage, and Sammā Arahaṃ tradition as a whole, especially during the first few decades after Luang Pho Sot’s death and prior to the establishment of the Dhammakaya Temple and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. Their leadership and positions within the saṅgha hierarchy ensured that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation continued to be practised and taught at Wat Paknam and its associated temples and centres despite a number of criticisms from Pāli scholars and other meditation traditions. Shortly before his death, Luang Pho Sot handed the teaching of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to many of his leading students, both monks and laypeople. I would like to focus on two prominent figures responsible for transmitting Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from Wat Paknam to Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram and Dhammakaya Temple, namely Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), who taught Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo), the abbot of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, and mae chi 206 Thongsuk Samdaengpan, who taught mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung, who later founded the Dhammakaya Temple. It is not possible to account for the spread of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition to these temples without mentioning these two figures. One of the most senior and prominent female teachers at Wat Paknam was mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan.200 Born in Bangkok in 1900, she married a surgeon who worked at Chulalongkorn Hospital and had two children with him. She met Luang Pho Sot in 1930, started practising Sammā Arahaṃ meditation under his guidance and attained dhammakāya at the age of 35. She became a mae chi at Wat Paknam at the age of 40 and remained a mae chi until her death in 1963 at the age of 63. Mae chi Thongsuk was entrusted by Luang Pho Sot with teaching meditation to mae chis at Wat Paknam and was sent, together with her pupil mae chi Thian Thirasawat, to teach Sammā Arahaṃ meditation outside Bangkok at various temples and centres in Chonburi, Nakhon Pathom, Chachoengsao, Ratchaburi, Singburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phitsanulok and Chiang Mai, recruiting thousands of practitioners. Two students of mae chi Thongsuk became prominent teachers of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition: 1) mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung201 (1909–2000), or as the Dhammakaya Temple affectionately calls her ‘Khun Yai’ (Grandmother), who together with her students founded Dhammakaya Temple; and 2) Karun Bunmanut202 (1935–2018), a lay male meditation teacher based in Chanthaburi. Mae chi Chan was one of the leading students of mae chi Thongsuk and Luang Pho Sot. She was born in Nakhon Pathom into a farmer’s family. In 1935, at the age of 23, she travelled to Bangkok to work as a servant of Liab 200 Biographical information taken from Singhon (2008: 9–67). Biographical information taken from Dhammakaya Temple (2013). 202 Biographical information taken from Sueksa Karun Foundation (2013). 201 207 Sikanchananan, a rich benefactor of Wat Paknam. She met mae chi Thongsuk through Liab and became her meditation pupil. Having made sufficient progress, she went on to study with Luang Pho Sot and became a mae chi at Wat Paknam in 1938. Another leading student of mae chi Thongsuk was a lay schoolteacher, Karun Bunmanut, who studied with mae chi Thongsuk from 1956 until the latter’s death and then afterwards with mae chi Chan until 1966. Karun, together with mae chi Thian Thirasawat, Chaiboon Suthipol (who became Phra Dhammajayo) and Phadej Pongsawat (who became Phra Dattajīvo), helped mae chi Chan set up the Dhamma Prasit Group, a meditation practitioners’ group, at Wat Paknam. Some members of this group later went on to become leading figures of the Dhammakaya Temple. Karun was working in the civil service as a teacher at Wat Bowonniwet School when mae chi Thongsuk died, and remained a pupil of mae chi Chan until 1966 when he was transferred to Ang Thong. There, he met mae chi Thanom Asawai, another senior pupil of Luang Pho Sot, who, after Luang Pho Sot’s death, set up a meditation centre in Ang Thong and became her pupil for eight years. He moved back to his hometown, Chanthaburi, in 1982 to work as an assistant provincial education officer, where he taught meditation and wrote six books on the teachings of Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Another prominent meditation teacher at Wat Paknam was Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), formerly known as Phra Phawana Koson Thera, the late deputy abbot and head of meditation (1919–2014).203 Half-Thai and half-Japanese, Phra Ratchaphromathen (Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo) was born in 1919 with the Thai name of Wira Uttaranathi and the Japanese name of Kunio Kawakita. He studied Japanese at the Japanese Society of 203 Biographical information taken from: Singhon (2008: 214–217). 208 Thailand and completed one year studying law at Thammasat University before the outbreak of World War II interrupted his education. After the war, he did not go back to studying, but helped his family conduct business with Japanese traders. He met Luang Pho Sot at the age of 34, towards the end of Luang Pho Sot’s life, and became his meditation pupil in 1953. A year later, he was ordained at Wat Paknam with Luang Pho Sot as his preceptor. During Luang Pho Sot’s lifetime, Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo acted as an assistant to Luang Pho Sot and Phra Phawana Koson Thera (Thira Dhammadharo) in teaching meditation to monks and laity at Wat Paknam. After Luang Pho Sot’s death, Luang Pho Thira became the deputy abbot and head of scriptural studies and meditation.204 He died in 1968 and Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo succeeded him as the deputy abbot and head of meditation two years later. Wat Paknam’s other deputy abbot, Phra Wisutthiwongsachan (Wichian Anomaguṇo), in charge of scriptural studies, is a Pāli scholar and member of the Thai Saṅgha Supreme Council (Mahatherasamakhom). Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo also took on the task of teaching meditation to foreigners at Wat Paknam and abroad. He went to teach meditation in the USA, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Japan and was responsible for publishing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation manuals in English, Japanese and Chinese. As he was the only monk able to speak Japanese fluently, he was given the task of teaching meditation to Japanese visitors. Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo taught and exchanged ideas with Sōtō-Zen Archbishop Takashina when he visited Thailand in 1954. He also taught a Nichiren monk who came for ordination at Wat Paknam in 1957 for six months พระอาจารย ์ใหญ่ฝ่ายคันถธุระและฝ่ ายวิปัสสนาธุระ. The head teacher of ‘fai khanthathura’ and ‘fai wipatsanathura’. This title means that the monk is recognized as both a Pāli and a meditation teacher and is responsible for overseeing scriptural studies (ganthadhura) and the practice of meditation (vipassanādhura). 204 209 and a Shingon monk who came for ordination in 1964 for five years. Achan Sermchai’s works are influenced by Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, which he inherited mainly from Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, who received the tradition from Luang Pho Sot. The interpretation of Buddhist doctrine and practice in Achan Sermchai’s works is therefore rooted in Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo’s understanding of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings. Luang Pho Sot also had Western students who became well-known meditation teachers. One of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand was the English photographer and journalist William Purfurst (later known as Richard Randall) (1906–71), the author of the book Life as a Siamese monk, first published in 1990. Purfurst met Phra Ṭhitavedo, a monk from Wat Paknam who travelled to England in 1953, and a year later went to Bangkok, took up residence at Wat Paknam and began studying Sammā Arahaṃ meditation under Luang Pho Sot. After his full recovery from pneumonia, which he believed was the result of the meditative power of mae chis at Wat Paknam, he became a monk in 1954 at Wat Paknam with Luang Pho Sot as his preceptor, and was given the monastic name of Kapilavaddho Bhikkhu (McKenzie 2007: 36–37). In 1956, Kapilavaddho returned to Britain to found the English Sangha Trust. He disrobed because of poor health, but was reordained at the Thai temple in Wimbledon, Wat Buddhapradīpa, before disrobing again because of poor health. Another important Western student of Luang Pho Sot is Phra Terence (Terry) Magness (1928–2012). Phra Terry was introduced to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in 1958 and became a pupil of mae chi Kalyawadee, a student of Luang Pho Sot. He practised Sammā Arahaṃ meditation for 12 years before becoming a monk at Wat Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, and was given the monastic name of 210 Phra Suratano Bhikkhu.205 Among Phra Terry’s publications is the first English biography of Luang Pho Sot, The life & teaching of the Venerable Chao Khun Monkol Thepmuni and the Dhammakāya, first published in 1960. 3.2 Achan Sermchai and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram Figure 3.1: Photograph of Achan Sermchai (courtesy of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram). 205 Biographical information taken from Triple Gem (2013). 211 This section aims to provide an account of Achan Sermchai’s life and the history of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo’s biographies are useful because they provide an account of Achan Sermchai’s introduction to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the establishment of the Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Project at Wat Saket in 1980 and the Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Foundation in Ratchaburi in 1981 by him and Achan Sermchai prior to Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. This section also accounts for Achan Sermchai’s reasons for his initial interest in meditation, his attraction to the Sammā Arahaṃ method and his decision to become a monk at the age of 57. As will be argued below, Achan Sermchai’s work provides a defence of the thought and practice of his tradition, which consists in demonstrating that it conforms to Theravāda canonical and commentarial tradition. This defence was not begun by Achan Sermchai but by Luang Pho Sot himself, who was continued by Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, and later by Achan Sermchai, who not only provided further Pāli canonical statements but also statements demonstrating that his tradition conformed to the Pāli commentaries, subcommentaries and the views of other respected Thai monks. Achan Sermchai linked his teachers’ and his own meditative experiences and the tradition he inherited to the experiences described in the Pāli canon and the commentaries. His work also attempts to redefine ideas found in his tradition in canonical terms and to provide doctrinal elaboration and systematization. This was in response to criticisms of the meditation tradition system as being heterodox. 212 The sources for this part are the biographies of Achan Sermchai, his teacher Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo’s and the temple’s histories in Thai.206 Parts of this summary is also taken from my five-hour interview with Achan Sermchai (2015). The interview focuses on his personal goals and objectives and adds more information to the biographical accounts. Phra Thepyan Mongkhon (Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo), or, as he was known, Achan Sermchai (1929‒2018), was born Sermchai Phonphatthanarit on 6 March 1929 in Nangrong district of Buriram province. His father, Thongdi, came from a family of provincial civil servants, and his mother, Bunnak, was of Chinese descent and came from a family of traders. His father owned farmlands and traded timber in the north-eastern part of Thailand. Sermchai was the fourth of six children. As a child, Sermchai was dedicated to his studies. He received his primary and secondary education at local schools in Nangrong, but before he could begin his tertiary education, his father died. Sermchai had to earn a living in order to fund his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He left Buriram and went to Bangkok alone to work at the Harbour Department and later at the Public Relations Department. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Commerce and Accounting and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Thammasat University. During the 1950s and 1960s, Sermchai worked as assistant of the head of division and later as a research specialist in the Research Office of the United States 206 Getting to know Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Damnoen Saduak district, Ratchaburi province (Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Foundation 2010); The history of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram (Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Foundation 2006); Commemorating the auspicious year of Phra Phawana Kosonthera’s 7th cycle of 84 years (Sermchai 2003); and Persons of original vijjā: Discover historical events of figures who lived during the time of Luang Pho Wat Paknam (Singhon 2003). 213 Information Service (USIS), Bangkok, and was also a visiting lecturer on research and evaluation at various Thai universities, including Thammasat and Bangkok Universities. In 1949, he was sent by USIS to train at the Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and received a certificate in public opinion survey research. Working for USIS, Sermchai and his colleagues had to analyse and inform the United States government on the social, political and economic affairs in the countries of Asia. The work-related stress led to his colleagues setting up a Dhamma group, which convened for 30 minutes during lunch breaks to discuss the Buddha’s teachings and practise meditation. This group was what first led Sermchai to become interested in meditation. Prior to his introduction to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, he had studied a mindfulness of breathing method with a lay teacher at Wat Thatthong, Bangkok. Later, he studied the method of recollection of the Buddha at a meditation centre in Phetkasem Road, Bangkok. In this method, one concentrates on developing a mental image (nimitta) of a Buddha image, which is visualized as entering one’s nostril and is then moved to one’s chest via one’s forehead (Witthaya 1999: 98). Interestingly, this is another meditation system containing the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna characteristics of focusing on a nimitta of an image of the Buddha at various places in the body. Sermchai had visited Wat Paknam prior to his acquaintance with Phra Ratchaphromathen. He briefly studied Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with mae chi Thian Thirasawat, who was a pupil of mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan, and also briefly studied with mae chi Chan and Phra Dhammajayo with the Dhamma Prasit Group, but soon left due to a ‘disagreement’ (Sermchai 2015). His break with the Dhamma Prasit Group may be the reason why a number of scholars state that 214 Sermchai left the Dhammakaya Temple movement to found Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram (Bowers 1995: 66–67). Mackenzie (2007: 38) describes the movement of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram as a reaction to the mae chi Chan movement’s claim that it was ‘the only group practising the authentic forms of Dhammakāya meditation’ and its ‘busines-like approach to raising funds and recruiting new members’. He concludes that ‘the inception of Wat Luang Phaw Sot Dhammakāyaram and the associated Dhammakāya Buddhist Meditation Foundation in 1991 was ostensibly the result of concern at Wat Phra Dhammakāya’s excessively commercial approach to fund-raising and recruitment’. Newell states that Wat Luang Pho Sot ‘was established following disagreements between some Wat Paknam followers and Wat Dhammakaya regarding the correct teaching of Dhammakāya meditation’ (Newell 2008: 118). I think it is misleading to say that Achan Sermchai left the Dhammakaya Temple movement as I do not identify the Dhamma Prasit Group with Dhammakaya Temple because the group comprised many practitioners who were not associated with the temple: for example, two of the founding members of the group mae chi Thian Thirasawat and Karun Bunmanut left the Dhamma Prasit Group to set up their own meditation groups prior to the establishment of the Dhammakaya Temple. In the interview with him, Achan Sermchai asked me not to mention the specific details regarding his split with the Dhamma Prasit Group, but only to state that it was due to a ‘disagreement’ and a ‘misunderstanding’ regarding ‘personal family matters’ neither related to the meditation teachings nor the fund-raising and recruitment activities of the group. His criticisms of the Dhammakaya Temple in this context were made a number of years later. 215 As Sermchai continued to practise Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, he gained more and more faith in it and later, after making further progress, became wholly committed to practising and propagating it. In 1971, Achan Sermchai was introduced to Phra Ratchaphromathen (Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo). From then on, Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo became his main meditation teacher and mentor. A line of transmission has thus been established from Luang Pho Sot to Achan Sermchai via Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo. In the Dhammakaya Temple tradition, mae chi Chan, a pupil of mae chi Thongsuk and Luang Pho Sot, passed her knowledge on to Phra Dhammajayo and Phra Dattajīvo. However, it is important to point out that although he received most of his meditation training from Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, Achan Sermchai also studied under mae chi Thian Thirasawat and mae chi Chan. Thus, the knowledge of the tradition was not passed from Luang Pho Sot to Achan Sermchai only via Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, but via these two mae chis as well. It is quite common in a meditation tradition for a student to be taught by more than one teacher. Karun Bunmanut, as I mentioned earlier, studied with mae chi Thongsuk, mae chi Chan and mae chi Thanom Asawai. Most of the mae chis at Wat Paknam, like mae chi Chan, practised under a senior mae chi before moving on to study with Luang Pho Sot directly. Even though every lineage in a tradition proclaims the authenticity of the teachings of its founder, the network of teachers and students intermingling and exchanging ideas often creates a variation in the teaching, which originates from different emphases and personal interpretations of the teachers. This is one of the ways differing interpretations in the same tradition develop. This issue will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter regarding the debates and discussions among the different lineages of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. 216 As a lay meditation teacher, Achan Sermchai, with the help of Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, founded three organizations. The first was the project called Dhamma Practice for the Public at Wat Paknam, Bangkok, in 1975, with Somdet Phra Ratchmangkhlachan (Somdet Chuang), the abbot of Wat Paknam, as the chairman. In 1980, he founded the Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Project at Wat Saket, Bangkok, with Somdet Phraphuthachan (Kiao Upaseṇa) as the chairman. And in 1981, he founded the Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Foundation in Damnoen Saduak district, Ratchaburi province. Achan Sermchai organized programmes and along with Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo taught meditation at Wat Paknam, Wat Saket and in Ratchaburi. It was this area in Ratchaburi that later became the ___location of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. On 6 March 1986, Achan Sermchai resigned at the age of 57 from the United States Information Service to be ordained at Wat Paknam. Achan Sermchai had contemplated ordination for a long time and had informed his wife a decade earlier of his plan. His preceptor was Somdet Phra Phutthakhosachan (Fuen Jutindhara), the late abbot of Wat Samphraya. His ordination was assisted by two other senior monks, namely Somdet Kiao, the late abbot of Wat Saket, and Somdet Chuang, the abbot of Wat Paknam. Achan Sermchai resided at Wat Paknam for five years and at the same time continued to run and teach at the three organizations he had founded. During the 1980s, the Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Foundation in Ratchaburi grew under the direction of Achan Sermchai and officially became a temple in 1991. The temple was given the name of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram in commemoration of Luang 217 Pho Sot.207 Achan Sermchai became the abbot. The temple sources state that the objective of the temple is to ‘revitalize Buddhism with equal emphasis on meditation practice and scripture study’ (Phra Rajyanvisith 2007: 88). The temple’s Thai publication listed three more objectives: ‘1) to create Phra (Buddha) inside the minds of the public for their peace and happiness; 2) to create meditation teachers and educators in order to propagate Buddhism; and 3) to maintain Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as taught by the Venerable Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro)’ (Wat Luang Pho Sot 2006: 2).208 In my interview with Achan Sermchai (2015), he stated that his life mission since he discovered Sammā Arahaṃ meditation has been to propagate Buddhism through Dhamma practice and education. He has encountered good and bad people in every religion, class, social status, political party, gender and nationality and desired to help all through Dhamma practice and education, improving the good ones and redeeming the bad ones. When Achan Sermchai first saw Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, he immediately felt an overwhelming reverence, and after reading about Luang Pho Sot he also felt the same towards him. He said that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and his prior training as a researcher have helped him to develop a deep understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Achan Sermchai’s reputation as a meditation master and scholar of Buddhism continued to grow. He began to speak about social, political and economic issues that affected society. 207 The name of the temple in the Roman alphabet is spelt as Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dhammakayaram. However, I shall use the spelling according to the guideline of the Royal Institute when referring to the temple. 208 ‘Phra’ here refers to the attainment of dhammakāya. The temple does not practise any other method apart from Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. 218 He commented on the corruption and instability of Thai politics, offering solutions according to what he saw as the principles of Buddhist governance. He appeared on television and radio offering advice on how to live an ethical life and how to solve problems according to the Noble Eightfold Path. His publications in Thai and English cover many topics, such as kamma, the 10 objects of meritorious action, Buddhist governance, ethics for household life, the value of gratitude, cosmology and sermons in praise of King Bhumibol. When significant tragedies occurred in Thailand, such as the 2004 tsunami and various political crises, Achan Sermchai’s teaching offered condolences to the victims and encouraged national reconciliation. When new constitutions were being drafted in 2007 and 2015, Achan Sermchai spoke out for the designation of Buddhism as the state religion.209 Over the years, his monastic titles changed and his responsibilities increased. Achan Sermchai received the monastic titles of Phra Phawanawisutthikhun in 1998, Phra Ratyanwisit in 2004 and Phra Thepyan Mongkhon in 2012. He passed the highest level of Naktham (Dhamma studies) and the sixth-grade Pāli examination,210 and held two honorary doctorate degrees, one in Buddhist Management from Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University received in 2007 and the other in Buddhist Studies from Mahamakut 209 See Sermchai (2007). For several decades, Buddhist groups, monks and scholars have been making proposals to the Constitution Drafting Assembly to include Buddhism as Thailand’s official state religion, the most recent attempts being in 2007 and 2015 during the coup-installed General Surayud Chulanont and General Prayut Chan-o-cha governments. The assembly rejected the proposals both times, citing possible outcomes of religious divisions and conflicts. For further discussions, see, for example, Dusit (2002), Payutto (2007), Dhammaghosācāriya (2007), Suthiwong (2010) and Adithep (2016). 210 In Thailand, the study of Buddhist teachings consists of three grades. Those who pass the examinations are called ‘Naktham’. The study of Pāli consists of seven grades, starting with grade 3 and ending with grade 9. Those who pass the examinations are called ‘Parian’. 219 Buddhist University received in 2009. In 2008, Achan Sermchai was appointed the chairman of the National Co-ordination Centre of Provincial Meditation Institutes of Thailand. Achan Sermchai’s two publications on behalf of the centre, The handbook for the study of the three trainings and The handbook of the five traditions of samatha vipassanā kammaṭṭhāna, which provide his systematization and reinterpretation of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, and an attempt to create harmony and prevent discord among the various meditation traditions in Thailand, respectively, will be examined in the next chapter.211 In my interview with Phra Mahā Chinphat Chinnālayo (1983‒), a monk at Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram and Acham Sermchai’s former secretary, he informs me that in 2018, the temple housed approximately 80 monks and 40 novices. 11 monks passed the highest ninth-grade Pāli examination. Five monks held master’s degrees and two monks doctorate degrees in Buddhism from Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University. During the threemonth rain retreat, the number of monks can rise to 100 and novices to 50 thanks to temporary ordination. The temple receives about 20,000 visitors per year (Chinpat 2018). It organizes two meditation retreats for monks and laypeople annually. The retreats are conducted both in Thai and in English and are attended by approximately 400 monks and 2,400 laypeople per year. The retreats in English receive about 50 lay participants mainly from the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia and Singapore (Chinpat 2018). Each summer, it organizes a two-week novice ordination programme. Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram also has a temple network. Of the pupils of Achan Sermchai who resided 211 คู่มอ ื การศึกษาสัมมาปฏิบต ั ไิ ตรสิกขา and คู่มอ ื ปฏิบต ั ส ิ มถะวิปัสสนากัมมัฏฐาน ๕ สาย. 220 at Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, 12 have become abbots of temples in various provinces in the central, north-eastern and southern regions, such as Angthong, Phetchaburi, Singburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nongkhai, Rayong and Buriram provinces (Chinpat 2018). Those temples are associated with Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, and teach and practise Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. 3.3 Dhammakaya Temple In 1968, mae chi Chan, Phra Dhammajayo and Phra Dattajīvo obtained a piece of land in the north of Bangkok and started developing the site into a temple. Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani began as a meditation centre in 1970 and was registered as a temple in 1978. The Dhammaprasit Foundation changed its name to the Dhammakaya Foundation and became the supporting organization of the temple responsible for proselytization. Its activities include organizing meditation retreats, scriptural education, youth training, school orientations, social services and environmental conservation. Two of mae chi Chan’s pupils, Phra Dhammajayo and Phra Dattajīvo, became the abbot and assistant abbot, respectively. The growth of the temple over the last four decades has been phenomenal. From a small meditation centre, the temple has expanded to cover an area of over 2,500 rais (990 acres), with over 1,400 monks and 400 novices, and receives more than 100,000 people from around the world on major Buddhist days. The cetiya, completed in 2000, is one of the biggest Buddhist monuments in the world and serves as a world pilgrimage site. Its vicinity is said to be able to hold one million people. The temple has more than 50 branches and centres in Thailand and more than 130 branches and centres 221 abroad, as well as its own satellite channel, the Dhammakaya Meditation Channel (DMC), which broadcasts meditation instructions, news, sermons and children’s programmes 24/7 across the world.212 The temple became an influential movement among university students and attracted supporters from Buddhist societies in many universities and colleges. It seeks support by organizing retreats for male and female students and temporary ordinations. It also receives financial support from influential businessmen, politicians and military officials. The most controversial supporters of the temple are the Shinawatra family. The telecommunications and property tycoons Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who became prime ministers of Thailand (Thaksin 2001–6; Yingluck 2011–14), and who were both ousted by military coups on charges of corruption, are among the major contributors. These people were attracted to the temple’s grandeur, cleanliness, size and international reputation. In 1999, the temple became the subject of public criticism by Buddhist intellectuals and the media. The two main charges were Buddhist commercialism in terms of its use of marketing techniques to attract donations, and ‘heterodox’ teachings of nibbāna as self and a place-like realm. In December that year, the abbot was charged with embezzling the temple’s assets. In 2006, the charges were dropped by the General Prosecutor on the grounds that the abbot had returned all the assets and agreed to teach according to Theravāda Buddhist doctrines as instructed by the Thai Saṅgha Supreme Council (Mahatherasamakhom). Many critics of the temple believe that this dismissal was due to 212 Information taken from Dhammakaya Temple (2019). For further discussions regarding Dhammakaya Temple, see Bowers (1996), Mackenzie (2007) and Scott (2009). 222 the political influence of Thaksin Shinawatra. The temple made the headlines again when, in 2015, its abbot and other monks at the temple were investigated for receiving more than 900 million baht in donations from the former chairman of Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative, who is under investigation by the Department of Special Investigation for fraud and embezzlement. As a result, in 2017, the temple was raided by thousands of police and special investigation officers, but they failed to capture Phra Dhammajayo, who is wanted on charges of money laundering and embezzlement. Scott (2009: 49‒52) sees striking similarities between Dhammakaya Temple and two other Buddhist movements, namely Soka Gakkai in Japan and Foguang Shan in Taiwan. According to her, the three movements have grown exponentially in the postmodern period thanks to their positive orientation towards modernity, including the use of modern technology and marketing techniques. They have sought to make Buddhism relevant to the contemporary world, while emphasizing the continuity of their doctrine and practice with the traditions of Buddhism from which they emerged (Scott 2009: 49–50). In the case of Dhammakaya Temple, the emphasis lies in its association with the founder of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, Luang Pho Sot, and his ‘star’ student, mae chi Chan, and the wider Theravāda tradition, to which it belongs. However, these three movements’ proselytizations have also attracted criticisms concerning their teachings, methods of instruction, impressive size and material wealth (Scott 2009: 50). Mackenzie (2007: 67– 74) also observes similarities between Dhammakaya Temple and Soka Gakkai in the six following areas: 1) their easily understood teachings; 2) a focus on this-worldly benefits; 223 3) high standards of publicity; 4) goals of global expansion; 5) providing a sense of belonging to their members; and 6) emphases on recruitment and fund-raising. The relationship between Dhammakaya Temple and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram has always been one of silent disapproval and disagreements. As mentioned above, Achan Sermchai left the Dhammaprasit Group at Wat Paknam shortly after joining it because of a disagreement and a misunderstanding regarding personal family matters. Achan Sermchai continued to dissociate himself from Dhammakaya Temple and all the members of that group for the rest of his life. According to Dhammakaya Temple followers, Achan Sermchai did not progress as much as Phra Dhammajayo because his meditation teacher did not have as many pāramī (perfections) as mae chi Chan (Mackenzie 2007: 58). Achan Sermchai, who was often critical of Dhammakaya Temple’s fund-raising and recruiting techniques, claimed that although mae chi Chan was an ‘advanced practitioner’ who was able to achieve the ‘highest level of dhammakāya’, being illiterate, she did not grasp the pariyatti (scriptural) side of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings and was not able to connect Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with the Pāli textual authority, as his teacher Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo was able to (Bowers 1996: 68–69; Sermchai 2015). Perhaps because of prior controversies, in 2004, the temple established the Dhammachai International Research Institute (DIRI) with the objective of conducting research into the early Buddhist teachings from different Buddhist traditions around the world.213 It has three centres: Berrilee, Australia; Dunedin, New Zealand; and Dhammakaya Temple, Pathum 213 Information taken from the Dhammachai International Research Institute (2015). 224 Thani, Thailand. The institute has organized international seminars and conferences regarding early Buddhism, Buddhist history, archaeology and traditional meditation. Its academic journal, the Dhammachai International Research Institute Journal, published two volumes in 2012 and 2013 containing articles by DIRI members and some nonmembers. The institute’s 2014 publication, Evidence of dhammakāya in ancient Buddhist texts: Volume 1,214 will be discussed in Chapter 4.7 regarding apologetic works by other Sammā Arahaṃ lineages. In my e-mail correspondence with Chanida Jantrasrisalai, I asked her whether the temple teaches the 18-body and higher levels of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the general public because, from browsing through the temple’s website and publications, the basic level seems to be much more accessible than the higher levels. This is also observed by Bowers (1996: 73–76), Mackenzie (2007: 231) and Newell (2008: 233), who conclude that at Wat Luang Pho Sot, higher levels of meditation are encouraged by the abbot than at Dhammakaya Temple, which focuses mainly on the basic technique for the masses. She informed me that for the higher levels, Phra Dhammajayo selects those who are capable and teaches them privately (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, 21 October 2015, e-mail message to the author). The temple does not like to disclose higher levels of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the public as this may lead to ‘misunderstanding’ and ‘incorrect practice’. There are over 100 practitioners, mostly monks, who have progressed beyond the basic level. She also informs me that the temple teaches simplified versions of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to children and foreigners, adapting them according to their age, cultures and religious 214 หลักฐานธรรมกายในคัมภีร ์พุทธโบราณ๑. 225 backgrounds: for example, instead of crystal spheres, children are told to visualize the sun, the moon or an orange; people from the Solomon Islands are taught to visualize a coconut as it is the most familiar object in their culture; and Muslims are taught to visualize their religious symbols, for example the crescent moon or a star, in order to create mental calmness (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, 21 October 2015, e-mail message to the author). Figure 3.2: Teachers of the main lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. The above chart shows the main teachers of the three main lineages of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition: Wat Paknam (Phra Ratchaphromathen and mae chi Thongsuk), Wat Luang Pho Sot (Achan Sermchai) and Dhammakaya Temple (mae chi Chan, Phra Dhammajayo and Phra Dattajīvo). The teachers directly connected to Luang Pho Sot are his direct pupils. The distances of their names from Luang Pho Sot indicate the number of years they were acquainted with Luang Pho Sot. The closest to Luang Pho Sot’s name, i.e. mae chi Thongsuk, has known Luang Pho Sot the longest. The second longest is mae chi Chan, followed by mae chi Wanchai and lastly Phra Ratchaphronmathen. I have not added mae 226 chi Thian Thirasawat as one of Achan Sermchai’s teachers as Phra Ratchaphromathen was his main teacher. Mae chi Chan was taught by Luang Pho Sot and mae chi Thongsuk, who are both considered her main teachers. Mae chi Thongsuk was also the teacher of Karun Bunmanut, a lay meditation teacher whose pupil’s article I shall discuss in the next chapter regarding debates and discussions among the different lineages of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. I have added mae chi Wanchai to this chart as Suan Kaeo is an important mae chi centre and also because I shall incorporate my interview with her in the next chapter. 3.4 Wat Mongkhonthep and Phra Khru Phawana Sitthikhun (Bancha Sirivijjayo) Another temple in the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition worth mentioning is in Wat Mongkhonthep Chachoengsao province. This temple was founded by Phra Khru Phawana Sitthikhun (Bancha Sirivijjayo) (1946‒). It was established as a meditation centre in 1994 and later became a temple in 1999. Achan Bancha, the abbot of Wat Mongkhonthep, is a unique figure in the Sammā Arahaṃ community as he claims not to belong to any lineage in the tradition. All meditation teachers mentioned above are either direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot or belong to a lineage that can be traced back to Luang Pho Sot. Others who were previously taught by Luang Pho Sot have gone on to establish their own systems or opted to practise other methods in conjunction with Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. However, Achan Bancha is the only figure recognized by Wat Paknam whose training in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation has been completely self-taught. In my interview with him at Wat 227 Mongkhonthep, Achan Bancha (2017) does not acknowledge any meditation teacher at Wat Paknam or any other temple in the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition as his direct teacher.215 His practice of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation was from reading and listening to Luang Pho Sot’s teachings in books and recorded sermons. He started practising meditation after he became a monk in 1986. Prior to practising Sammā Arahaṃ, he had tried every other meditation method available to him, for example Buddho, Rise and Fall, ānāpānasati, Nāma-Rūpa, etc. but found the Sammā Arahaṃ meditation system the most effective. As a result of not having a teacher, Wat Mongkhonthep is an independent temple not affiliated with, or a branch of, Wat Paknam or any other temple in this tradition. However, the temple practises and teaches Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and acknowledges Luang Pho Sot as the tradition’s founder. It offers meditation classes every Sunday and important Buddhist days and organizes one- to three-day meditation retreats for students, government organizations and the general public. There are currently seven monks at the temple. The monks there focus more on meditation practice than scriptural learning. The abbot and some of the monks have passed the highest Naktham Ek (Dhamma Studies grade), but the abbot does not encourage the monks to take Pāli parian examinations (Bancha 2017). Despite not having any teacher or belonging to any lineage, Achan Bancha and Wat Mongkhonthep are recognized by Wat Paknam as a temple within the tradition. Somdet Chuang, the abbot of Wat Paknam, visited the temple several times in 2007, 2008 and 2014 to preside over the casting of Buddha images and images of Luang Pho Sot, and to lay the boundary stones of the ordination hall. Somdet Phra Phuthachan (Kiao Upaseṇo), the late 215 On 23 July 2017. 228 abbot of Wat Saket, Bangkok, and one of the main patrons of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, also visited the temple several times and was the one who named the temple Mongkhonthep after Luang Pho Sot’s monastic title. As I mentioned above, the fact that Achan Bancha and Wat Mongkhonthep are recognized by Wat Paknam as a teacher and a temple within the tradition shows that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is essentially a non-esoteric system in the sense that to be accepted into the tradition requires neither an initiation nor having a direct teacher within the tradition. 3.5 The influence of Luang Pho Sot outside the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition A meditation master’s influence is not usually confined to his own tradition alone. In the previous chapter, I have demonstrated this with regard to Luang Pho Niam’s, Luang Pho Nong’s and Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation systems and shown how Luang Pho Sot took and adapted aspects of their practices and incorporated them into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In this section, I consider two meditation masters whose teachings and practices were influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely, 1) Phra Ratchaphromyan (Wira Ṭhāvaro) or, as he is popularly known, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam (Black Monkey Sage); and 2) Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh, the first Thai woman to receive ordination from both the male and the female saṅgha. I also discuss one meditation master belonging to Achan Man’s forest tradition, namely, Phra Ariyakhunathan (Pusso 229 Seng), whose teachings and practices may have been influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The spread and popularization of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition owed a lot to the reputation of its founder. The status of Luang Pho Sot as a nationally revered figured, praised not only by practitioners of his own tradition, but also by other venerated teachers who incorporated his teachings into their practices, has helped boost the reputation and popularity of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in Thailand over the last 50 years. These popular teachers not only held Luang Pho Sot in high regard but, in the cases of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam and Achan Voramai Kabilsingh, also recommended their students to study Luang Pho Sot’s teachings and practise Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. 3.5.1 Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam and the Manomayiddhi meditation tradition Phra Ratchaphromyan, or Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, is the late abbot of Wat Tha Sung, Uthai Thani province.216 A highly revered figure in Thailand, he is known for founding the 216 Biographical accounts, meditation practice and thought are taken from the following books by Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam (Wira Ṭhāvaro): 1) ประวัตวิ ดั ท่าซุงและหลวงพ่อพระราชพรหมญาณ The history of Wat Tha Sung and biography of Luang Pho Phra Ratchaphromyan, published in Bangkok in 2008 by Yellow Kanphim. This book is 66 pages long. It consists of a history of Wat Tha Sung and a biography of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam. The introduction states that this book is a compilation of different accounts given by Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam himself and his immediate students. It serves as a guide to the temple for visitors and new students; 2) การฝึ กมโนมยิทธิ The training of Manomayiddhi, published in Bangkok in 1984 by Yellow Kanphim. This book is 176 pages long and is taken from recordings of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam and his pupils teaching Manoyayiddhi in 1978. The book begins with Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s advice on how to practise Manomayiddhi, followed by dialogues between Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam and his pupils teaching meditation; 3) มโนมยิทธิและประวัตข ิ องฉัน Manomayiddhi and my biography, published in 2011. The publisher and place of publication are not stated. This popular book is the 20 th edition of the original published in 1984. It is 200 pages long and records Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s accounts of his discovery and training in Manomayiddhi meditation by Achan Suk and other accounts of his life, including his meeting with King Rama IX and his prophecies about the future of Thailand; 4. คู่มอื 230 Manomayiddhi meditation tradition and for making several prophesies about the future of Thailand. Although his meditation tradition does not belong to the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, he adopted aspects of its thought and practice to his tradition. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam was born in 1916 in Suphanburi province, the son of a well-todo farmer. At the age of 20, he was ordained at Wat Bang Khonom, Ayutthaya province. His act-announcing teacher (kammavācācāriya) at Wat Bang Khonom was Luang Pho Pan Sonando, who became his mentor and main meditation teacher. Between 1936 and 1939 he sought meditation guidance from well-known masters; among them was Luang Pho Niam, Wat Noi, who taught Luang Pho Pan and Luang Pho Sot. As I mentioned above, Luang Pho Sot, Luang Pho Pan and Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam were among a network of adept meditation students of Luang Pho Niam whose understanding of nibbāna and inner bodies was influenced by him. According to Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, Luang Pho Sot was particularly close to his teacher, Luang Pho Pan, as they both had to examine each other’s meditation progress while studying with Luang Pho Niam. Later, Luang Pho Pan recommended that Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam should visit Wat Paknam for one month to study Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with Luang Pho Sot (Sangsuwan 1989: part 7).217 Sammā ปฏิบต ั พ ิ ระกัมมัฏฐาน Handbook for practising kammaṭṭhāna. This book is 188 pages long. Its year and place of publication and publisher are omitted. It consists of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s teaching of calm and insight meditation covering all of the 40 meditation objects and the nine insight knowledges in Buddhaghosa’s Path of Purification and includes a short description of Manomayiddhi, his understanding of inner bodies and visionary experiences. 217 This episode is described in the book titled หนังสืออ่านเล่น เล่มที่ ๖ Pastime reading vol. 6 written by Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam under his pen name So Sangsuwan. The book is divided into ten parts. It is a compilation of talks on various topics regarding interesting episodes in Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s biography, his travels and visions in meditation. The seventh part, titled พระอรหันต ์มาโปรด or ‘an arahant preached to me’, details his visit to Wat Paknam and the teachings he received from Luang Pho Sot. The book is out of print, but its Internet version can be downloaded from Wat Tha Sung’s website: http://www.watthasung.com/wat/viewthread.php?tid=1248 231 Arahaṃ meditation became one of many methods he incorporated into his teachings and practice. At the age of 53, he became the abbot of Wat Tha Sung. He carried out extensive renovation and additions to the temple, which expanded to become an important meditation temple in the region. He taught various meditation methods but was most famous for the Manomayiddhi method, which became very popular and attracted students from all over the country. He died of septicaemia in 1992, at the age of 76. I shall briefly summarize the Manomayiddhi method and then provide an analysis of it and compare it with Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in order to show the possible influences and adaptations. Manomayiddhi is described by Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam (Wira Ṭhāvaro 2011: 1) as the ‘power of the mind’, but in the Pāli canon it refers to the attainment of a mind-made body, which is one of the eight supernatural knowledges and powers (vijjās) found in the standard formula: for example, in the Sāmaññaphala Sutta, the second discourse of the Dīgha Nikāya (D I 76–84). In this discourse, the Buddha lists mind-made bodies along with seven other abilities, namely insight knowledge (vipassanāñāṇa), higher powers (iddhividhā) such as walking on water and through walls, divine ear or clairaudience (dibbasota), mind reading (cetopariyañāṇa), recollection of past lives (pubbenivāsānussati), divine eye or clairvoyance (dibbacakkhu) and knowledge of destruction of influxes or cankers that keep one bound to the world (āsavakkhayañāṇa), as being among the benefits of a contemplative life. The first seven powers are acquired through meditative concentration whereas the eighth is obtained through insight. The last three are also grouped together as tevijjā and 232 are found in a number of discourses, for example the Mahāsaccaka Sutta (M I 237). In this group, the divine eye is sometimes replaced by, or used synonymously with, the term cutūpapātañāṇa or knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings. The reason why Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam terms Manomayiddhi as the ‘power of the mind’, and not the mindmade body, is because the mind-made body is only one among many attainments that are developed in this meditation method. Although at the beginning, the practitioner aims to attain a luminescent body that can travel to various realms of the cosmos, the higher stages of Manomayiddhi meditation consist in developing all eight supernatural knowledges and powers, which culminates in the destruction of cankers and the attainment of nibbāna. Like other traditional meditation methods mentioned above, visionary experience, both as mental images (nimittas) and real visions associated with the attainment of the divine eye, is vital for progressing in this meditation method. This can be seen as a continuity and persistence of the traditional style of meditation as visionary experience is a very important component in King Taksin’s meditation manual, in all meditation texts prior to the nineteenth century in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology and in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Moreover, this method seems to require a great deal of faith in the Buddhist cosmology, kamma and rebirth. The aim of this method is to achieve the divine eye and mind-made body or what this tradition calls ‘ādissamāna kāya’, which is explained as the body that cannot be seen with the human eye, but must be ‘seen’ with the mind or ñāṇa of the meditator. Once these two attainments are achieved, the meditator is able to travel and see the various realms of the Buddhist cosmology. The objective in seeing the three realms is to understand the nature of kamma, rebirths and the impermanence, suffering and not-self 233 of saṃsāra in order to aspire to nibbāna in the present life. The meditator who achieves mental purity that is free from all hindrances and the grasping of the five aggregates, even temporarily, is able to visit nibbāna, and see and communicate with the Buddhas and arahants in nibbāna, an aspect that is derived from Luang Pho Niam’s teachings. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam explains that he obtained Manomayiddhi meditation from two teachers, namely Achan Sing Muenbunton, Pai district, Maehongson province, and Achan Suk Ban Phaeo, Damnoen Saduak district, Ratchaburi province. It is unknown who first taught this, but it has supposedly been passed down via many teachers. In the Handbook for practising kammaṭṭhāna, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam (Wira Ṭhāvaro n.d.: 10–12) tells us that the more widely practised Manomayiddhi method is based on Buddhaghosa’s Path of Purification, which requires the practitioner to master one type of kasiṇa meditation, reach the fourth jhāna, etc. as a prerequisite for attaining a mind-made body. However, after witnessing Achan Suk, who was a layman, teaching another layman to attain ādissamāna kāya to visit Yama, the god of death, in hell, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam realized that Achan Suk’s method provides a short cut to achieving this. With the aid of rituals and mantras, the practitioner can achieve visionary experience after reaching only the level of pre-jhānic access concentration (upacāra samadhi). Instead of taking years, many students were successful even in their first sessions, while the slower ones took about two days to achieve success. In the end, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam opted to teach Achan Suk’s method as he found it most suitable for laypeople. The following is a summary of the basic method outlined in the Handbook for practising kammaṭṭhāna (Wira Ṭhāvaro n.d.: 12). 234 Before a meditation session, the pupil must pay respect to the teacher with three flowers, one candle, three incense sticks and one coin worth 25 satangs (a quarter of a baht). The teacher will spray the pupil with sacred water blessed by chanting the iti pi so formula before and after each meditation session in order to prevent agitation of the mind. This Pāli formula, as mentioned above, is found throughout the Pāli canon and describes the qualities of the Buddha. A sacred mace is also used by the teacher to bless the pupil in order for the pupil’s mind to be bright and alert. The words ‘na ma ba dha’ are written on a rectangular piece of paper in Khom script and placed over the face of the pupil. Three incense sticks are lit and inserted into the paper. This is done at the same time as the pupil recites ‘na ma’ when breathing in and ‘ba dha’ while breathing out until the pupil’s body begins to shake. The teacher then lifts the papers from the pupil’s face and asks the pupil whether he or she sees any brightness. If not, the teacher sets the paper on fire and swings it around the pupil’s face and says ‘namo buddhāya, may brightness appear to this pupil’ until the pupil sees brightness. The teacher then asks the pupil whether they want to visit heaven or hell, the pupil chooses and the teacher gives the pupil permission to visit whichever place they prefer. The pupil is guided by the teacher around these realms and tells the teacher what they see and whom they meet; the teacher then confirms or rejects the pupil’s experiences. For more experienced practitioners, the placing of the paper on the face can be omitted. Some aspects of this meditation method are similar to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely the visualizing and seeing of inner bodies, including dhammakāya, like a crystal Buddha image, seeing the mind as a sphere within the body, seeing the colours of the mind changing 235 according to its nature, and seeing nibbāna as a place where the Buddha and arahants reside. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam acknowledges various teachers as the source of these understandings. His perspective on nibbāna is derived from many teachers, including Luang Pho Niam, Luang Pho Pan and Luang Pho Sot; the attainment of inner bodies is derived from many teachers, also including Luang Pho Niam (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1990: part 1).218 His understanding of dhammakāya as the supra-mundane body of the arahants and appearing like crystal is derived from Luang Pho Sot (Wira Ṭhāvaro 2011: 28–9). As regards the visualization and seeing of multicoloured spheres, although not stated, these could have been obtained from many teachers, including Luang Pho Sot as well, as they are not exclusive to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation but are characteristics of borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition, and are found in other pre-modern meditation methods in Thailand: for example, the visualization of a sphere is found in King Taksin’s manual and in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s text, and seeing the mind as a sphere of different colours is found in Achan Man’s teaching. With regard to other aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, the Manomayiddhi method does not utilize the bodily bases. The sphere is not visualized but is experienced visually in meditation as one’s own mind and the minds of others. It does not use the sammā arahaṃ mantra but uses mantras, ‘na ma ba dha’ and ‘namo buddhāya’. ‘Na ma ba dha’, according to Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, means ‘respect to the Buddha’ and also represents the four 218 This is recorded in volume 17 of หนังสืออ่านเล่น (Pastime reading) written by Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam under his monastic title Phra Ratchaphromyan. The book is divided into eight parts and describes Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s meditation training with Luang Pho Niam and his travels with Luang Pho Pan. Its Internet version can be downloaded from Wat Tha Sung’s website: http://www.watthasung.com/wat/viewthread.php?tid=1598 236 elements (earth, water, wind and fire). It is recited in order for the meditator to achieve mental clarity and power. Namo buddhāya, which in Pāli means ‘praise the Buddha’, is explained as referring to the five Buddhas of this aeon and is used by teachers to aid pupils’ vision and clarity, and to protect them while they are developing ādissamāna kāya. This association between sacred syllables and the five Buddhas is a characteristic of the socalled borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition and is also found in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s text. The teacher recites this while transferring power from the sacred mace and while lighting the paper or shining a torch at the pupil’s face. The iti pi so formula is also used to bless the students with sacral water. ‘Na ma ba dha’, written on a piece of paper in Khom script, is a form of yantra and also serves as protection and an aid to clarity. These aspects can also be seen as continuity and persistence of traditional meditation practices. In the Handbook for practising kammaṭṭhāna (Wira Ṭhāvaro n.d.: 15–16), Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam interprets the statement ‘body in body’ in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta similarly to Luang Pho Sot. He explains that the first step of being mindful of the body is to examine the organs within the body, but for those who have attained cutūpapātañāṇa or knowledge of the deaths and rebirths of beings, they will be able to examine not just the organs within the body but also the inner bodies, i.e. ādissamāna kāya, which can only be seen with ñāṇa, i.e. a divine eye. The inner bodies, as in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, correspond to the levels of existence in Buddhist cosmology into which one might be reborn as a result of past actions. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam explains further that normally we all see our inner body when we visit different places in our dreams, but those who have 237 mastered cutūpapātañāṇa will see five kinds of inner body within themselves and others. The following is a direct translation regarding inner bodies. 1. Kai Abaiyaphum [apāyabhūmi kāya or deprivation state body] has the form and characteristics of a beggar, appearing as dull, saddened, wearied, gaunt and not radiant. They [those with a deprivation state body prior to death] will be reborn in the suffering realm [apāyabhūmi].219 2. Kai Manut [human body] has a form and characteristics that are quite radiant, fully human. They differ in shapes, skin colours, complexions and beauty but all with the clear characteristics of human beings. They will be reborn again as human beings.220 3. Kai Thip [deva body] is the body of a deva in the sensual realm with a radiant and refined form. For tree-dwelling and heavenly devas or above, one will also see their crowns and very beautiful ornaments. They will be reborn as devas of the sensual realms.221 ่ แต่กายเศร ้าหมองอิดโรย หน้าตาซูบซีดไม่ผอ ้ กายอบายภูมิ มีรูปร่างลักษณะ คล ้ายกับคนขอทานทีมี ่ งใส พวกนี ตายแล ้วไป อบายภูม.ิ 220 ้ างกันบ้างที่ มีส่วนสัดผิวพรรณ ขาวดา สวยสด กายมนุ ษย ์ มีรูปร่างลักษณะค่อนข ้างผ่องใส เป็ นมนุ ษย ์เต็มอัตรา กายมนุ ษย ์นี ต่ ้ งดงามไม่เหมือนกัน แต่ลก ั ษณะก็บอกความเป็ นมนุ ษย ์ชัดเจน พวกนี ตายแล ้วไปเกิดเป็ นมนุ ษย ์อีก. 221 ้ ้ ้ กายทิพย ์ คือกายเทวดาชันกามาวจร มีลก ั ษณะผ่องใส ละเอียดอ่อน ถ ้าเป็ นเทพชันอากาศเทวดา หรือรุกเทวดาขึนไป ก็จะเห็น ่ ้ ้ สวมมงกุฎแพรวพราว เครืองประดั บสวยสดงดงามมาก ท่านพวกนี ตายแล ้วไปเกิดเป็ นเทวดาชันกามาวจรสวรรค ์. 219 238 4. Kai Phrom [brahmā body] has characteristics similar to a deva, but with more refined glass-like skin, gold ornaments, glistening in yellow and with a crown. They will be reborn as brahmās.222 5. Kai Kaeo [glass body] or Kaitham, which is also called dhammakāya. This kind of body belongs to the arahants. One sees the whole body glisten, clearer and purer than Kai Phrom. The whole body is radiant. When they die, they go to nibbāna. (Wira Ṭhāvaro n.d.: 16)223 The description of these bodies is very similar to Luang Pho Sot’s description of the worldly bodies and dhammakāya. In Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, deva and brahmā bodies also consist of ornaments and crowns, and dhammakāya is also radiant, appearing like glass or crystal. Nibbāna, similarly to Luang Pho Sot’s conception, is described as a dwelling place of the Buddhas and arahants, which the meditators can visit. In Manomayiddhi and my biography (Wira Ṭhāvaro 2011: 28–9), Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam acknowledges Luang Pho Sot as the person who convinced him that nibbāna is not annihilation or nothingness. He states that prior to meeting Luang Pho Sot, he learned from various textbooks and monks that nibbāna is void, and believed it to be true for many years. However, after meeting various meditation masters, especially Luang Pho Sot, he came to realize that nibbāna is a place where the Buddhas and arahants reside. When they first met, ่ กายพรหม มีลก ั ษณะคลายเทวดา แต่ผวิ กายละเอียดกว่า ใสคล ้ายแก ้ว มีเครืองประดั บสีทองล ้วน แลดูเหลืองแพรวพราวไปหมด ่ ้ ตลอดจนมงกุฎทีสวมใส่ ท่านพวกนี ตายไปแล ้ว ไปเกิดเป็ นพรหม. 223 ่ ยกว่าธรรมกายก็เรียก กายของท่านประเภทนี ้ เป็ นกายของพระอรหันต ์ จะเห็นเป็ นประกายพรึกทังองค ้ กายแก ้ว หรือกายธรรม ทีเรี ์ ่ ้ ้ ใสสะอาดยิงกว่ากายพรหม และเป็ นประกายทังองค ์ ท่านพวกนี ตายแล ้วไปนิ พพาน. 222 239 Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam rejected Luang Pho Sot’s opinion and argued that nibbāna could never be a place and that dhammakāyas of Buddhas and arahants in nibbāna could never appear like crystal. In the end, after practising Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in conjunction with other methods, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam was able to visit nibbāna and saw the Buddhas and arahants exactly as Luang Pho Sot described (Wira Ṭhāvaro 2011: 29). The appearances of the mind, as in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, are also something that the meditator must observe in order to comply with the third satipaṭṭhāna. In the Handbook for practicing kammaṭṭhāna, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam explains that when the mind is full of anger it becomes black; full of greed, red; full of delusion, the colour of water after washing raw meat; full of worry and restlessness, the colour of water after boiling beans; and white when it is inclined towards blind faith (Wira Ṭhāvaro n.d.: 15 and 17). When the mind is purer and full of wisdom, it will start to shine. The arahants appear like ‘having a glistening star inside their chests’ (Wira Ṭhāvaro n.d.: 17). He goes on to urge his pupils to develop mindfulness and wisdom until the whole sphere completely glistens like the mind of the arahant. The idea of the mind of the arahant having the characteristics of permanence (niccaṃ), happiness (sukhaṃ) and self (attā) is also found in Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s teaching. This is mentioned in a compilation of his sermons on the practice of generosity, morality and meditation titled Travelling dhamma Vol. 3, published posthumously in 2005.224 In the ธรรมสัญจร เล่ม ๓. This book is 144 pages long and divided into three sections: 1) generosity (dāna); 2) morality (sīla); and 3) meditation (bhāvanā). The book was published by Wat Tha Sung to be distributed during its Kathina ceremony in 2005. It is a compilation of teachings given on various occasions by Luang 224 240 vipassanā part of the meditation section, Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam advises on how to contemplate the impermanence, suffering and not-self of the five aggregates. He emphasizes developing a divine eye to see and contemplate the different organs of the body as ugly and undesirable, and in doing so one would be able to attain nibbāna in this very life (Wira Ṭhāvaro 2005: 117). He takes the example of the monk Bāhiya, who was able to attain arahatship immediately after the Buddha instructed him to see rūpa (form) as merely rūpa (Wira Ṭhāvaro 2005: 117‒8).225 Then he states: The Buddha says that rūpa is impermanent, rūpa is suffering. When rūpa is impermanent, let it be the concern of rūpa. When rūpa is suffering, let it be the concern of rūpa. The mind must not suffer. In the end, rūpa will be anattā. Let it also be the concern of rūpa. But for the mind, it must be niccaṃ, that is, having a permanent object. The mind must be sukhaṃ, it has the feeling of happiness. The mind is attā, that is, having stability. (Wira Ṭhāvaro 2005: 117‒8)226 Although not explicitly stated as such, it is my opinion that in this passage Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam is referring to the supra-mundane citta, or the mind that has attained arahatship. The description of the mind as being permanent and happy, and attā as referring to the Pho Ruesi Lingdam, which were collected and edited by Wat Tha Sung into a book. The book can be downloaded from Wat Tha Sung’s website: http://www.thasungmedia.com/wat/puy/ebook/2555/ dummasanjon3/files/assets/basic-html/page1.html 225 This is taken from Bāhiya Sutta, Ud 6. ่ รูปเป็ นทุกข ์ เมือรู ่ ปไม่เทียงก็ ่ ทาให้มน ่ ่ พระพุทธเจ ้าบอกว่ารูปไม่เทียง ั เป็ นเรืองของรู ป รูปมันเป็ นทุกข ์ ก็ให้มน ั เป็ นเรืองของรู ป ใจเรา ่ ด รูปมันเป็ นอนัตตา ก็ให้มน ่ ่ ใจของเราให้มน จงอย่าทุกข ์ แล ้วในทีสุ ั เป็ นเรืองของรู ป สาหรับใจของเราต ้องเป็ นนิ จจัง คือมีอารมณ์เทียง ั เป็ นสุขงั คือมีอารมณ์ เป็ นสุข ใจของเรามันเป็ นอัตตา คือมีการทรงตัว. 226 241 attainment of nibbāna, is similar to Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of dhammakāya and nibbāna. The book does not state the source of this understanding, but it is my opinion that it is mostly likely derived from Luang Pho Sot as this description of nibbāna is not found in the teachings of Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s other teachers such as Luang Pho Niam, Luang Pho Nong and Luang Pho Pan. 3.5.2 Phra Ariyakhunathan (Pusso Seng) Phra Ariyakhunathan’s biographical information from the available sources is brief and patchy. His dates are unknown. Achan Wiwat hardly mentions anything about his life, and his book, Book of Divine Power, does not provide any account of it. I have managed to find some information from accounts of his pupil, Achan Phut Ṭhāniyo, from an Internet source.227 He is described by Achan Phut as a high-ranking Thammayut administrative monk who studied under the tutelage of Saṅgharāja Wachirayanawong, who became the Supreme Patriarch during the reign of Rama VIII, and Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando), the late abbot of Wat Boromniwat, Bangkok, who ordered the compilation of the Chai Yasothonrat book (Chai 1935). Phra Ariyakhunathan was also a student of Achan Sao Kantasīlo and in the first batch of students of Achan Man with other well-known forest teachers such as Achan Lee Dhammadharo and Achan Chop Ṭhānasamo. When Achan Man died, Phra Ariyakhunathan was responsible for writing Achan Man’s first biography, which was distributed at Achan Man’s cremation. He is known as the teacher of many monks in Achan Man’s forest tradition, including Achan Phut and Achan Sing 227 Phut (2013). 242 Khantayāgamo, and also as the author of the book Book of Divine Power, which was written with the support of Patriarch Wachirayanawong and Achan Sao. Phra Ariyakhunathan resided at Wat Khao Suan Kwang, Khonkaen province. Towards the end of his life he disrobed, but he continued to reside at Wat Khao Suan Kwang as a lay practitioner. In 1950, as Luang Pho Sot’s reputation as a meditation master was quickly spreading, Phra Ariyakhunathan was asked by ‘high-ranking Thammayut monks’ to investigate the practice and conduct of Luang Pho Sot (Phut 2013). After exchanging ideas and books with Luang Pho Sot, Phra Ariyakhunathan was satisfied with Luang Pho Sot’s teaching and behaviour and gave a good report to the Thammayut monks. That same year, Phra Ariyakhunathan wrote a book called Book of Divine Power describing dhammakāya in the same way as Luang Pho Sot.228 Book of Divine Power consists of Phra Ariyakhunathan’s teaching on how to achieve thipphaya amnat or attainments of divine power, which refers to the eight kinds of supernormal powers as outlined in the Pāli canon. Phra Ariyakhunathan focuses on mastering the 40 objects of calm meditation and the four jhānas, in order to attain these powers. Once all the jhānas are mastered, the practitioner then cultivates insight, which leads to the knowledge of the destruction of influxes or cankers (āsavas), culminating in the attainment of nibbāna. หนังสือทิพยอานาจ Book of Divine Power, written in Thai by Phra Ariyakhunathan, was published in 1950. Its publisher is omitted. It is 180 pages long. 228 243 Visionary experience is a very important factor in the attainment of divine power. Phra Ariyakhunathan (1950: 122–138) devotes a whole chapter to the development of a divine eye. He starts off by listing the different types of seeing that occur through different ‘eyes’, which correspond to different levels of attainments: for example, the ‘eye of wisdom’ (paññācakkhu) is able to see reasons and truth behind worldly dhammas; the ‘eye of jhāna’ is able to see all the nimittas that occur in jhānas, and past, present and future events; the ‘divine eye’ is able to see all but in a much wider and clearer context; the ‘Dhamma eye’ (dhammacakkhu) and the ‘eye of knowledge’ (ñāṇacakkhu) are able to see supra-mundane truths such as the three characteristics, etc. (Ariyakhunathan 1950: 122–123). Under the ‘Buddha eye’ (buddhacakkhu), which follows the eye of knowledge, Phra Ariyakhunathan explains that this eye belongs to the arahant who is able to see all aspects of supra-mundane truths, including the destruction of ignorance and the attainment of nibbāna. Moreover, this eye is as pure as the brightest gem, and allows one to ‘see and hear the voices of phra kaeo’ or glass Buddha, which he also terms ‘visuddhidevas’ or devas of purification, namely the Buddhas and arahants that have passed away into nibbāna (Ariyakhunathan 1950: 123). Under the section Insi Kaeo (Glass Faculties), a description of dhammakāya is given (Ariyakhunathan 1950: 167–169). Phra Ariyakhunathan explains that in Theravāda Buddhism, the Buddha is divided into the following three manifestations: ‘rūpakāya’, ‘nāmakāya’ and ‘dhammakāya’ (Ariyakhunathan 1950: 167). Rūpakāya is described as the human body born of the Buddha’s mother and father and made up of the four elements. Nāmakāya or kaithip (devakāya) refers to the ‘inner body’ as being much more refined 244 than the outer body and able to travel outside the outer body as usually happens when someone dies and is reborn (Ariyakhunathan 1950: 168). Lastly, ‘Dhammakāya’ is described by Phra Ariyakhunathan as follows: Phra dhammakāya is the body of pure dhamma, and is not for the public, for humans or devas [to see]. It refers to the mind that is freed from cankers [āsava], the mind that is clean and pure, with bright radiance, like the sun in the sky. Phra dhammakāya is the true Buddha. It is the body that is beyond birth, aging, pain, death and all suffering; the permanent and lasting body, which does not decay for all eternity; the gathering place of all dhammas. But the Lord did not clearly state its characteristic and appearance.229 There is also a belief that the arahants who attained nibbāna still exist as the true arahants and do not perish with their bodies, that is, they do not become void. This state of the arahant is a type of faculty [indriya] called aññindriya. The Buddha calls this faculty wisutthithep [visuddhideva], which is similar to the state of visuddhābrahmā in the Pure Abode, but even more refined. As the arahants still possess faculties, they can still benefit others, but those who can gain benefits from them must possess the same ่ นจากอาสวะแล ้ว เป็ นพระจิต พระธรรมกายได ้แก่พระกายธรรมอันบริสุทธิ ์ ไม่สาธารณะทั่วไปแก่เทวาและมนุ ษย ์ หมายถึงพระจิตทีพ้ ้ นพระพุทธเจ ้าทีจริ ่ งแท้ เป็ น บริสุทธิผุ์ ดผ่อง มีพระรัศมีแจ่มจ ้า เปรียบเหมือนดวงอาทิตย ์อุทยั ไขแสงในนภากาศฉะนั้น พระธรรมกายนี เป็ ่ ้ ่ ่ ่ ่ พระกายทีพ้นเกิด แก่ เจ็บ ตาย และทุกข ์โศกทังหลายได ้จริง เป็ นพระกายทีเทียงแท้ถาวรไม่สูญสลาย เป็ นอยู่ชวนิ ั รยั ดร เป็ นทีรวมแห่ ง ้ ้ ธรรมทังปวง แต่ท่านมิได ้บอกให้แจ ้งชัดว่าพระธรรมกายนี มีรูปพรรณสัณฐานเช่นไรหรือไม่. 229 245 faculties in order to sense and see them as the faculties of the arahants are most refined. Even the divine eyes of ordinary devas cannot see them. So how can an ordinary human with coarse eyes see them? The faculties of the arahants are called the ‘glass faculties’ [insi kaeo]. Their eyes, ears, noses, tongues, bodies and minds are glass, that is, clear and pure like the radiant gem. Those who attained the glass realm are able to meet and see the glass Buddhas or the arahants that attained nibbāna. (Ariyakhunathan 1950: 168)230 Phra Ariyakhunathan’s understanding of dhammakāya seems to be derived from various sources, not only from the Pāli texts, but also from his discussions with meditation teachers he had visited over the years, including Achan Man and Luang Pho Sot. The idea of dhammakāya as the gathering place of dhammas is found in the Pāli commentaries. For example, in Sv III 865 and Spk II 314, dhammakāya is equated with nine kinds of supramundane dhammas (lokuttaradhamma) i.e. four paths (magga), four fruits (phala) and nibbānadhātu.231 The idea of past Buddhas and arahants still existing as purified minds is mentioned in Achan Maha Boowa’s biography of Achan Man. As I discussed in Chapter 2.3, according to Achan Man, the ‘vimutti’ or ‘liberated’ minds of the Buddhas and ่ าพระอรหันต ์นิ พพานแล ้วยังมีอยู่อก ่ นพระอรหันต ์แท้ ไม่สลายไปตามกาย คือความเป็ นพระอรหันต ์ไม่สูญ ความเชือว่ ี ส่วนหนึ่ง ซึงเป็ ้ านก็จดั เป็ นอินทรีย ์ชนิดหนึ่ง เรียกว่าอัญญินทรีย ์ พระผูมี้ พระภาคเจ ้าคงหมายถึงเอาอินทรีย ์นีเอง ้ บัญญัตเิ รียกว่าวิสท ความเป็ นพระอรหันต ์นีท่ ุ ธิ ่ ้ายคลึงกับวิสุทธาพรหมในสุทธาวาสชันสู ้ ง แต่บริสุทธิยิ์ งกว่ ่ าเท่านั้น เมือมี ่ อน เทพ เป็ นสภาพทีคล ิ ทรีย ์อยู่ก็ย่อมจะบาเพ็ญประโยชน์ได ้ ่ บรู ้รับเห็นได ้ เพราะอินทรีย ์ของพระอรหันต ์ประณี ตสุขม ่ ด แม้แต่ แต่ผจ ู ้ ะรับประโยชน์จากท่านได ้ ก็จะต ้องมีอน ิ ทรีย ์ผ่องแผ้วพอทีจะรั ุ ทีสุ ่ ตาหยาบๆ จะเห็นได ้อย่างไร อินทรีย ์ของพระอรหันต ์นันแหละเรี ้ ตาทิพย ์ของเทวดาสามัญก็มองไม่เห็น มนุ ษย ์สามัญซึงมี ยกว่า อินทรีย ์ ้ แก ้ว ตาหูจมูกลินกายใจของท่ านเป็ นแก ้ว คือใสบริสุทธิดุ์ จแก ้วมณี โชติ ผูบ้ รรลุถงึ ภูมแิ ก ้วแล ้ว ย่อมสามารถพบเห็นพระแก ้วคือพระ ่ พพานแล ้วได ้. อรหันต ์ทีนิ 230 231 The four paths and fruits are the attainments of each of the noble ones (ariyapuggala): the path and fruit of the stream enterer (sotāpanna), the path and fruit of the once returner (sakadāgāmī), the path and fruit of the non-returner (anāgāmī) and the path and fruit of the arahant. 246 arahants have ‘an individual brightness’, still in some way remain after they have entered parinibbāna and can assume a conventional form in order to come into contact with the awakened ones who still possess the five aggregates. Some of Phra Ariyakhunathan’s understandings that may have been influenced or inspired by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation include: 1) the existence of inner bodies within the human body, 2) the idea of dhammakāya as the glass Buddha, and 3) the attainment of the glass realm. The deva body within the human body corresponds to the celestial body in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The ideas of dhammakāya as phra kaeo or glass Buddha, radiant, pure and eternal, which one can see, and nibbāna as a glass realm, which one can visit, also bear similarities to Luang Pho Sot’s conceptions of dhammakāya appearing like crystal, and āyatana (nibbāna) as the dwelling place of the enlightened ones’ dhammakāyas. However, Luang Pho Sot does not use the term wisutthithep and does not equate it with dhammakāya. In Book of Divine Power, Phra Ariyakhunathan neither mentions nor acknowledges Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as an influence. It is possible that he could have obtained these ideas from borān kammaṭṭhāna sources as the practice of attaining inner bodies is also found in a number of borān kammaṭṭhāna texts including the Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s meditation system. The term wisutthithep echoes the statement in the Wat Pradusongtham manual in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology regarding the mind that attains ‘the deva state’ that is described as having the ‘knowledge that knows all’ (sabbaññutañāṇa) and ‘a form (rūpa) that is inconceivable (acinteyya), luminescent and 247 clear’ (Chai 1935: 277). The idea of the attainment of the glass realm where one could see the Buddha is also found in several borān kammaṭṭhāna texts. For example, Kitchai Urkasame’s PhD thesis (2013) discusses a text titled ‘Buddhanorakan’ from Wat Bodhi Sri, Mahasarakam province, dated 1923, which describes nibbāna as ‘the glass/crystal city’ and ‘a comfortable and peaceful place entirely free from sensations of suffering’ and a place where ‘one could see the Buddha’ (Kitchai 2013: 78‒79). 3.5.3 Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh Another well-known figure not within the Sammā Arahaṃ lineage whose practice and teaching have been influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation was Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh (1908–2003).232 Achan Voramai or, as she is affectionately called by her disciples, Luang Ya (Venerable Grandmother) was the first Thai woman to receive ordination from both the male and the female saṅgha. She founded Thailand’s first bhikṣuṇī temple, the Songdhammakalyani monastery233 in Muang District, Nakorn Pathom, and became the monastery’s first abbess. Although she did not ordain in the Theravāda lineage, her work paved the way for the recent establishment of a fully ordained Theravāda bhikṣuṇī movement in Thailand led by her daughter, Achan Chatsumarn Kabilsingh (Bhikkhunī Dhammananda). วรมัย กบิลสิงห ์. This is how she spells her name in the Roman alphabet. Biographical accounts and meditation teachings are taken from วิปัสสนา ๕ แบบ (Five types of vipassanā) published in 2003. It is 640 pages long and divided into three parts: 1) Achan Voramai’s biography and published works compiled by Achan Chatsumarn Kabilsingh; 2) the longest section, which consists of Achan Voramai’s own accounts of her experience practising five types of meditation and the teachings she obtained; and 3) a compilation of condolence notes from friends, students and family collected at her funeral. 233 Translated as ‘the place where women practise the Dhamma’. This is how the temple spells its name in the Roman alphabet. 232 248 Achan Voramai became sāmaṇerī in 1956 at Wat Bowonniwet, Bangkok. Her preceptor at Wat Bowonniwet was Phra Phromuni Phin Suvaco. Achan Phin Suvaco, then the temple’s deputy abbot, was a scholarly monk who was interested in vipassanā meditation. He is widely known as being the act-announcing teacher (kammavācācāriya) and caretaker of King Bhumibol (Rama IX) when the king was ordained and resided at the temple in 1956 for 15 days. Achan Phin played a crucial role in bringing about a certain amount of acceptance for her among the Thai Sangha elites. When Achan Voramai established Songdhammakalyani monastery in 1960; the District Chief Officer of Muang district, Nakhon Pathom, summoned her and made a complaint to the Thai Saṅgha Supreme Council accusing her of imitating and dressing up as a monk, which was a criminal offence under the law. Achan Phin, who was a member of the council at the time, informed the council that it was he who ordained her (as a sāmaṇerī) and that she was not trying to impersonate a monk as she opted to wear light yellow robes, a colour that Thai monks were not allowed to wear. Having been assured by Achan Phin, the Thai Saṅgha Supreme Council decided that Achan Voramai did not cause any harm to the order (Voramai 2003: 50). As I shall discuss in the next chapter, Achan Phin Suvaco’s understanding of deva bodies and dhammakāya bears similarities to Luang Pho Sot’s. It is possible that Achan Voramai discussed Luang Pho Sot’s teachings with Achan Phin or even taught him Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In 1971, prompted by her daughter, Achan Chatsumarn, Achan Voramai travelled to Taiwan and received bhikṣuṇī ordination in the Dharmaguptaka lineage at Sung San temple, Taipei. Her preceptor, Professor Tao An Fashi, gave her the monastic name of Ta Tao Fa Tzu, translated as Mahābodhi Dhammācāriya of the Śākya 249 lineage (Voramai 2003: 52).234 Achan Chatsumarn later followed her mother’s footsteps and received her bhikkhunī ordination in Sri Lanka in 2003. Achan Voramai met Luang Pho Sot at the age of 46, before she became a sāmaṇerī. As described in her biography, her introduction to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation was a pivotal point of her life, a kind of spiritual calling, which eventually led her to become interested in Dhamma practice (Voramai 2003: 36). Prior to meeting Luang Pho Sot, Achan Voramai was working in Bangkok as a journalist, and was responsible for raising four children by herself. In 1954, she was diagnosed with a uterine fibroid (tumour). As she was about to undergo surgery at Chulalongkorn Hospital, her sister paid her a visit and brought along mae chi Thongsuk, Luang Pho Sot’s leading meditation student. Mae chi Thongsuk consoled her, went back to Wat Paknam and, having informed Luang Pho Sot of her condition, came back to see her the next day and conveyed a message from him that she no longer needed the operation as he had already removed the fibroid in meditation. Back then, Achan Voramai did not have that much faith in the supernatural, so she told the doctors to go ahead with the surgery. To her and the surgeons’ complete surprise, they did not find any fibroid in her uterus (Voramai 2003: 33‒34). This incident led her to become interested in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and its healing practice. As soon she had recovered from her surgery, she went to Wat Paknam, started training in meditation under Luang Pho Sot and mae chi Thongsuk and, in September that year, was able to attain dhammakāya and meditate to cure illnesses (Voramai 2003: 40). 234 มหาโพธิธรรมาจารย ์ วงศ ์ศากยะ. 250 Achan Voramai did not practice Sammā Arahaṃ exclusively. After she completed her training at Wat Paknam, she went on to study other meditation systems. These included Rise and Fall meditation at Wat Mahathat; vipassanā meditation at Wat Bowonniwet with her preceptor, Achan Phin Suvaco; and ānāpānasati (Buddho) meditation at Wat Asokaram, Samut Prakan, with Achan Lee Dhammadharo. With the Rise and Fall method, she did not study directly with Achan Chodok, but with his students Phra Palat Thuan and Phra Achan Thiap (Voramai 2003: 121). Achan Lee was one of Achan Man Bhūridatta’s leading disciples. His meditation technique, like that of Achan Man, is based on mindfulness of breath and recitation of the word Buddho. Achan Voramai also studied healing with Achan Lee. In her short description of his teachings, Achan Voramai mentions that as part of her samatha training, Achan Lee taught her to master the ‘wind’ (lom) in order to use it to cure one’s own and others’ illnesses (Voramai 2003: 341). As I mentioned above, the mastering of lom for healing purposes is also taught in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system. Although her Buddho training was mainly with Achan Lee, she also studied this method with Luang Pho Choi Khemiyo at Tham Mangkon, Kanchanaburi. Achan Phin’s vipassanā meditation, as described by Achan Voramai, is based on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness but does not incorporate observing the rise and fall of the abdomen, as the Rise and Fall method. She also acknowledges Phra Ariyakhunathan (Pusso Seng) as one of her teachers (Voramai 2003: 342). Achan Voramai’s reason for studying many different techniques and how she understood the differences between these meditation systems are summarized in Dhamma garland 3, a book consisting of a compilation of questions and answers regarding Dhamma practice 251 that was previously published in her monthly magazine Vipassanā Banthoengsan.235 In response to a question about which of the three meditation methods (Buddho, Sammā Arahaṃ or Rise and Fall) one should practice, Achan Voramai advises that ‘if one would like to meditate for cessation [ดับ], one should practise Rise and Fall; if one wants to practise ānāpānasati, one should practise Buddho, and if one wants to attain dhammākāya, one should choose Sammā Arahaṃ. However, in order to become a well-learned person (bahussutā), one should study all of them’ (Voramai 2003: 33). She further elaborates that there are four types of arahants. Each type is named after the arahant’s respective attainments: 1) paṭisambhidāpatta (one who has attained the discriminations); 2) chaḷabhiñña (one who has six higher knowledges); 3) tevijja (one who has three knowledges); and 4) sukkhavipassaka (one whose insight is dry). The first type of arahant has mastered the four analytical knowledges or discriminations (paṭisambhidā), namely: 1) knowledge of meaning (atthapaṭisambhidā); 2) knowledge of conditions (dhammapaṭisambhidā); 3) knowledge of the modes of language expression (niruttipaṭisambhidā); and 4) knowledge of readiness in speech (paṭibhāṇapaṭisambhidā). The second type is the arahant who has acquired the six higher knowledges (abhiññā): 1) supernatural powers (iddhi); 2) divine ear (dibbasota); 3) mind-reading ability (cetopariyañāṇa); 4) recollection of past lives (pubbenivāsānussati); 5) divine eye (dibbacakkhu) and 6) cessation of mental intoxicants (āsavakkhaya). The third type is the arahant who has obtained the three knowledges (vijjā): 1) recollection of past lives; 2) divine eye; and 3) cessation of mental intoxicants. And the last type of arahant is the one 235 มาลัยธรรม ๓ and วิปัสสนาบันเทิงสาร. 252 who is liberated through dry insight and does not possess any of the above knowledges and powers.236 Achan Voramai states that both Buddho and Sammā Arahaṃ methods, which begin with samatha and end with vipassanā, enable the practitioner to become the first three types of arahants (Voramai 2016: 35‒37). These types require one to practise samatha meditation in order to acquire the worldly knowledges first (Voramai 2016: 35‒ 37), whereas Rise and Fall enables one to reach cessation quickly and become the fourth type of arahant, the one who is liberated through dry insight (Voramai 2016: 35‒37). This categorization of different types of arahants, not uncommon among the teachings of Thai forest monks, is also found in Achan Voramai’s teacher, Achan Lee’s, first book, The craft of the heart, whose understanding she had most likely adopted (Lee Dhammadharo 2009: 94‒95).237 Achan Lee lists the four arahants and their respective attainments and goes on further to elaborate on the amount of samatha and vipassanā involved for each type: 1) the dry-insight arahants developed vipassanā more than samatha; 2) the tevijja arahants The terms paṭisambhidāpatta, chaḷabhiñña and tevijja reference standard nikāya lists and are used quite regularly in the commentaries. Both the three knowledges and the six higher knowledges are listed in, for example, the Saṅgīti Sutta (D III 207) and Dasuttara Sutta (D III 271). Similarly to the list of the eight higher knowledges and powers, the first five of the six abhiññās and the first two of the three vijjās are worldly attainments, whereas the sixth of the six abhiññās and the third of the three vijjās, namely, the knowledge of the cessation of mental intoxicants (āsavakkhayañāṇa), is the only one necessary for the attainment of nibbāna and is acquired through the development of insight (vipassanā). The four paṭisambhidās are not mentioned in the first three of the five nikāyas of the Suttanta Piṭaka, but are found in the Aṅguttara and Khuddaka Nikāya, such as Vādī Sutta (A II 138) and Paṭisambhidāpatta Sutta (A III 113). Sukkhavipassaka, translated as ‘practitioner of dry insight’, is a commenterial term that denotes one who practises insight meditation without attaining jhānas or access concentration as a basis for their vipassanā: for example, see Vism 702 (XXIII 18). A list of the four types of arahant is found in the Theragāthā commentary (Th-a III 208–09) (Rupert Gethin, May 25, 2017, e-mail message to the author). However, I have not been able to find the references with the precise proportions of samatha and vipassanā with regard to the four types of arahants. 237 จิตตวิชา (Cittavijjā) was first published in 1939. It is 109 pages long and divided into two parts. The first part concerns the practice of morality (pp. 5–38) and the second meditation (pp. 39–109). The two parts were originally published separately but were later compiled and edited into a single book. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of all aspects of morality, lay precepts, and samatha and vipassanā meditation based on the Buddho ānāpānasati method. Thanissaro Bhikkhu translated the title of this book into English as The craft of the heart. The third edition of the English version, published in 2009, can be downloaded from this website: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/index.html#craft 236 253 developed an equal amount of samatha and vipassanā; 3) the chaḷabhiñña arahants developed two parts samatha to one part vipassanā; and 4) the paṭisambhidāpatta arahants developed three parts samatha to one part vipassanā (Lee Dhammadharo 2009: 95). These four types are also discussed in much detail in Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s Handbook for practising kammaṭṭhāna (Wira Ṭhāvaro n.d.: 1‒52). The different types of arahants and their respective paths and attainments seem to be used by some samatha-vipassanā-based meditation teachers partly to explain the many different types of meditation practices available and partly to clarify their samatha practice and justify it against the criticisms of dry-insight practitioners. After she had completed the 28-day course at Wat Mahathat, she went to Wat Paknam to visit Luang Pho Sot who enquired whether she had managed to retain her dhammākāya while practising Rise and Fall. She informed him that while at Wat Mahathat, she only used her human body to meditate, and had placed her dhammakāya at the top of her head so that her dhammakāya would not disappear during her training (Voramai 2003: 217).238 Luang Pho Sot was pleased with her answer and instructed her to always keep her dhammakāya as it is something that ‘cannot be bought’ (Voramai 2003: 217). In my interview with Achan Chatsumarn at Songdhammakalyani monastery, she informed me that Achan Voramai incorporated all meditation methods she studied into her practice In Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, those who have reached dhammakāya, but have not abandoned the three lower fetters (saṃyojana) and become stream-enterers (sotāpanna), are called gotrabhū persons. Gotrabhū persons can fall back on their attainments and become ordinary persons (puthujjana) (Sermchai 2017). 238 254 (Chatsumarn 2017).239 She continued to teach and practise Sammā Arahaṃ along with other systems for the rest of her life (Chatsumarn 2017). Sammā Arahaṃ meditation became particularly useful when she needed to heal the sick (Chatsumarn 2017). In my opinion, her understanding of dhammakāya seems to be the product of her studies both at Wat Paknam and Sung San temple, Taipei. In Five types of vipassanā, Achan Voramai states that the meditation method of reaching dhammakāya existed in the Buddhayāna, i.e. Mahāyāna, a tradition for more than a thousand years, but in Thailand it was Luang Pho Sot who first introduced it (Voramai 2003: 217). She describes the Buddha’s dhammakāya as ‘the body and awakened citta of the Buddha residing in nibbāna’, which she terms the ‘Buddha field’ (Sanskrit: buddhakṣetra) (Voramai 2003: 214). ‘He [the Buddha] has abandoned everything, but still acknowledges that the current dispensation is due to his pāramī’ (Voramai 2546: 214 and 454). Buddhakṣetra is an important term in Mahāyāna sūtras such as Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra and Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (Lotus Sutra) to refer to spiritual realms of celestial Buddhas such as Amitābha. It is a central concept in Pure Land Buddhism, a broad branch within the Mahāyāna tradition popular in East Asia. Her explanation of the Buddha’s dhammakāya as the body and mind of the Buddha residing in nibbāna is, of course, derived from Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Achan Voramai also understood the practice of satipaṭṭhānas, similarly to Luang Pho Sot, as referring to the inner bodies and minds as well as the human body and mind (Voramai 2003: 280). However, she extends the scope of her mindfulness to include the bodies and minds of her previous lives as part of her satipaṭṭhāna practice as well (Voramai 2003: 280). 239 February 28, 2017. 255 Moreover, Achan Chatsumarn (2017) informed me that her mother was close to Achan Sermchai. He was very supportive of her and her mother’s ordinations. Achan Sermchai visited Achan Voramai when she was terminally ill, attended her funeral and wrote a condolence message for her. After that, Achan Chatsumarn visited Achan Sermchai at Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram every year until his death. During those visits, Achan Sermchai honoured her by letting her sit at the same table as monks, a treatment which is still regarded as usual for bhikkhunī in Thailand (Chatsumarn 2017). 256 Chapter Four 4. Achan Sermchai’s development of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation This chapter provides a summary and analysis of Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon’s (Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo) works. As the previous chapter has shown, Achan Sermchai was a member of the third-generation Sammā Arahaṃ meditation teachers who inherited the tradition in 1971 from Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo), the late deputy abbot of Wat Paknam, 55 years after Luang Pho Sot first developed the method. At that time, Thai Buddhism had long felt the impact of the 19th and 20th century monastic reforms, and many traditional forms of meditation had died out or greatly declined. Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, however, demonstrates the opposite of this trend of decline and disappearance and has been gaining more and more practitioners thanks to the propagation efforts by Luang Pho Sot and his successors, Wat Paknam’s abbots, Saṅgharāja Ariyawongsakatayan (Somdet Pun Puṇṇasiri) and Somdet Phra Ratchamangkhlachan (Chuang Varapuñño), and also by its monks and its mae chi meditation teachers. The second half of the twentieth century saw the emergence and popularization of Burmese Rise and Fall and other vipassanā methods tailored for modern practitioners and developed for the masses. The relationships between the different Burmese vipassanā lineages and Sammā Arahaṃ tradition have mostly been silent, displaying a lack of interest, and on occasions openly critical, as Burmese vipassanā teachers and practitioners view Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as samatha and not in accordance with the practice of satipaṭṭhānas in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, which they see as the ‘only path’ to nibbāna. Moreover, the last 257 few decades of the twentieth century witnessed the expansion of the Dhammakaya Temple, which started with a small group of meditation practitioners headed by mae chi Chan, a student of Luang Pho Sot and mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan, and her pupils. Over the course of only three decades, the Dhammakaya Temple became one of the biggest and richest temples in the world. The temple has greatly contributed to the fame and reputation of Luang Pho Sot among followers in Thailand and abroad and stirred up interest in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation among the masses. However, its fund-raising techniques, grandeur, teachings and ties with Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister and tycoon, have been subject to constant criticisms from Pāli scholars, high-ranking Buddhist monks, the media, and those who opposed the Shinawatra clan’s political network and the red-shirt movement. Although the media concentrated on its marketing, fund-raising and the embezzlement charge levelled against its abbot, Phra Dhammajayo, criticisms of its teachings, especially meditation techniques and its views on nibbāna as self (attā), were also raised and affected the wider Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. Not all of these criticisms were new, as shown above, and during Luang Pho Sot’s lifetime, Sammā Arahaṃ meditation was criticized by Pāli scholars and Burmese vipassanā teachers, which culminated in Somdet Phra Phuthachan (At Āsabhamahāthera), one of the highest-ranking Buddhist monks at the time, sending Phra Thamthiraratmahamuni (Achan Chodok Ñāṇasiddhi) to Wat Paknam to teach the Rise and Fall method to Luang Pho Sot.240 However, with the nationwide and even international coverage of the mounting public attacks on the Dhammakaya Temple and its abbot around the year 1999 and continuing criticism over the For criticisms during Luang Pho Sot’s lifetime, see 63 sermons (1984: (26)‒(28)) and Tritha (1984: 76). For the account of Achan Chodok’s visit to Wat Paknam and teaching Luang Pho Sot, see Young Buddhists Association of Thailand (2008: 26). 240 258 next 15 years, the prospects of other, much smaller Sammā Arahaṃ lineages and their survival were greatly affected.241 Achan Sermchai, who established Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram in 1991, 13 years after the establishment of Dhammakaya Temple, witnessed these events, and as a result began giving sermons and publishing books defending Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. One of his first books, a systematic and scholastic defence of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, was The Four Noble Truths.242 It was published in 1995 by the Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Foundation, a foundation affiliated with Wat Luang Pho Sot, under the name of Phra Phawanawisutthikhun, Achan Sermchai’s former monastic title. The introduction and preface to this book state that the content of book was developed from sermons given in 1994 at Wat Luang Pho Sot and previously published in Wat Luang Pho Sot’s Dhammakāya Magazine (Volumes 33-35) in 1995 (Sermchai 1995: 5-12). This book became the starting point for his later works. Achan Sermchai’s works can be described as apologetic in their systematic usage of Pāli canonical and commentarial texts to provide a defence of Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This defence was not begun by Achan Sermchai, however, but by Luang Pho Sot himself, and was continued by Achan Sermchai, who not only provideed further Pāli canonical statements but also statements arguing that his tradition conforms to Pāli 241 For recent criticisms by Thai scholars of Buddhism, see, for example, Payutto (1999: 233), Prawet Wasi (1999: 58-59) and Sathianphong Wannapok (2015). For discussions regarding the 1999 nibbāna debates and controversy, see Potprecha (2009: Chapter 2), Mackenzie (2007: 98‒102) and Scott (2009: 147‒149). 242 อริยสัจ ๔ The 160-page book is divided into eight chapters: 1) Dukkhasacca [the truth of suffering], 2) Samudayasacca [the truth of the cause of suffering], 3) Nirodhasacca [the truth of the cessation of suffering], 4) Maggasacca [the truth of the path leading to the end of suffering], 5) Characteristics of complete realization, 6) The highest search: the search for nibbāna that is beyond birth, aging, pain and death, 7) Nibbāna is a state that is happy, permanent and supremely void, 8) How is nibbāna void and empty of attā?, and 9) The eternal words of teachers who are supaṭipannos. The book also consists of an appendix of questions and answers regarding nibbāna. 259 commentaries, subcommentaries and the views of respected Thai monks. In his elaboration of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, Achan Sermchai’s works can also be characterized as an attempt to reinterpret and systematize Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This can be seen clearly in his development of the three aspects of nibbāna and the four-tier satipaṭṭhāna practice. Achan Sermchai took various ideas found in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings and linked them to canonical and commentarial terms and passages, elaborating them, and where necessary reinterpreting and redefining them, while at the same time trying not to deviate from what he saw as the essence of Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This chapter provides a summary and an analysis of four main works by Achan Sermchai: 1. Samatha vipassanā meditation in accordance with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness to reach dhammakāyas and nibbāna.243 This book provides the most up-to-date and complete explanation of Achan Sermchai’s elaboration, systemization and reinterpretation of various aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The whole book, especially the second chapter, argues that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation consists of both samatha and vipassanā techniques, and is consistent with satipaṭṭhānas and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the stages of purification in Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification) etc. It outlines in สมถะวิปัสสนากัมมัฏฐานตามแนวสติปัฏฐาน ๔ ถึงธรรมกายและพระนิ พพาน. This book, compiled and written by Phra Ratyanwisit (Achan Sermchai’s former monastic title), was published in 2010 by Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram and was translated into English and published in 2011. The Thai version consists of 238 pages and is divided into an introduction and three chapters: 1). Samatha and anupassanā level; 2) Vipassanā level; and 3) Attainment of magga-phala level. The first chapter consists of Achan Sermchai’s description and elaboration of the preliminary stages and the 18 bodies of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The second chapter talks about how to practise Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in accordance with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and explains Achan Sermchai’s practice of four-tier satipaṭṭhāna in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The last chapter covers the three knowledges (vijjā), the penetration of the Four Noble Truths and the attainment of nibbāna. 243 260 detail the four-tier satipaṭṭhāna practice. In many places, it cites the views of respected Thai monks in order to support its arguments. 2. Answering questions regarding Dhamma practice.244 This book, published in 1999, provides additional information on Achan Sermchai’s elaboration, systemization and reinterpretation of various aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. It also provides his answers to the questions regarding Rise and Fall and other meditation methods and also the practice of purifying food and offering itto the Buddha in nibbāna, which will be the discussed in detail below. 3. Handbook for the study of the three trainings.245 The appendix to this textbook (pages 355–405) provides the most detailed explanation of Achan Sermchai’s understanding of the three aspects of nibbāna. It is an attempt to elaborate and reinterpret Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of dhammakāya, nibbāna and āyatana (nibbāna) and link these concepts to various terms and passages in the Pāli canon and the commentaries and subcommentaries. The views of respected Thai monks are also cited. 244 ตอบปัญหาธรรมปฏิบต ั .ิ This 636-page book is published by Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Ratchaburi. It is a compilation of Achan Sermchai’s answers to various Dhamma-related questions previously published in Dhammakāya Magazine. The answers are grouped together into nine sections: 1) General; 2) Merit-making and transference; 3) Vinaya; 4) Kamma; 5) Sammā Arahaṃ meditation; 6) Basic Dhamma practice; 7) Intermediate Dhamma practice; 8) Advance Dhamma practice; and 9) Nibbāna. 245 คู่มอ ื การศึกษาสัมมาปฏิบต ั ไิ ตรสิกขา. This book, compiled and written by Phra Ratyanwisit and others, was first published in 2009 by the National Coordination Centre of the Provincial Meditation Institute of Thailand and was translated into English and published in 2010 as A Study Guide for Right Practice of the Three Trainings. The aim of this book is to act as a standard guide to the practice of morality, meditation and wisdom in accordance with the Pāli canonical texts and the Visuddhimagga and to be distributed nationwide. The Thai version consists of 439 pages and is divided into three chapters: 1) Higher morality; 2) Higher meditation; and 3) Higher wisdom. The part that I shall concentrate on is the appendix between pages 355 and 405, titled ‘Three aspects of nibbāna’ by Achan Sermchai, which consists of his most up-todate elaboration and interpretation of the three aspects of nibbāna. 261 The contents of these three books overlap in many parts. However, I will rely on Samatha vipassanā meditation and Answering questions regarding Dhamma practice in my summary and analysis of Achan Sermchai’s thought on Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and the four-tier satipaṭṭhāna practice (Chapters 4.1 and 4.2). The appendix to The handbook for the study of the three trainings is the main focus for Achan Sermchai’s understanding of the three aspects of nibbāna (4.4). Samatha vipassanā meditation and The handbook for the study of the three trainings both have English translations, which are substantially the same as the Thai versions. My summaries and analyses have relied on the original Thai versions. I also incorporate material from my five-hour and three-hour interviews with Achan Sermchai at Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram on 9 June 2015 and 27 March 2017. 4.1 Linking the various stages of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the Pāli texts In order to counter claims that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is heterodox, does not consist of vipassanā and/or that Luang Pho Sot invented it without consulting the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and other Pāli ‘orthodox’ sources, Achan Sermchai, since the publication of Four Noble Truths, has introduced various arguments backed by Pāli canonical and commentarial references to support the Theravāda textual validity of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Some of these arguments were developed by Achan Sermchai himself, others have been taken from teachings of his mentor, Phra Ratchaphromathen, and high- 262 ranking Thai monks such as Phra Phrom Muni (Phin Suvaco), the late abbot of Wat Bowonniwet Vihāra, as mentioned below. The negative view of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation developed during the time of Luang Pho Sot. For example, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu wrote a book titled Anattā of the Buddha arguing that nibbāna is anattā (not-self).246 It was first published in 1939, 23 years after Luang Pho Sot developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and during the period when it was gaining more and more popularity at Wat Paknam. One of the arguments the book raises is that the idea of nibbāna as attā (self) bears similarities to the idea of ātman in the Bhagavad-gītā, and that those who state this are contradicting the Buddha and bringing the Hindu view into Buddhism (Buddhadasa 1999: 66). Although Buddhadasa did not state whose view he was refuting, it is my opinion that Luang Pho Sot’s view was one of them.247 Many such criticisms resurfaced during the Dhammakaya Temple controversies in 1999. For example, one of the most well-respected Thai monks and scholars of Buddhism, Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya (Prayudh Payutto), in Dhammakaya case (1999: 233) claimed that the Dhammakaya Temple was guilty of distorting the teaching of the Buddha in propagating the following ideas: 1) that nibbāna is attā; 2) that the nimittas (mental images) of dhammakāya that are attā of Buddhas dwell in āyatana (nibbāna); and 3) that āyatana (nibbāna) is a land where one can visit the Buddhas in samādhi.248 The Pāli scholar Sathianphong Wannapok, who is a professor at Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, wrote several tracts in 1999 criticizing the Dhammakaya Temple. In Dhammakaya case: 246 อนัตตาของพระพุทธเจ ้า. 247 For further discussions, see Potprecha (2009: Chapters 1 and 3). 248 กรณี ธรรมกาย. 263 Lessons for Buddhists,249 published in 1999, Sathianphong (1999: 80) attacks Sammā Arahaṃ meditation for teaching that ‘in order to reach nibbāna, one merely has to visualize a crystal ball until it becomes a nimitta of a Buddha image [...] without any need to eradicate defilements [...] They also teach the alien concept, which does not exist in Buddhism, that nibbāna is an eternal city, the dwelling place of Buddhas and arahants, whose size can be measured’. The respected thinker and social critic Prawet Wasi (1999: 58–59), in Dhammakaya cult and the roles of Thai society, criticizes the practice of visualizing nimittas as not leading to nibbāna, and advises the practitioners of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to overcome their attachments to nimittas and progress further by way of insight (vipassanā).250 In 2015, when the Dhammakaya Temple was again under attack for receiving donations from the chairman of Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative who was under criminal investigation for embezzlement, Sathianphong wrote a number of articles published in the Mathichon newspaper and on its website attacking the Dhammakaya Temple and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In an article titled ‘The original dhātudhamma dhammakāya’, published on 2 March 2015, Sathianphong (2015) states that at first Luang Pho Sot thought that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation ‘was the real thing’ but later ‘he got stuck’ without making any progress in meditation and had to consult ‘a well-known vipassanā teacher’ who guided him through this ‘dead end’.251 According to Sathianphong (2015), Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is thus ‘a damaged inheritance’ that ‘the owner has abandoned’. This incident is, of course, Wat Mahathat’s and the Rise and Fall tradition’s 249 250 251 บทเรียนชาวพุทธจากกรณี ธรรมกาย. ลัทธิธรรมกายกับบทบาทของสังคมไทย. ธรรมกายต ้นธาตุต ้นธรรม. 264 version of the visit by Achan Chodok Ñāṇasiddhi to teach Luang Pho Sot the Rise and Fall method at Wat Paknam. As this research has shown, Luang Pho Sot, in developing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, did consult the Pāli canon, especially the satipaṭṭhāna practice in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, which he also believed constituted the ‘only path’ to nibbāna (see Saman 2000: 210–223). Luang Pho Sot was also familiar with Visuddhimagga and often mentioned practices and attainments deriving from it, for example in his elaboration of the six realms of insight (vipassanābhūmi) as mentioned in the second chapter (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 324‒6). In Samatha vipassanā meditation, Achan Sermchai seeks to emphasize and elaborate on this scriptural-based aspect of Luang Pho Sot’s teaching in order to counter these criticisms. Luang Pho Sot, in his meditation teachings, often talks about the two preliminary techniques: 1) parikamma nimitta (preparatory/preliminary sign), the visualization of a crystal sphere; and 2) parikamma bhāvanā (preparatory/preliminary stage of meditation), the recitation of the Pāli words ‘sammā arahaṃ’. Although he mentions the observing of the breath passing the seventh position and recollecting the Buddha with regard to sammā arahaṃ (for example, Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 69 and 879), Luang Pho Sot does not explicitly equate Sammā Arahaṃ with any of the 40 objects of meditation in the Visuddhimagga. However, Achan Sermchai, in order to link Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the Visuddhimagga further, views the basic level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as consisting of five of these objects, namely the recollection 265 of the Buddha (buddhānussati), recollection of the Dhamma (dhammānussati), recollection of the saṅgha (saṅghānussati), mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati) and the light (āloka) kasiṇa. He explains that the word ‘sammā’, short for sammāsambuddho, meaning ‘one who is self-enlightened’, refers to the Buddha’s wisdom (paññāguṇa), and the word ‘arahaṃ’, meaning ‘one who is far from defilements’, refers to his purity (visuddhiguṇa) (Sermchai 1999: 149). When one recollects these words, one’s mind becomes endowed with merits and wholesome dhammas; this is the recollection of the Dhamma (Sermchai 1999: 149). When one’s mind is endowed with wholesome dhammas, one becomes the practitioner and guardian of the Buddha’s teachings; this is the recollection of saṅgha (Sermchai 1999: 149). Bowers (1996: 12) and Newell (2008: 223), in their descriptions of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, mention buddhānussati, ānāpānasati and āloka kasiṇa practices, relying on Achan Sermchai’s summary in The heart of Dhammakaya meditation (Sermchai 1991: 62). However, they do not acknowledge that this equation of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with the three objects is Achan Sermchai’s interpretation of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, and assume that it is a common aspect among all Sammā Arahaṃ temples. With regard to the light kasiṇa, Achan Sermchai equates this visual object with the visualization of the crystal sphere. He argues that it is presented in the Visuddhimagga as a valid and efficient way to attain jhānas and supernatural powers (abhiññā), which lead to the eight-fold transcendental knowledges (vijjā) (Sermchai 2010: 7). He quotes a passage from the Upakkilesa Sutta in the Majjhima Nikāya (M II 152) in which the Buddha urged 266 Anuruddha and others to practise meditation in order to obtain nimittas as he did when he perceived light and a vision of forms when he was a bodhisatta. This reference is not mentioned in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings: Anuruddha and company, you must penetrate those nimittas that I saw before enlightenment when I, the Tathāgata, was just a bodhisatta, not yet enlightened with higher wisdom. I too perceived both light and a vision of forms. (Sermchai 2010: 8)252 Achan Sermchai argues that nimittas or mental images are practised and taught by the Buddha in the samatha stage in order to rid one’s mind of hindrances and to achieve jhānas. They are also used in the vipassanā stage when the practitioner examines the nimittas of conditioned dhammas, e.g. the five aggregates, as impermanent, suffering and not-self in order to gain bhavanāmayapaññā (wisdom arising from meditation) (Sermchai 1999: 241). To support this claim, Sermchai cites a passage from the Saṅgaṇikārāma Sutta (A III 422– 23). This reference is not mentioned either in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings: Without taking pleasure in being alone in seclusion, it is impossible to obtain the nimittas [of samādhi citta and vipassanā] citta. Without obtaining the 252 ่ อนตรัสรู ้ ยังไม่รู ้เองด ้วยปัญญาอันยิง่ ยังเป็ นพระ ดูกอ ่ นอนุ รุทธ ์กับคณะ พวกเธอต ้องแทงตลอดนิ มต ิ นั้นแล แม้เราก็เคยมาแลว้ เมือก่ โพธิสต ั ว ์อยู่ ย่อมจาแสงสว่าง และเห็นรูปนิ มต ิ ได ้เหมือนกัน (M III 157: taṃ kho pana vo Anuruddhā nimittaṃ paṭivijjhitabbaṃ. ahaṃ pi sudaṃ Anuruddhā pubbe va saṃbodhā anabhisambuddho bodhisatto va samāno obhāsañ c’ eva sañjānāmi dassanañ ca rūpānaṃ). Unless otherwise indicated, I am translating into English the Thai translation of the Pāli. I also provide the Pāli of the PTS edition for reference purposes. 267 nimittas [of samādhi citta and vipassanā] citta, it is impossible to fulfil the right view of vipassanā. (Sermchai 1999: 238)253 It should be noted that the above translation by Achan Sermchai incorporates the meaning of the commentary (Mp III 410), which I have put in brackets.254 With regard to ānāpānasati, Achan Sermchai (1999: 150‒2; 2010: 10–12) links this practice in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to the mindfulness of breath section in the Visuddhimagga (Vism 280‒1), where the breath is said to be divided into the beginning, the middle and the end, with the end of the inbreaths and the beginning of the outbreaths being at the navel. The Visuddhimagga (Vism 281‒2) states that the meditator should contemplate the breath at one fixed point and should not follow it in and out as that would cause the body and mind to become agitated and confused. These references are not mentioned in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings. According to Achan Sermchai (1999: 150‒1), the Visuddhimagga, in referring to the beginning, middle and end of the breath, is talking about the three bodily bases. The navel is the same as the sixth position in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, and placing one’s attention there while observing the breaths passing in and out is the same as in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. The only difference is that in Sammā A III 422–23: eko paviveke anabhiramanto cittassa nimittaṃ gahessatī ti n’ etaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati. cittassa nimittaṃ agaṇhanto sammādiṭṭhiṃ paripūressatī ti n’ etaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjati. 254 Mp III 410: cittassa nimittan ti samādhivipassanācittassa nimittaṁ samādhivipassanākāraṁ ‒ ‘nimitta of citta’ means ‘nimitta of samādhi-citta and vipassanā-citta’, ‘the mode of samādhi and vipassanā’. sammādiṭṭhin ti vipassanāsammādiṭṭhiṁ ‒ ‘right view’ means ‘right view that is vipassanā’. I would like to thank Rupert Gethin for his help with the translation of these passages. 253 268 Arahaṃ meditation, one is to observe the breath going in and out at two finger widths above the navel, the seventh position (Sermchai 1999: 150). The seeing of the dhamma sphere is also given a canonical reference. Achan Sermchai cites the Dhammapada, Khuddaka Nikāya (Dhp 33–34): ‘The wise man should restrain the mind, which is very hard to see, refined and likes to dwell on attractive sensual objects. A well-trained mind brings happiness’ (Sermchai 2010: 29). Seeing here is interpreted literally in the same way as Luang Pho Sot’s seeing of ‘bodies in bodies, feelings in feelings, minds in minds, and dhammas in dhammas’ in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (D II 290). In the section titled ‘Multiple bodies’, Achan Sermchai (2010: 18–21) cites two passages from ‘Sermon on three bodies’ by Phra Phrom Muni (Phin Suvaco) (1984: 1–3 and 21– 23), the late abbot of Wat Bowonniwet Vihāra, Bangkok.255 The passages are extracts from a sermon given at the Buddhist Union of Thailand on 10 October 1955, which was published as a book by Mahamakut Buddhist University in 1984. Phra Phrom Muni (1894‒ 1961) was the fifth abbot of Wat Bowonniwet, which has been the centre of Thammayuttika nikāya since Prince Mongkut (later King Rama IV), its first abbot, initiated a reform by introducing a new monastic lineage to the Thai saṅgha. Prince-Patriarch Wachirayan, who was the third abbot at the temple, continued this reform, centralizing the saṅgha administration, modernizing and standardizing monastic education nationwide. Phra Phrom Muni entered Wat Bowonniwet in 1918 under Wachirayan’s abbotship and พระพรหมมุนี )ผิน สุวโจ) biographical information taken from Wat Bowonniwet (2014). 255 269 succeeded Supreme Patriarch Wachirayanawong256 as the abbot in 1958, a position he held for four years. Supreme Patriarch Wachirayanawong, the fourth abbot of the temple, took an interest in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and asked Luang Pho Sot to provide him with a summary of his method, which resulted in the publication of the Abbot’s handbook in 1949, dedicated to him.257 Phra Phrom Muni’s connection with Luang Pho Sot is unknown, but I speculate that because of his predecessor’s interest in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Phra Phrom Muni may have also taken an interest in it as well. He may have discussed and exchanged ideas with Sammā Arahaṃ teachers and practitioners. The first practitioner that comes to mind is Achan Voramai Kabilsingh who studied meditation under both Luang Pho Sot and Phra Phrom Muni. It is not uncommon to see high-ranking Thammayut monks who were at the forefront of the monastic reform also taking an interest in studying and preserving traditional meditation texts and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, as in the case of Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando), the late abbot of Wat Baromniwat, who ordered the compilation of the Chai Yasothonrat anthology. The anthology’s reprint in 2015 was also published by the Thammayut nikāya on the occasion of the cremation of the Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Yansangwon of Wat Bowonniwet. According to his biography, Phra Phrom Muni was also active in promoting Buddhist educational reform in Thailand as a committee member in charge of the national Pāli and Naktham examinations and later as the president of the Educational Council of Mahamakut Buddhist University. He also taught King Rama IX when he was ordained at Wat Bowonniwet in 1956. 256 257 สมเด็จพระสังฆราชเจ ้า กรมหลวงวชิรญาณวงศ ์. คู่มอ ื สมภาร. 270 In this sermon, Phra Phrom Muni explains that there are various interpretations of the contemplation of body in body according to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. From the ‘scholar’s perspective’, this refers to the contemplation of each component of the human body in separate pieces. However, from the perspective of a ‘Naktham’, which Achan Sermchai (2010: 18–19) interprets to mean ‘practitioner’, body in body refers to: 1) in an ‘outward direction’, ‘the contemplation of the dhammakāya in the deva body and the deva body in the human body’; and 2) in an ‘inward direction’, ‘the contemplation of the human body as outermost with the deva body in the middle and the dhammakāya inside’. According to Phra Phrom Muni, both perspectives are correct, the first one according to the correct translation of Pāli texts, and the second according to ‘their knowledge of origins of human and deva bodies’ (Sermchai 2010: 19). This understanding of satipaṭṭhānas is in accordance with Luang Pho Sot’s understanding that the practices described in the sutta are seen as examples and guidelines and their scope can be widened according to the practitioner’s level of attainment. He goes on to state that both human and deva bodies are mentioned in the Mahāsamaya Sutta (D II 253). This reference is not mentioned in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings: ‘Those who take Lord Buddha as refuge will not go to apāyabhūmi [the suffering worlds]. When they leave their human bodies, they will fully attain deva bodies’ (Sermchai 2010: 20).258 ่ นของมนุ ษย ์แล ้ว จักยังเทวกาย บุคคลเหล่าใดเหล่าหนึ่ง ถึงพระพุทธเจ ้าว่าเป็ นสรณะ บุคคลเหล่านั้น จักไม่ไปสู่อบายภูมิ ละกายทีเป็ ให้เต็มรอบ 258 (D II 255: ye keci buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gatā se na te gamissanti apāyabhūmiṃ pahāya mānusaṃ dehaṃ devakāyaṃ paripūressanti). 271 Phra Phrom Muni and Achan Sermchai see this passage as the Buddha’s confirmation of the existence of deva bodies within human bodies. The second reference from the Aggañña Sutta (D III 80), according to Achan Sermchai (2010: 20), confirms the existence of inner brahmā bodies and dhammakāya: ‘The words dhammakāyo, brahmakāyo, dhammabhūto and brahmabhūto are all names for the Tathāgata.’ This reference is also given by Luang Pho Sot in support of his understanding of dhammakāya. Phra Phrom Muni interprets the above passage, ‘When one leaves the human body, one will fully attain a deva body’, to imply that there are several levels of deva bodies ‒ low, medium and high levels ‒ as the words ‘fully attain’ mean attain flawlessly, which indicates that there are those who have not attained perfect deva bodies, such as hell guardians (nirayapāla) (Sermchai 2010: 20). Thus, in this sutta, according to Phra Phrom Muni, the Buddha is referring to different classes of devas. Just like in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, there are also different classes of higher bodies: crude deva, refined deva, crude brahmā, refined brahmā bodies etc. Dhammakāya, according to Phra Phrom Muni, is the supramudane (lokuttara), unconditioned (asaṅkhata) and immortal (amata) Dhamma; the word dhamma here means ‘that which endures’ (Sermchai 2010: 21). Achan Sermchai (2010: 25) explains that by stopping still at the centre of the sphere one achieves the purification of morality (sīlavisuddhi) as the intentions of the body, speech and mind become pure. Stopping still at the centre of the sphere and seeing the inner 272 spheres allows the mind to be freed from the five hindrances and the jhāna factors to be developed, and as a result the meditator achieves purification of mind (cittavisuddhi). When he/she reaches the inner mundane bodies, Achan Sermchai (2010: 35) explains that at this stage the meditator begins to understand that all conditioned phenomena, especially living beings with consciousness (upādinnakasaṅkhāra), are endowed with the three characteristics: impermanent, suffering and not-self. This leads to purification of view (diṭṭhivisuddhi) (Sermchai 2010: 35). As the meditator attains more and more refined dhammakāyas, he/she can examine the conditioned phenomena more widely and deeply, which leads to the (kaṅkhāvitaranavisuddhi), attainments of purification of overcoming knowledge and vision the path and not-path of the practice (maggāmaggañāṇadassanavisuddhi), knowledge of and vision doubts (paṭipadāñāṇadassanavisuddhi) and knowledge and vision (ñāṇadassanavisuddhi), thereby linking the different stages of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with the seven stages of purifications in the Visuddhimagga. 4.2 Four-tier satipaṭṭhāna practice in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation Following the translation of the words ‘ekāyanamagga’ by Luang Pho Sot and his teacher, Phra Ratchaphromathen, Achan Sermchai views the practice of satipaṭṭhānas as the ‘only path’ to nibbāna (see Sermchai 2013: 19). This view has become more and more widespread among meditation teachers and practitioners in Thailand following the introduction and popularization of the Rise and Fall tradition during the second half of the last century. This view, coupled with criticisms of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, is the reason 273 why all of his sermons and books on meditation focus on arguing that Sammā Arahaṃ is in accordance with satipaṭṭhānas in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. In my interview with Achan Sermchai (2015), I asked him to clarify his understanding of satipaṭṭhānas as the ‘only path’. He explained that satipaṭṭhānas have to be interpreted to encompass all the teachings of the Buddha: for example, the practice of morality (sīla) and the 40 objects of samatha meditation, such as the light kasiṇa and the recollection of the Buddha (buddhānussati), which are part of the basic level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, are to be considered the foundation of the practice of satipaṭṭhānas. Likewise, each of the factors of the Eightfold Noble Path is to be considered as the foundation of the factor of right mindfulness. This explanation is similar to the ones given by Sawet Piamphongsan, the author of Buddhavipassanā, and Achan Naeb Mahaniranonda, the renowned vipassanā teacher, who, in explaining satipaṭṭhānas as the ‘only path’, subsume the most important teachings of the Buddha into the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.259 From the accounts of the Pāli suttas and Luang Pho Sot’s explanation of satipaṭṭhānas, Achan Sermchai came to understand that there is a process in the practice of satipaṭṭhānas. As a result, he incorporated the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness at every level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from the preliminary to the highest level. In my analysis of Samatha vipassanā meditation, I discerned a four-tier system in which the meditator is able to practise satipaṭṭhāna at different stages of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 259 See, Sawet (1960: 83–4) and Naeb (2010: 171). 274 from the very beginning to the most advanced stages, thereby incorporating the various interpretations of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Achan Sermchai (2010: 47–49) explains that even at the level of the bodily bases (level one), when one has not seen the dhamma sphere, and not even reached access concentration (upacāra samādhi), one can also practise mindfulness of body in body by contemplating the repulsiveness of the different parts of the body and their three characteristics. One envisages hair from one’s own scalp at the centre of the sphere [nimitta] at the centre of the body. One continues contemplating the hair until the mind is calmed and close to achieving access concentration [upacāra samādhi]. Then one will see its repulsiveness. For example, the hair is stained with scalp tissues, sweat and grease from the scalp. When it is in contact with various objects, dust and other particles pile up and the hair becomes very dirty, producing unpleasant odours. After one contemplates continuously for some time, the nimitta of the hair will naturally change from black to grey. This is the seeing of the characteristic of impermanence (aniccaṃ). After continuing to contemplate, one will see the vision of hair falling. This is the seeing of its transitory nature as suffering (dukkhaṃ). After continuing to contemplate, one will see the vision of the hair breaking up. This is the realization that there is nothing (in our body) that has a 275 permanent essence, lasting happiness and no eternal self or anattā characteristic. (Sermchai 2010: 47–48)260 Achan Sermchai instructs the meditator to contemplate other parts of the body in the same way. This practice is derived from an interpretation of the mindfulness of the body in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and is also found in the Kāyagatāsati Sutta (M III 88). Thus, by incorporating these practices into level one of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation when the concentration level is minimal, Achan Sermchai reinterpreted the basic level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, bringing it closer to Burmese vipassanā methods. As I mentioned above, Burmese vipassanā, such as the Rise and Fall method, can be categorized as ‘bare insight’, as it employs only the vipassanā method and utilizes the most basic level of concentration (khaṇika samādhi). Achan Sermchai brings in satipaṭṭhāna practices prior to the meditator reaching access concentration and thus incorporates ‘bare insight’ training into Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. At the level of the dhamma sphere (level two), in which the mind has achieved the first jhāna, rather than imagining the different parts of the body, the meditator is able to see them vividly with the divine eye and is even able to smell their odours. At the level of dhammakāya (level three), the meditator is able to see the different parts of the body and smell them even more clearly and distinctly, and is able to contemplate the nature of all the ่ ่บนหนังศีรษะของเราตรงศูนย ์กลางดวงศูนย ์กลางกายนั้น เพ่งดูจนใจสงบตังมั ้ ่น ประมาณใกล ้อุปจารสมาธิ ก็ ให้กาหนดเห็นผมทีอยู ่ ่ นละออกจับ และหมักหมมไว ้นานก็จะสกปรก มี จะเห็นว่าเป็ นธรรมชาติทไม่ ี่ สะอาด กล่าวคือย่อมแปดเปื ้อนด ้วยเหงือไคล ไขมัน เมือฝุ่ ่ ้ ่ ่ ่ งดู ่ นานไปก็จะเห็นนิมต นหงอก ตามธรรมชาติ นี แสดงอนิ จจลักษณะ ว่าเป็ นของไม่เทียง กลินเหม็ น เมือเพิ ิ ของผมนั้น เปลียนแปลงไปเป็ ้ ้ เพ่งดูต่อไปจะเห็นนิ มต ิ ของผมนี หลุดร่วง ว่าเป็ นของทนอยู่ในสภาพเดิมไม่ได ้นาน เป็ นทุกขัง เพ่งดูต่อไปจะเห็นนิมต ิ ของผมนี แตก ่ ในความเป็ นสุขทีถาวร ่ สลายหมดสภาพเดิมของมันไป ไม่มอ ี ะไร [ในตัวเรา] มีแก่นสารสาระในความเป็ นของเทียง และในความเป็ น ้ ตัวตนของใครตลอดไป นี แสดงอนั ตตลักษณะ. 260 276 inner mundane bodies as well. The meditator who has reached the most refined dhammakāya (level four) is able to see into the future to contemplate the nimittas (mental images) of him/herself in the future. The realization of the three characteristics is deeper and stronger than contemplation at the most basic level. One makes a resolve to see one’s body in the future; each year, every five years or every 10 years into the future [...] One continues to observe oneself until further into the future until one reaches the day that one dies. One will see the nimitta of oneself in the future as impermanent and suffering until the day one dies, and as not-self. (Sermchai 2010: 50)261 This four-tier system also applies to the contemplation of feelings, minds and dhammas as well: for example, the meditator who has not seen the dhamma sphere can contemplate feelings of happiness in stopping still at the centre of the body, and as he/she progresses can contemplate the more refined happiness and different types of joys that accompany the different bodies and jhānas to the very highest level. With regard to mindfulness of mind in mind, at the basic level, one contemplates lust, hatred and delusion within the mind, and as one progresses, one is able to see that these hindrances exist in one’s consciousness as different colours: lust appears as dark pink, hatred appears as dark red or dull green and delusion appears as grey-white, all tainting and dulling the bright sphere. When one reaches 261 ให้อธิษฐานสืบไปดูอต ั ตภาพของตนเองในอนาคต แต่ละปี ๆ หรือ แต่ละช่วง ๕ ปี หรือ ๑๐ ปี ต่อๆไปในอนาคต […] อธิษฐานดูอต ั ต ่ เป็ นทุกข ์ จนถึงวันตาย เป็ นสภาพที่ ภาพของตนสืบไปในอนาคตต่อๆไป แต่ละช่วงๆ ต่อไปจนวันตาย ก็จะได ้เห็นว่าเป็ นสภาพไม่เทียง มิใช่ตน. 277 the inner bodies and dhammakāya, one’s mind becomes purer and purer and one is able to see these defilements as colours fading away from the mind. With regard to the mindfulness of ‘dhamma in dhamma’, the meditator is advised to start by contemplating the five aggregates, first of the human body and mind, and later of the inner mundane bodies and minds, as impermanent, suffering and not-self. When one reaches the highest level, one is able to see the entire cosmos and contemplate all the beings of the different realms, from the lowest hell to the highest formless realm, encompassing the five aggregates of the whole universe. A long subsection under the contemplation of dhamma in dhamma (Sermchai 2010: 83–137) provides guidance on this practice and is devoted to detailed descriptions of all the realms and beings in the Buddhist cosmos. Thus, as one progresses up the different levels of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, the scope of the words ‘bodies’, ‘feelings’, ‘minds’ and ‘dhammas’ widens from one’s own human body feelings, mind and dhammas to those of all beings in the entire cosmos. Achan Sermchai argues that contemplation of the entire cosmos is not something new but can be found in the teachings of Luang Pho Sot as part of the higher levels of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Luang Pho Sot’s method of contemplating the different realms can be found in the Abbot’s handbook (63 sermons 1984: (309) ‒ (11)). However, Luang Pho Sot does not explicitly link this practice to the contemplation of dhamma in dhamma. In both of their understandings of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the practices described in the sutta are seen as examples and guidelines and their scope can be widened according to the practitioner’s level of attainment. Luang Pho Sot widens its scope to include the inner 278 bodies, feelings, cittas and dhammas, and here Achan Sermchai widens the scope to include the body of the practitioner in the future and the entire three-realm universe. The widening of the scope of satipaṭṭhānas also exists in Achan Voramai’s teachings. As mentioned above, Achan Voramai also understood the practice of satipaṭṭhānas, similarly to Luang Pho Sot, as referring to the inner bodies and minds as well as the human body and mind (Voramai 2003: 280). However, she extends the scope of her satipaṭṭhāna practice, not into the future, but into the past, to include the bodies and minds of her previous lives (Voramai 2003: 280). As part of the Sammā Arahaṃ’s explanations of the seven bodily bases and the rebirth process, Achan Sermchai introduces two Pāli terms, namely paṭisandhicitta (rebirthlinking consciousness) and kalalarūpa (first stage of the foetus). Paṭisandhicitta and kalalarūpa are two terms associated with the process of rebirth. The former is primarily a commentarial term, but is also found in the Paṭisambhidāmagga and refers to the first moment of consciousness in a new life. The latter is found in the Indaka Sutta (SN I 206) and refers to the physical embryo at conception (first seven days).262 Achan Sermchai (2010: 17) cites a passage from the Samantapāsādikā (Sp II 437) defining paṭisandhicitta as the first citta or consciousness that arises at the moment of rebirth in the mother’s womb. This consciousness arises together with the non-material aggregates (arūpakhandha, namely vedanā, saññā and saṅkhāra) and the kalalarūpa. The kalalarūpa is described in this text as appearing like a drop of clear sesame seed oil, whose size is equal to a drop attached to a single thread of lamb wool. Achan Sermchai (2010: 17) then links these two 262 Rupert Gethin, September 11, 2017, e-mail message to the author. 279 terms to Luang Pho Sot’s explanation of the rebirth process. He explains that when a being is about to undergo rebirth as a human being, that is, its paṭisandhicitta is about to arise in the mother’s womb, the citta of that being passes through each of the seven bodily bases of the father and settles at his seventh position before exiting the father’s body, reversing the same path. It then enters the mother’s body through seven bases and settles in the mother’s womb where the kalalarūpa, or the first stage of the foetus, is formed. If the being is to be born female, it always enters and exits the parents through their left nostrils, and if it is to be born male, it always enters and exits through their right nostrils (Sermchai 2010: 17). The stages of embryonic development associated with the bodily bases are, as mentioned in Chapter two, among the common features of the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition. However, Achan Sermchai provides a new take on this process by later connecting it to the contemplation of the teaching of Dependent Origination (paṭiccasamuppāda). Under the section of mindfulness of dhammas (dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna), Achan Sermchai (2010: 155) incorporates Sammā Arahaṃ’s rebirth and cognitive processes in his elaboration of Dependent Origination. First he cites the 12 links: ignorance (avijjā) is a condition for formation (saṅkhāra); formation is a condition for consciousness (viññāṇa); consciousness is a condition for name and form (nāmarūpa); name and form are a condition for sixfold sense bases (saḷāyatana); sixfold sense bases are a condition for contact (phassa); contact is a condition for feeling (vedanā); feeling is a condition for craving (taṇhā); craving is a condition for clinging (upadāna); clinging is a condition for becoming (bhava); becoming is a condition for birth (jāti); birth is a condition for aging and death 280 (jarāmaraṇa). Then he explains that due to past ignorance, craving, clinging, paṭisandhiviññāṇa of a being arises in its mother’s womb together with the three mental aggregates and kalalarūpa (Sermchai 2010: 156). The refined versions of the form aggregate (rūpakhandha) exists at the seventh position of every individual as a clear sphere, and within it there are the spheres of the four elements (earth, water, wind and fire) at each corner, with the air element (ākāsadhātu) in the middle (as shown in the diagram in Chapter two). The elements control the body. The refined versions of the four mental aggregates also exist as spheres, namely vedanā as ‘the sphere of seeing/sensing’ (ดวงเห็น), which experiences feelings; saññā as ‘the sphere of remembering’ (ดวงจา), which remembers different objects; saṅkhāra as ‘the sphere of thinking’ (ดวงคิด), the mental construction, which directs the mind to a particular object; and viññāṇa as ‘the sphere of knowing’ (ดวงรู ้), which is the awareness of an object (Sermchai 2010: 156‒7). The mind of the individual thus consists of these four spheres that function together in the cognitive process. When an object comes into contact with a sense base, the four spheres will react to it, functioning together like a spider web, and conditioning the mind. The mind then vanishes at the sixth bodily base (navel) and the new five aggregates, i.e. the mind with the new inner body, will appear at the seventh base (two finger widths above the navel). This new mind and inner body’s bhava (or realm of existence) changes every moment depending on the nature of the mind, i.e. whether it is wholesome or unwholesome. The new inner body (whether human, deva, brahmā, etc.) arises simultaneously with the new mind in accordance with the teaching of Dependent Origination that name and form (nāmarūpa) 281 always arise together (Sermchai 2010: 157). The nature of the minds of individuals throughout their whole lives causes them to perform good and bad deeds, which will lead them to happy or suffering rebirths in the three realms after they die. Thus, Achan Sermchai incorporates Luang Pho Sot’s teachings of these processes into his understanding of Dependent Origination. He explains the process both over three lives and also in a single moment. Achan Sermchai (2017) also relies on this understanding of Dependent Origination to explain why in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, formless brahmā bodies are seen as having forms. In my interview with him, he explains as consciousness is a condition for the arising of name and form (nāmarūpa), the form aggregate (rūpakhandha) must arise together with the four mental aggregates (nāmakhandha) (Sermchai 2017). The formless brahmās in formless realms do have forms, but their forms are so refined that their own eyes (cakkhu) and the eyes of beings in the lower realms cannot see them (Sermchai 2017). Only those who have reached dhammakāya, which possesses even more refined eyes, can see the formless brahmās’ forms (Sermchai 2017). 4.3 Elaboration on Sammā Arahaṃ meditation’s development of vipassanā As I mention above, according to Luang Pho Sot, the development of insight is not only achieved through seeing the three characteristics (impermanent, suffering and not-self) of the conditioned dhammas alone but also through a comparison between the characteristics of the conditioned dhammas and the unconditioned dhamma. The meditator develops 282 vipassanā first by being mindful of the lower mundane bodies, feelings, cittas and dhammas and seeing their three characteristics. When one reaches the dhammakāya, Luang Pho Sot advises that one should contemplate the three characteristics of the five aggregates of all of the mundane bodies in comparison with the opposite characteristics of the unconditioned dhammakāya. The three characteristics of impermanence, suffering and notself are taught not just to enable one to let go of and abandon the conditioned dhammas but also to point subtly to permanence, happiness and self of the ultimate dhammakāya, which is the true refuge (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 26‒27). Achan Sermchai seeks to elaborate on, and provide further scriptural support for, this understanding. He explains, similarly to Luang Pho Sot, that the development of vipassanā can be divided into two categories: examining the conditioned dhammas and the unconditioned nibbāna. At the level of anupassanā (contemplation), the practitioner begins by seeing the three characteristics of the conditioned dhammas (Sermchai 2009: 311). He/she starts with the five aggregates and eventually moves on to contemplate all dhammas in the three realms (bhūmīs). This is shown in Achan Sermchai’s detailed description of the three-realm cosmos. When the practitioner reaches the level of lokuttara vipassanā (supra-mundane insight), he/she extends the scope of contemplation to include not only the conditioned dhammas but also: 1) The Four Noble Truths; and 2) visaṅhkāradhamma or nibbāna (Sermchai 2009: 313‒4). With regard to the contemplation of the unconditioned, Achan Sermchai (2009: 328‒9) emphasizes that this should be done in comparison with the conditioned (saṅkhata) 283 dhammas. When the practitioner has thoroughly examined all the conditioned dhammas according to the three characteristics, he/she then develops a supra-mundane wisdom that is able to penetrate the unconditioned nibbāna. At this point, the moment of entering the fruit of the Buddhist path called ‘certainty of rightness’ (sammattaniyāma),263 the conditioned or worldly (lokiya) dhammas and the unconditioned (asaṅkhata) or supramundane (lokuttara) dhamma i.e. nibbāna can be compared as follows: on the conditioned side, impermanence, suffering and not-self are found together with the three characteristics; on the unconditioned side, permanence, happiness and having the substance and essence in being self are found (Sermchai 2009: 328‒9). To support this claim, he cites a lengthy passage from the Paṭisambhidāmagga, not mentioned in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings. The passage lists 40 conditions of conditioned dhammas against the opposite 40 conditions of the unconditioned nibbāna as follows: A monk gains anulomakhanti [realization of the three marks of existence] by how many conditions? Enters sammattaniyāma by how many conditions? A monk gains anulomakhanti by 40 conditions. Enters sammattaniyāma by 40 conditions? How does a monk gain anulomakhanti by forty conditions? How does he enter sammattaniyāma by forty conditions? Ñāṇamoli (1982: 401-2) translates this term as ‘the certainty of rightness’ and it is used in the Paṭisambhidāmagga to refer to a stage in the development of insight knowledge when the attainment of the path and fruit is certain. 263 284 The monk examines the five aggregates by their nature of impermanence, suffering, becoming ill, being like a boil, being like an arrow, hardship, becoming sick, being the other, being that which is decayed, bringing the bad, being evil, being dangerous, being an obstacle, being afraid, being that which is rotten, being not lasting, being without resistance, being without protection, being without refuge, being empty, being bare, being void, being anattā, being harmful, having change as norm, being without an essence, the root of hardship, being like an executioner, being a decay, having āsava, being conditioned, being a victim of māra, having birth as a norm, having aging as a norm, having sickness as a norm, having death as a norm, having grief as a norm, having lamentation as a norm, having despair as a norm, having sorrow as a norm. When examining the five aggregates by their nature of impermanence, he gains anulomakhanti. When examining the extinguishing of the five aggregates to be nibbāna, as permanent, he enters sammattaniyāma. When examining the five aggregates by their nature of having sorrow as a norm, he gains anulomakhanti. When examining the extinguishing of the five aggregates, to be nibbāna, as without sorrow, he enters sammattaniyāma.264 Paṭis II 238‒241: katihākārehi anulomikaṃ khantiṃ paṭilabhati katihākārehi sammattaniyāmaṃ okkamati. cattārīsāya ākārehi anulomikaṃ khantiṃ paṭilabhati cattārīsāya ākārehi sammattaniyāmaṃ okkamati. katamehi cattārīsāya ākārehi anulomikaṃ khantiṃ paṭilabhati katamehi cattārīsāya ākārehi 264 285 The text compares each of the 40 characteristics of conditioned dhammas with each of the 40 characteristics of the nibbāna, for example: without a resistance/a resistance; without protection/a protection; without an essence/has an essence; becoming sick/not becoming sick; not a refuge/a refuge; bare/not bare etc. The word attā is not present in the description of nibbāna in the Paṭisambhidāmagga, and where anattā is mentioned, nibbāna is given the characteristic of paramattha, which Achan Sermchai translates as ‘supremely beneficial’. According to Achan Sermchai, attā is implied within the text by the use of its synonyms such as saraṇa, ‘being a refuge’, and sāra, ‘having an essence’, etc.265 As part of the mindfulness of dhamma in dhamma, Achan Sermchai not only provides the Sammā Arahaṃ’s practice of contemplating the Four Noble Truths but also the method of their examination as found in the Paṭisambhidāmagga, not mentioned before in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings. The Sammā Arahaṃ’s practice consists in seeing the ‘suffering sphere’ within the dhamma sphere of the human body, which appears dark, almost completely black (Sermchai 2010: 183). Inside the suffering sphere, there are ‘birth sphere’, ‘aging sphere’ and ‘pain sphere’. These spheres change throughout our lives and the practitioner must observe their impermanence, suffering and not-self. For example, the size of the aging sammattaniyāmaṃ okkamati. pañcakkhandhe aniccato dukkhato rogato gaṇḍato sallato aghato ābādhato parato palokato ītito upaddavato bhayato upasaggato calato pabhaṅgato addhuvato attāṇato aleṇato asaraṇato rittato tucchato suññato anattato ādīnavato vipariṇāmadhammato asārakato aghamūlato vadhakato vibhavato sāsavato saṅkhatato mārāmisato jātidhammato jarādhammato byādhidhammato maraṇadhammato sokadhammato paridevadhammato upāyāsadhammato saṅkilesikadhammato pañcakkhandhe aniccato passanto anulomikaṃ khantiṃ paṭilabhati pañcannaṃ khandhānam nirodho niccaṃ nibbānanti passanto sammattaniyāmaṃ okkamati […] pañcakkhandhe saṅkilesikadhammato passanto anulomikaṃ khantiṃ paṭilabhati pañcannaṃ khandhānam nirodho asaṅkiliṭṭhaṃ nibbānan ti passanto sammattaniyāmaṃ okkamati. 265 For a discussion of this reference in the context of Achan Sermchai’s argument that nibbāna is self, see Potprecha (2009: 69‒70). 286 sphere gradually increases as one grows older; when one becomes ill, the pain sphere turns darker (Sermchai 2010: 183). When someone is about to die, his/her ‘death sphere’ will arise, appearing completely black. At death, this sphere causes the deva body to become detached from the human body, initiating the rebirth process (Sermchai 2010: 183). With regard to the ‘samudaya (cause of suffering) sphere’, it appears dark and consists of ‘kāmataṇhā’ (sensual desire), ‘bhavataṇhā’ (craving for existence) and ‘vibhavataṇhā’ (craving for non-existence) spheres inside it (Sermchai 2010: 186). These three spheres condition one’s mind to think, speak and act in unwholesome ways, causing bad kamma. For noble persons (ariyapuggala) and those who practise the Dhamma, one will see their ‘nirodha’ (cessation of suffering) and ‘magga’ (path leading to cessation) spheres within their minds, which will appear luminous (Sermchai 2010: 187). In addition to seeing these spheres and understanding the nature of each of the four truths through their observation, Achan Sermchai also provides a method for contemplating the Four Noble Truths found in Paṭisambhidāmagga as part of lokuttara vipassanā, in which the practitioner examines both the characteristics of the conditioned and the unconditioned of the Four Noble Truths in comparison. This is done similarly to the contemplation method above, that the conditioned dhammas have the opposite characteristics to the unconditioned nibbāna. However, this section also provides an exception to the rule, i.e. the state of the penetration of the four truths by one single insight is to be contemplated as not-self. Achan Sermchai argues that in examining the four truths, the practitioner must distinguish between the penetration of the entire four truths by one ñāṇa and the penetration of each 287 of the Four Truths (Sermchai 2010: 220). In the Paṭisambhidāmagga, the entire four truths are explained as penetrated altogether by one single insight consisting of 12 aspects: In how many aspects do the four truths have a single penetration? The four truths have a single penetration in 12 aspects, namely in the sense of the real, in the sense of anattā, in the sense of the true, in the sense of penetration, in the sense of directly knowing, in the sense of fully knowing, in the sense of dhamma, in the sense of the real, in the sense of what is known, in the sense of realization, in the sense of contacting and in the sense of comprehension. In these 12 ways the four truths are included as one. What is included as one is a unity. Unity is penetrated by one knowledge. In this way the four truths have a single penetration.266 [In] how many aspects do the four truths have a single penetration [by one insight]? What is impermanent, that is suffering. What is impermanent and suffering, that is anattā. What is impermanent suffering and anattā, that is the real. What is impermanent, suffering, anattā and the real, that is the truth. What is impermanent, suffering, anattā, the real and the truth, that is included as one. What is included as one, that is unity. Unity is penetrated completely [the one Paṭis II 107: katih’ ākārehi cattāri saccāni ekapaṭivedhāni? dvādasahi ākārehi cattāri saccāni ekapaṭivedhāni. tathaṭṭhena, anattaṭṭhena, saccaṭṭhena, paṭivedhaṭṭhena, abhijānanaṭṭhena, parijānanaṭṭhena, dhammaṭṭhena, tathaṭṭhena, ñātaṭṭhena, sacchikiriyaṭṭhena, phassanaṭṭhena, abhisamayaṭṭhena imehi dvādasahi ākārehi cattāri saccāni ekasaṅgahitāni. yaṃ ekasaṅgahitaṃ taṃ ekattaṃ. ekattaṃ ekena ñāṇena paṭivijjhatī ti cattāri saccāni ekapaṭivedhāni. 266 288 truth] by one insight. In this way the four truths have a single penetration [completely by one insight].267 Among the above 12 aspects is not-self (anattā). For this aspect, the text provides 16 characteristics, four for each truth: 1. The state of suffering (dukkhassa) is a state of oppression (pīlaṇaṭṭho), a state that is conditioned (saṅkhataṭṭho), a state that is troubled (santāpaṭṭho), a state of change (vipariṇāmaṭṭho); 2. The state of samudaya (samudayassa) is a state that is compiled (āyuhanaṭṭho), a cause (nidānaṭṭho), an object that assembles (saññogaṭṭho), a state of worry (palibodhaṭṭho); 3. The state of nirodha (nirodhassa) is a state of release (nissaraṇaṭṭho), a state of tranquillity (vivekaṭṭho), a state that is not conditioned (asaṅkhataṭṭho), eternal (amataṭṭho); 4. The state of magga (maggassa) is an object of escape (niyyānaṭṭho), a cause (hetaṭṭho), a vision (dassanaṭṭho), dominant (ādhipateyyaṭṭho).268 Achan Sermchai (2010: 229) clarifies that the above passages refer to the state of penetration of the four truths by one single insight, which is one category. The state of Paṭis II 106: katih’ ākārehi cattāri saccāni ekapaṭivedhāni. yaṃ aniccaṃ taṃ dukkhaṃ yaṃ aniccañca dukkhañ ca taṃ anattā yaṃ aniccañ ca dukkhañ ca anattā ca taṃ tathaṃ yaṃ aniccañ ca dukkhañ ca anattā ca tathañ ca taṃ saccaṃ yaṃ anicccañ ca dukkhañ ca anattā ca tathañ ca saccañ ca taṃ ekasaṅgahitaṃ yaṃ ekasaṅgahitaṃ taṃ ekattaṃ ekattaṃ ekena ñāṇena paṭivijjhatī ti cattāri saccāni ekapaṭivedhāni. 268 This is my summary of Achan Sermchai’s (2010: 229) translation of Paṭis II 107. 267 289 penetration, i.e. the state of extinguishing of ignorance, defilements, craving and clinging, is a kiriyā (action) state, that which arises and passes away. A kiriyā state is to be examined as impermanent, suffering and not-self. He gives an analogy of this as an appearance of light, which destroys darkness. Only the state of illumination, which shines temporarily and extinguishes, is impermanent, suffering and not-self, but the source of light is not extinguished with the state, but has the opposite characteristics (Sermchai 2010: 229). However, the dhamma states of each of the four truths are another category and different from the dhamma state of their penetration. Each of the four truths has its own characteristics. Dukkhasacca, samudayasacca and maggasacca have the characteristics of the conditioned (saṅkhata), which are to be contemplated as impermanent, suffering and not-self. 269 Nirodhasacca has the characteristics of the unconditioned (asaṅkhata). Nirodhasacca that is unconditioned is equated with nirodhadhātu or nibbānadhātu, which is to be contemplated in comparison with the other three truths as permanent, happiness and self (Sermchai 2010: 230). How many characteristics have the truths? The truths have two characteristics, namely saṅkhatalakkhaṇa and asaṅkhatalakkhaṇa. The truths have these two characteristics. 269 The Four Noble Truths consist of 1) dukkhasacca (the truth of suffering), 2) samudayasacca (the truth of the cause of suffering), 3) nirodhasacca (the truth of the cessation of suffering) and 4) maggasacca (the truth of the path leading to the end of suffering). 290 How many characteristics have the truths? The truths have six characteristics. For the truths that are conditioned, arising occurs, passing away occurs, when they stand, they are subject to change. For the truth that is unconditioned, arising does not occur, passing away does not occur, when it stands, it is not subject to change. The truths have these six characteristics. How many characteristics have the truths? The truths have 12 characteristics. For dukkhasacca, arising occurs, passing away occurs, when it stands, it is subject to change. For samudayasacca, arising occurs, passing away occurs, when it stands, it is subject to change. For maggasacca, arising occurs, passing away occurs, when it stands, it is subject to change. For nirodhasacca, arising does not occur, passing away does not occur, when it stands, it is not subject to change.270 Paṭis II 108: saccānaṃ kati lakkhaṇāni. saccānaṃ dve lakkhaṇāni saṅkhatalakkhaṇañca asaṅkhatalakkhaṇañca saccānaṃ imāni dve lakkhaṇāni. saccānaṃ kati lakkhaṇāni. saccānaṃ cha lakkhaṇāni saṅkhatānaṃ saccānaṃ uppādo paññāyati vayo paññāyati ṭhitānaṃ aññathattaṃ paññāyati na asaṅkhatassa saccassa uppādo paññāyati na vayo paññāyati na ṭhitassa āññathattaṃ paññāyati saccānaṃ imāni cha lakkhaṇāni. saccānaṃ kati lakkhaṇāni. saccānaṃ dvādasa lakkhaṇāni dukkhasaccassa uppādo paññāyati vayo paññāyati ṭhitassa aññathattaṃ paññāyati samudayasaccassa uppādo paññāyati vayo paññāyati ṭhitassa aññathattaṃ paññāyati maggasaccassa uppādo paññāyati vayo paññāyati ṭhitassa 270 291 From the above passage, Achan Sermchai (2010: 232) concludes that dukkhasacca, samudayasacca and maggasacca are saṅkhatadhammas, are impermanent, therefore they are suffering and not-self. Nirodhasacca, only the part that is still a kiriyā or a state that arises and passes away, as described above, is impermanent, therefore they are also suffering and not-self. However, nirodhadhātu or nibbānadhātu, the holder of the state of nibbāna, is an asaṅkhatadhamma and is beyond this world and the three characteristics (Sermchai 2010: 232). Achan Sermchai, in providing this method of examination, not only seeks to elaborate on Sammā Arahaṃ’s understanding of vipassanā, but also to clarify its understanding of the limits of what is not-self.271 4.4 Three aspects of nibbāna From his analysis and systemization of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings, together with his reading of the Pāli suttas and their commentaries, Achan Sermchai developed the concept of the three aspects of nibbāna. The three aspects of nibbāna, which Achan Sermchai developed prior to the book, Four Noble Truths, marked the very first time that extensive citations of the Pāli commentarial and subcommentarial literature had been presented in aññathattaṃ paññāyati na nirodhasaccassa uppādo paññāyati na vayo paññāyati na ṭhitassa aññatthattaṃ paññāyati saccānaṃ imāni dvādasa lakkhaṇāni. 271 This reference is also discussed in Potprecha (2009: 94‒95) as part of Achan Sermchai’s argument that nibbāna is self. 292 order to defend Sammā Arahaṃ thought and to counter criticisms that the concepts of dhammakāya and āyatana (nibbāna) in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings are not consistent with Pāli textual authorities. For example, Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya (Prayudh Payutto) in the Dhammakāya Case (1999: 233) argues that the word dhammakāya is used in the Pāli canon to describe the Buddha as the source of collection and pouring out of the Dhamma (teachings), which can only be seen by the eye of wisdom (paññācakkhu) and is not to be seen in samādhi. Moreover, the word āyatana that refers to nibbāna is not to be interpreted as a place (Payutto 1999: 233). He asserts that this kind of nibbāna clearly does not exist in the teaching of the Buddha, and that the nibbāna in the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition is only a nimitta, an imagination that the mind creates (Payutto 1999: 233). The appendix to The handbook for the study of the three trainings provides the most detailed explanation of Achan Sermchai’s understanding of the three aspects of nibbāna. In relation to the above criticisms, the description of the three aspects of nibbāna is an attempt to elaborate and reinterpret Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of dhammakāya, nibbāna and āyatana (nibbāna) and link these concepts to various terms and passages in the Pāli canon and the commentaries and subcommentaries. 1. The first aspect is nibbāna as ‘a state’ (Sermchai 2009: 360). It is a state without defilements, craving, bonds and suffering; an unconditioned dhamma (asaṅkhatadhamma); permanent (niccaṃ), perpetual (dhuvaṃ), stable (sassataṃ) and lacking change 293 (avipariṇāma dhammaṃ); eternal, not subject to birth, aging, pain and death; the supremely happy (paramaṃ sukhaṃ), etc. 2. The second aspect of nibbāna is nibbāna as ‘a nature that holds the state of nibbāna, namely nibbānadhātu’.272 Nibbānadhātu (nibbāna element) is synonymous with the terms asaṅkhatadhātu and nirodhadhātu and is also equated with dhammakāya. Achan Sermchai (2009: 385) explains that nibbāna in its true nature is not only a state void of defilement but also the holder of the state, which is referred to in the Pāli suttas and their commentaries as nibbānadhātu. This understanding is supported by the following commentarial statement: Nibbāna is named dhātu because of the meaning of there is no being and no life and because of the meaning of the holder of the state [of nibbāna]; for these reasons it is named nibbānadhātu (see Potprecha 2009: 81).273 The equation of nibbānadhātu and asaṅkhatadhātu with dhammakāya in Achan Sermchai’s argument is derived from Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of dhammakāya as virāgadhātu (element without passion) and virāgadhamma (dhamma without passion) (see Saman 2000: 191). It is also influenced by Phra Phrom Muni’s (Phin Suvaco) sermon on the Three Bodies, which is cited by Achan Sermchai many times in his works. In this 272 It-a I 164. ่ านิ พพานธาตุ เพราะพระนิ พพานนั้นแล ชือว่ ่ าเป็ นธาตุ เพราะความหมายว่าไม่มส ชือว่ ี ต ั ว ์ ไม่มีชวี ะ และเพราะความหมายว่า เป็ นผู ้ ทรงสภาวะ [พระนิ พพาน] ไว ้ 273 (It-a I 164: tad eva nissattanijjīvaṭṭhena sabhāvadhāraṇaṭṭhena ca dhātū ti nibbānadhātu). 294 sermon, Phra Phrom Muni (1984: 35–36) equates dhammakāya with asaṅkhatadhamma, the unconditioned dhamma. Dhamma that is called dhammakāya is understood as asaṅkhatadhamma that is both virāga and sarāga. If it is virāgadhamma, it is the dhammakāya that is pure, if is it not yet virāgadhamma, it is not dhammakāya that is pure.274 3. The third aspect of nibbāna is nibbāna as ‘an unconditioned place to which the asekha (arahants) go without sorrow’ (Dhp 225–6). This aspect is what Luang Pho Sot terms āyatana (nibbāna). One of the definitions of the word āyatana is vasanaṭṭhāna, or a place of abiding or dwelling. Reference to the word āyatana (nibbāna) can be found in the Nibbāna Sutta of the Udāna (Ud 80), and in the Dhammapada, nibbāna is described as a place without birth and without grief (Dhp 225‒6). According to Achan Sermchai (2009: 406–7), when there is nibbānadhātu that possesses the state of nibbāna, there must be a dwelling place for nibbānadhātu. This dwelling place is a land void of saṅkhāra, void of the four elements, a place without birth, it does not move from one existence to another. To support his argument, Achan Sermchai also cited Luang Poo Teu Acaladhammo (1888‒1974), Wat Arañña Viveka, Nakorn Panom, who was a well-respected forest monk and a disciple of Achan Man who described nibbāna as a place ่ ยกว่าธรรมกายนี ้ เข ้าใจว่า หมายเอาอสังขตธรรมทังที ้ เป็ ่ นวิราคะ ทังที ้ เป็ ่ นสราคะ ถ ้าเป็ นวิราคธรรม ก็เป็ นธรรมกายที่ ธรรมทีเรี ่ สุทธิ.์ บริสุทธิ ์ ถ ้ายังไม่เป็ นวิราคธรรม ก็ยงั ไม่เป็ นธรรมกายทีบริ 274 295 where the Buddha is, a place where the arahants enter and exist. This understanding of nibbāna is not uncommon in Achan Man’s forest tradition. As mentioned above, according to Achan Maha Boowa’s biography of Achan Man, the vimutta or ‘liberated’ minds of the Buddhas and arahants still in some way remain after they have entered parinibbāna and their purified minds can assume conventional form in order to come into contact with the awakened ones who still possess the five aggregates (Maha Boowa 1971: 144‒145). The understanding of nibbāna as a glass realm, which one can visit in meditation, is also found in the teaching of Phra Ariyakhunathan (Pusso Seng) (1950: 168), another of Achan Man’s renowned students. The following passage by Luang Poo Teu is not found in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings: When he became an arahant and entered nibbāna, nibbāna still existed, and did not become annihilated. The Buddha entered nibbāna and exists in nibbāna. Moggallāna, Sāriputta, Anuruddha, Ānanda entered nibbāna and exist in nibbāna. Bhikkhunīs are ordained in body, speech and mind; their minds are nibbāna and can enter nibbāna also. Like the moon, which does not age; the moon does not feel pain; the moon does not feel hot or cold. The stars are not born nor do they die. People here are crazy, having long necks, white eyes and long tongues. It is no use. Whereas the dhamma arises from the heart of the Buddha, arises 296 from all the arahants. Why do all of us and all of them not know it? Why do we not see it? When we are arahants, stream enterers, non-returners, then we are able to know the place where the Buddha is, the place where the arahants are. (Sermchai 2009: 411; Teu 1993: 127)275 The three aspects of nibbāna can be seen as deriving from the understanding of Luang Pho Sot and also as a systemization and reinterpretation of it. Luang Pho Sot understands nibbāna as located within the mind of the dhammakāya. He also interprets the term saupādisesa nibbānadhātu (nibbāna element with the five aggregates remaining) as the minds of the dhammakāyas of Buddhas and arahants while they are still alive, and the term anupādisesa nibbānadhātu (nibbāna element without the five aggregates remaining) as the minds of the dhammakāyas of Buddhas and arahants in āyatana (nibbāna).276 However, Achan Sermchai sees the state of nibbāna within the mind of the dhammakāya as one aspect of nibbāna, and the dhammakāya that holds the state of nibbāna as another aspect of nibbāna. The reason why Achan Sermchai equates dhammakāya, the second aspect, with nibbānadhātu is because he sees virāgadhātu and virāgadhamma, two terms that Luang Pho Sot uses to describe dhammakāya, as synonymous with nibbānadhātu. He also sees the commentarial definition of nibbānadhātu as the holder of the state of nibbāna in ่ ่ เมือได ้เป็ นพระอรหันต ์แล ้วเข ้าพระนิพพานไปแล ้ว พระนิ พพานก็ยงั มีอยู่ ไม่เสือมสู ญ พระพุทธเจ ้าเข ้าพระนิ พพานก็มอ ี ยู่ในพระ ้ นิ พพานนันแล ้ ้ั พระโมคัลลาน์ พระสารีบุตร พระอนุ รท ุ ธ พระอานนท ์ เข ้าพระนิ พพาน ก็มอ ี ยู่ในพระนิ พพานนันแล นางภิกษุณีทงหลายได ้บวชกาย วาจา ใจ ใจก็เป็ นพระนิ พพาน แล ้วเข ้าพระนิ พพานได ้ด ้วย เหมือนกับพระจันทร ์ พระจันทร ์ไม่มวี น ั แก่ พระจันทร ์ไม่มวี น ั เจ็บ พระจันทร ์ ไม่มรี ้อนไม่มห ี นาว ดาวไม่มเี กิดไม่มต ี าย ้ นบ้าเป็ นบอ คอยาว ตาขาว ลินยาว ้ คนเรานี เป็ ใช ้ไม่ได ้ ส่วนพระธรรมคาสั่งสอนเกิดจากหัวใจของพระพุทธเจ ้า เกิดจากหัวใจของพระ ้ ้ ้ อรหันตาทังหลาย ทาไมเราทังหลายและพวกท่ านทังหลายจึ งไม่รู ้ ทาไมเราจึงไม่เห็น ถ ้าเราเป็ นพระอรหันต ์ เป็ นพระโสดาบัน เป็ นพระ ่ ่ ้นแหละจึงจะเห็นจะรู ้ทีอยู ่ ่ของพระพุทธเจ ้า ทีอยู ่ ่ของพระอรหันตเจ ้าทังหลาย. ้ อนาคาเมือใด ก็เมือนั 275 See, for example, It 38‒39. For discussions regarding the two terms, see Hwang (2006: 14‒35), Collins: (2010: 39‒42) and Harvey (2012: 180‒2). 276 297 accordance with Luang Pho Sot’s description of the state of nibbāna as residing within the mind of the dhammakāya. The two terms, dhammakāya and nibbānadhātu, possess similar characteristics: nibbānadhātu is where qualities or states of nibbāna reside, and dhammakāya is also where realization of the Dhamma and the attainments of the Buddha resides (Sermchai 2009: 404). The remaining references in this section are not found in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings. Achan Sermchai (2009: 404‒6) quotes from several commentarial passages to argue that dhammakāya is described as the body attained in dhamma and equated with nine kinds of lokuttaradhammas, i.e. four paths, four fruits and nibbānadhātu. The four paths and fruits are the attainments of each of the noble ones, which correspond to the different levels of dhammakāya in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation.277 With regard to the words of the Buddha dhammakāyo iti pi, for what reason is the Tathāgata given the name ‘dhammakāya’? Because the Tathāgata has conceived the buddhavācana that is the Tipiṭaka in his heart and has expressed it through his words. For that reason, the body of the Buddha is real dhamma because it is attained in dhamma, so he is dhammakāya in that dhamma is his body.278 The path and fruit of the stream enterer (sotāpanna), the path and fruit of the once returner (sakadāgāmī), the path and fruit of the non-returner (anāgāmī) and the path and fruit of the arahant. 277 ในพระพุทธพจน์น้น ั คาว่า ธมฺมกาโย อิตป ิ ิ มีความว่า เพราะเหตุไร พระตถาคตจึงไดร้ บั ขนานนามว่า ธรรมกาย เพราะพระตถาคต ทรงคิดพระพุทธพจน์คอ ื พระไตรปิ ฎกดว้ ยพระหทัยแลว้ ทรงนาออกแสดงดว้ ยพระวาจา ดว้ ยเหตุนั้นพระวรกายของพระตถาคตนั้นจึง . เป็ นธรรมแท้ เพราะสาเร็จด ้วยธรรมพระธรรมเป็ นพระวรกายของพระตถาคตนั้น ดังพรรณนานี ้ ฉะนั้นพระองค ์จึงเป็ นธรรมกาย . 278 (Sv III 865: tattha dhammakāyo iti pī ti kasmā tathāgato dhammakāyo ti vutto. tathāgato hi tepiṭakaṃ buddhavacanaṃ hadayena cintetvā vācāya abhinīhari. ten’ assa kāyo dhammamayattā dhammo va. iti dhammo kāyo assā ti dhammakāyo). 298 In the case of the words ‘yo kho vakkali dhammaṃ’, here the Blessed One indicates being one whose body is dhamma (dhammakāyatā), having stated ‘Mahārāja, one whose body is dhammakāya, is the tathāgatha.’ For the nine kinds of lokuttaradhamma are called the body of the tathāgatha.279 The words ‘nine kinds of lokuttaradhammas’ are the four magga, four phala and one nibbānadhātu [asaṅkhatadhātu].280 Somdet Phra Buddhaghosācāriya (Prayudh Payutto) (1999: 176) interprets the word dhammakāya from the quotations above as the source of collection of Dhamma i.e. the teaching of the Buddha. Dhammakāya can only be seen by the eye of wisdom (paññācakkhu) and is not seen by the physical eye. Achan Sermchai responds to these arguments by explaining that dhammakāya is not just a collection of dhammas and the attainments but also, borrowing the above commentarial term, a ‘body attained in Dhamma’. When the realization of the Dhamma arises, it is not only understood by the meditator but the meditator attains, sees and becomes dhammakāya, the unconditioned body, as well. Both dhammakāya, i.e. nibbānadhātu and āyatana (nibbāna), can be seen by the meditator, not with the human eyes but the eye of dhammakāya. According to him, the first interpretation of dhammakāya does not contradict the second (Sermchai 2015). ่ ่ สไว ้ว่า ขอถวายพระพร ในคาว่า โย โข วกฺกลิ ธมฺม นี ้ พึงทราบว่า พระผูม้ พ ี ระภาคเจ ้าทรงแสดงความทีพระองค ์เป็ นธรรมกาย ทีตรั ่ าเป็ นพระวรกายของพระตถาคต มหาบพิตร ธรรมกาย แล คือ พระตถาคต ความจริง โลกุตตรธรรม ๙ อย่าง ชือว่ 279 (Spk II 314: yo kho Vakkali dhamman ti idha bhagavā dhammakāyo kho mahārāja tathāgato ti vuttaṃ dhammakāyataṃ dasseti. navāvidho hi lokuttaradhammo tathāgatassa kāyo nāma). 280 คาว่า โลกุตตรธรรม ๙ อย่าง ได ้แก่ มรรค ๔ ผล ๔ และ พระนิ พพานธาตุ (Dhs 193). 299 In the rest of the section, Achan Sermchai (2009: 407–8) provides canonical and commentarial evidence to argue that nibbāna can be seen in meditation. The following quotations are taken from the Kevaṭṭa Sutta (D I 211): [Nibbāna] that can be realized is anidassa [cannot be seen with the physical eyes], ananta [endless without arising and passing away] and has bright radiance clearer and purer than all other dhammas.281 The Buddha also states this in the Udāna (Ud 6): Water, earth, fire and wind do not stand in nibbāna. In that nibbāna, stars’ rays do not reach it, sunshine does not reach it, the moon’s rays do not reach it, [but] there is no darkness in nibbāna.282 Achan Sermchai (2009: 408) interprets the above statements as indicating that nibbāna is an unconditioned dhamma that cannot be seen by human, deva or brahmā eyes, but if it cannot be seen at all, the Buddha would not have described it as having a bright and clear ้ ด แห่งความเกิดขึนและความ ้ [นิ พพาน] อันผูบ้ รรลุพงึ รู ้แจ ้งได ้ เป็ น อนิ ทสั สนะ [ไม่เห็นได ้ด ้วยจักษุวญ ิ ญาณ] เป็ นอนันตะ [ไม่มท ี สิ ี่ นสุ ่ ์ ้ เสือมไป] มีรศั มี สว่างโชติชว่ ง ใสบริสุทธิกว่าธรรมทังปวง 281 (D I 211: viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ anantaṃ sabbato pabhaṃ). 282 ้ ้ั ่ในนิ พพานใดในนิ พพานนันดาวส่ ้ นา ดิน ไฟ และลม ไม่ตงอยู องไปไม่ถงึ พระอาทิตย ์ส่องแสงไม่ถงึ พระจันทร ์ก็ส่องแสงไม่ถงึ .แต่ ความมืดก็ไม่มใี นนิ พพานนั้น (Ud 6: yattha āpo ca paṭhavī tejo vāyo na gādhati na tattha sukkā jotanti ādicco nappakāsati na tattha candimā bhāti tamo tattha na vijjati). 300 radiance and without darkness. It is to be seen by paññācakkhu, realized with wisdom and also seen with the eyes of dhammakāya. Furthermore, the commentaries describe nibbāna as bright, clear and pure, and can be seen by the noble ones. The following quotations are taken from Papañcasūdanī and Saddhammappakāsinī: In this saying, the word viññāṇaṃ means what should be cognized. The word anidassanaṃ means cannot be seen as it cannot enter the realm of eye consciousness. [The Buddha] refers only to nibbāna with these two words. The word anantaṃ means this nibbāna is without a limit, as it is without the limits of arising and passing away. It is true as the Lord Buddha stated: There is an end to all beings, [but] nibbāna is a nature with no birth and no end. There appears an end to beings and I have stated that end. The word sabbatopabhaṃ means total bright light in all respects. There is no other dhamma that has a brighter light, more radiance, that is purer, whiter or clearer than nibbāna.283 Ps II 413: tattha viññānan ti vijānitabbaṃ. anidassanan ti cakkhuviññāṇassa āpāthaṃ anupagamanato anidassanaṃ nāma. padadvayena pi nibbānam eva vuttaṃ. anantan ti tay’ idaṃ uppādavaya antarahitattā anantaṃ nāma. vuttaṃ pi h’ etaṃ: antavantāni bhūtāni, asambhūtaṃ anantakaṃ. bhūte antāni dissantibhūte 283 301 The word dassanaṃ means sotāpattimagga. Sotāpattimagga is stated as dassanaṃ because nibbāna is first seen. Even though it is true that gotrabhuñāṇa also sees nibbāna, it is stated as ‘not yet seen’ because the defilements that should be abandoned have not yet been abandoned. Like a man arriving at the palace of a king for a certain business, even though he saw the king on an elephant’s neck on the road from afar, when he is asked ‘Have you met the king?’, he answers, ‘No, I have not yet met the king’ because the business to be done has not yet been done. Gotrabhuñāṇa thus stands as āvajjanacitta of magga.284 4.5 Harmonization with other meditation traditions Another book worth mentioning is The handbook of the 5 traditions of samatha vipassanā kammaṭṭhāna published by Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram in 2010.285 This is a compilation of the basic meditation teachings of the five popular methods found in Thailand: ‘Buddho’, ‘Ānāpānasati’, ‘Rise and Fall’, ‘Rūpa Nāma’ and ‘Sammā Arahaṃ’. Achan Sermchai commissioned this book on behalf of the National Coordination Centre of the Provincial Meditation Institute of Thailand, of which he is the chairman. It serves as a antā pakāsitā ti. sabbatopabhan ti sabbaso pabhāsampannaṃ. nibbānato hi añño dhammo sapabhātaro vā jotivantataro vā parisuddhataro vā paṇḍarataro vā natthī ti. 284 Paṭis-a I 282: dassanan ti hi sotāpattimaggo. so hi paṭhamaṃ nibbānadassanto dassananti vutto. gotrabhū pana kiñcāpi paṭhamataraṃ nibbānaṃ passati, yathā pana rañño santikaṃ kenacid eva karaṇīyena āgato purise dūrato va rathikāya carantaṃ hatthikkhandhagataṃ rājānaṃ disvā pi, tiṭṭho te rājāti puṭṭho, disvā kattabbakiccassa ekatattā na passāmī ti āha. evam eva nibbānaṃ disvā kattabbassa kilesappahānassa abhāvā na dassanan ti vuccati. taṃ hi ñāṇaṃ maggassa āvajjanaṭṭhāne tiṭṭhati. 285 คู่มอ ื ปฏิบต ั ส ิ มถะวิปัสสนากัมมัฏฐาน ๕ สาย. 302 guidebook for meditation teachers and practitioners to be distributed in Ratchaburi and its surrounding provinces. It is divided into five chapters, each chapter covering the basic method of each of the five traditions. The first chapter, ‘Buddho method’, is written by Achan Sing (Khantayāgamo) and based on the meditation teachings of Achan Man Bhūridatta and his student, Achan Phut (Ṭhāniyo); the second chapter, ‘Ānāpānasati method’, is taken from Buddhadasa Bhikkhu’s teaching on the mindfulness of breath; the third chapter, ‘Rise and Fall method’, is from the meditation teaching of Achan Chodok Ñāṇasiddhi; the fourth chapter, ‘Rūpa Nāma method’, is an explanation of another ‘bare insight’ method based on the teachings of Achan Wikrom Muni (Phon Upatisso) and Upāsikā Naep Mahaniranon, a famous female lay meditation teacher. This method does not consist in observing the abdomen but begins by contemplating the different types of mental and physical objects that come into contact with the mind. The last chapter consists of Luang Pho Sot’s and Achan Sermchai’s teachings on Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. In compiling this book, Achan Sermchai (2015) states that he is attempting to create harmony and prevent discord among the various meditation traditions in Thailand. According to him, all the popular meditation methods in Thailand that are based on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, including Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, are valid methods that lead to nibbāna (Sermchai 2015). As mentioned above, Achan Sermchai views the practice of the satipaṭṭhānas as the ‘only path’ to nibbāna. However, he explains that just as one can choose to travel via various means and paths to the same destination, there are various ways to practise the satipaṭṭhānas, but all of the different methods ultimately lead to the same destination, i.e. nibbāna (Sermchai 2015). 303 4.6 Debates and discussions among the different lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition Bowers (1996: 68), Mackenzie (2007: 231) and Newell (2008: 233), in their analyses of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, make a distinction between the meditation systems taught at Wat Luang Pho Sot and that taught at Dhammakaya Temple, with all concluding that at Wat Luang Pho Sot, higher levels of meditation are disclosed and encouraged by the abbot, Achan Sermchai, than at Dhammakaya Temple, which focuses mainly on the basic technique for the masses. However, none of them attempt to discuss the different interpretations regarding other aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation among the different lineages of the tradition. In this section, I gather the opinions and discussions from individuals whom I view as representatives of the various lineages of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition regarding two particular issues: 1) the existence of a prior five-body system in Luang Pho Sot’s teaching; and 2) the practice of offering food directly to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna. These representatives are: 1) mae chi Wanchai Chukorn; 2) Achan Sermchai; 3) Chanida Jantrasrisalai; and 4) Chali Chotsuwan. Mae chi Wanchai started practising Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in 1952 at the age of 12, becoming a mae chi at Wat Paknam in 1958 at the age of 18, one year before Luang Pho Sot died. Today, she is among one of the few living direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot and resides both at Wat Paknam and the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre, a mae chi centre, which she founded in 1997. Chanida Jantrasrisalai is a member and researcher of Dhammakaya Temple’s Dhammachai Research Institute and the editor and contributor of Dhammachai Research Institute’s publications. Chali Chotsuwan is a lay meditation teacher in the 304 lineage of mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan and Achan Karun Bunmanut. As mentioned above, Achan Karun was a prominent lay student of mae chi Thongsuk and mae chi Thanom Asawai based in Chantaburi province. Achan Karun was one of the founders of the Dhamma Prasit Foundation, a meditation group that later evolved into Wat Phra Dhammakāya. Like Achan Sermchai, Achan Karun left the movement in its formative years due to disagreements with other members of the group. Chali is one of Achan Karun’s senior pupils. He now works as a schoolteacher and regularly teaches Sammā Arahaṃ meditation at Wat Moli Lokayaram, Thonburi. The first three figures are representatives of the three main lineages of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition: 1) Wat Paknam, 2) Dhammakaya Temple and 3) Wat Luang Pho Sot. I have added Chali Chotsuwan’s views to this section as his understanding of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation reflects that of mae chi Thongsuk and Achan Karun without the influence of Dhammakaya Temple. This section demonstrates that among the various lineages of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition, there are differing opinions and interpretations regarding aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ practices. Even though every lineage in a meditation tradition proclaims the authenticity of the teachings of the founder, the networks of teachers and students intermingling and exchanging ideas often creates a variation in the interpretations of the founder’s meditation teachings, which originate from different emphases and personal interpretations of the teachers. This is one of the ways differing interpretations in the same meditation tradition develop, and sometimes this can result in new practices introduced by the teachers and students themselves. 305 4.6.1 The debate on the existence of a prior five-body system in Luang Pho Sot’s teaching In an article published online in 2010 titled ‘What is the background of the practice of entering the inner bodies up to 18 bodies?’, Chali Chotsuwan discusses the evidence for an earlier five-body system in Luang Pho Sot’s teachings.286 This article appears on his meditation website, Khun Samatha. The website aims to provide comprehensive teachings of Luang Pho Sot and various books and articles regarding Sammā Arahaṃ meditation by Achan Karun. In this article, Chali observes that in Abbot’s handbook, written in November 1948, only five inner bodies and one sphere per body are mentioned, namely: 1) human body and paṭhamamagga sphere; 2) deva body and dutiyamagga sphere; 3) brahmā body and tatiyamagga sphere; 4) arūpabrahmā body and cattuthamagga sphere; and 5) dhammakāya (Chali 2010).287 There is no mention of any refined body and different levels of dhammakāya and no mention of the inner spheres of sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana. I find this omission interesting as this book is meant to be a comprehensive summary of 286 การเดินวิชชาเข ้ากายในกาย จนถึง๑๘กาย มีความเป็ นมาอย่างไร. The article, published only online in 2010, can be downloaded at: http://group.wunjun.com/khunsamatha/topic/301991-8825 287 คู่มอ ื สมภาร This reference can be found in the 63 sermons collection (1984: (303)). As mentioned above, the Abbot’s handbook is a summary of the higher levels of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation compiled by three lay meditation pupils of Luang Pho Sot, namely Nawarat Hiranrak, Somsong Sutsakhon and Chaluai Sombatsuk. It was published by order of the Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Wachirayanawong, the abbot of Wat Bowonniwet. 306 Sammā Arahaṃ meditation written for the Supreme Patriarch. If Luang Pho Sot was teaching 18 bodies and six spheres at that time, he would not have left them out. Chali (2010) goes on to cite a sermon given in March 1948, the same year as the publication of the Abbot’s handbook, which mentions only five bodies and six spheres. Titled Ratanattayagamanapaṇāmagāthā, the sermon lists five bodies as above (human, deva, brahmā, arūpabrahmā and dhammakāya), but unlike the Abbot’s handbook it mentions all of the six spheres for each body (dhamma, sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana) (Chali 2010; 63 sermons 1984: 50). 288 Although this sermon was given eight months earlier than the Abbot’s handbook, Chali (2010) believes that the content of the Abbot’s handbook is based on an earlier material as the Abbot’s handbook only contains one sphere for each body whereas this sermon lists all six spheres. There are two more works listed by Chali that mention only five bodies as above, namely Complete maggaphala training and Complete maggaphala training 2 (Chali 2010; Mongkhon Thepmuni 1973 and 1975).289 The first volume was compiled by Phra Mahā Chan in 1937 and published in July 1973. The second volume was compiled by Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, the late deputy abbot of Wat Paknam and Achan Sermchai’s meditation teacher, and was published in 1975. These two volumes, like the Abbot’s handbook, aim to provide a summary of higher stages of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation but are only 288 289 รัตนตฺตยคมนปณามคาถา. วิชชามรรคผลพิสดาร and วิชชามรรคผลพิสดาร ๒. Both books are published in Bangkok by Wat Paknam. The contents of these two books are not meant for the general public and so are not included in the 63 sermons collection. However, I was able to obtain them to check the references (Mongkhon Thepmuni 1973: 1 and 1975: 23‒4). 307 distributed among those who have completed the 18-body stage. Both volumes only mention five bodies and one sphere per body. They also use a term unheard of in Luang Pho Sot’s later teachings. The five bodies are listed: 1) human; 2) deva; 3) coarse paṭhama viññāṇa body;290 4) refined paṭhama viññāṇa body;291 and 5) dhammakāya (Chali 2010). The coarse and refined paṭhama viññāṇa bodies are used instead of brahmā and formless brahmā bodies. The two volumes also talk about ‘refined dhammakāyas’ that are to be attained beyond the first dhammakāya; however, they do not name the different levels of dhammakāya as corresponding to the different types of noble ones (ariya) (Mongkhon Thepmuni 1973: 1 and 1975: 23‒4). I also find this omission interesting as these two books aim to offer ‘complete’ guidelines to higher levels of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Again, I would suggest that if Luang Pho Sot was teaching 18 bodies and six spheres at that time, he would not have left them out. Moreover, instead of brahmā body, Luang Pho Sot in both volumes calls it the coarse first consciousness body, and instead of arūpabrahmā body, Luang Pho Sot calls it the refined first consciousness body. The first volume of this book was compiled in 1937 and represents the earliest published teachings of Luang Pho Sot. The compilation date of the second volume is unknown. The compiler, Achan Wira, became a pupil of Luang Pho Sot in 1953. However, Chali (2010) believes that, like the first volume, the material for this volume is also based on teachings earlier than the Abbot’s handbook and is probably around the same year as the first volume. He thinks that the list in these two volumes must be based 290 291 กายปฐมวิญญาณหยาบ กายปฐมวิญญาณละเอียด 308 on the earliest known teachings of Luang Pho Sot, prior to the development of the terms brahmā and arūpabrahmā bodies, i.e. prior to the Abbot’s handbook in 1948 (Chali 2010). The term paṭhama viññāṇa body does not appear in any other works of Luang Pho Sot and may be derived from ‘older sources’ (Chali 2010). He concludes that prior to developing the 18-body system, Luang Pho Sot first taught a five-body and one-sphere system, followed by a five-body and six-sphere system (Chali 2010). According to him, the first evidence of the 18-body system appears in sermons given in 1952 (Chali 2010). Thus, he concludes that the complete Sammā Arahaṃ system as we know it first came into existence in 1952 (Chali 2010). Apart from these three works and sermon, I have found another work that mentions only five bodies and one sphere. Published in October 1955 and titled The topic of dhammakāya, the book consists of a short biography of Luang Pho Sot, the sermon on the qualities of the Triple Gems given in 1955 and a summary of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation given in 1945 (Mongkhon Ratchamuni 1955).292 The book is compiled by Phra Thip Parinya (Thup Kalamphasut), a lay pupil of Luang Pho Sot and former monk at Wat Mahathat. The ninepage summary, transcribed from an audio recording in April 1945, lists five bodies as follows: 1) human; 2) deva; 3) brahmā; 4) arūpabrahmā; 5) dhammakāya (Mongkhon Ratchamuni 1955: 140). It also talks about only one sphere, namely the paṭhamamagga or ่ เรืองธรรมกาย. The book covers 149 pages and was published in Bangkok by Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University on the occasion of Luang Pho Sot’s sixth cycle. The sermon is titled พระพุทธคุณ พระธรรมคุณ พระสังฆคุณ or the Qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. It is one of the best-known sermons of Luang Pho Sot and is listed first in the 63 sermons collection (Dhammakaya Buddhist Meditation Foundation 1984: 8‒44). Phra Thip Parinya was one of Luang Pho Sot’s senior lay meditation students. He became a monk at Wat Mahathat, disrobed at the age of 22 and later became a judge. He continued to practise meditation and remained a pupil of Luang Pho Sot throughout his life. 292 309 dhamma sphere (Mongkhon Ratchamuni 1955: 140). There is no mention of dutiyamagga, tatiyamagga and cattuthamagga spheres as in the Abbot’s handbook. There is also no mention of the refined bodies, different levels of dhammakāya or the inner spheres of sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana. The summary was recorded in 1945, three years before the Abbot’s handbook and the sermon, Ratanattayagamanapaṇāmagāthā, and eight years after the compilation of the first volume of Complete maggaphala training. Thus, this evidence seems to support Chali’s conclusion as the summary falls during the period between the first recorded teachings (prior to the terms brahmā and arūpabrahmā bodies) and the development of one sphere per body (Abbot’s handbook) and the six inner spheres (Ratanattayagamanapaṇāmagāthā). In my interview with Achan Sermchai at Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Ratchaburi, on 21 November 2016, he confirmed that Luang Pho Sot definitely taught a five-body and one-sphere system first and, as he continued to discover more and more refined bodies and spheres in meditation, later developed the system into 18 bodies and six spheres. Achan Sermchai (2016) agrees with Chali that both volumes of Complete maggaphala training provide evidence for this. He himself was among the people responsible for publishing the first volume, and the second volume was compiled by his teacher Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo (Sermchai 2016). However, he did not know in which year Luang Pho Sot introduced the 18-body system. Achan Sermchai goes on to clarify the usage of the terms ‘coarse’ and ‘refined’ paṭhama viññāṇa bodies (first consciousness bodies), which Luang Pho Sot uses in both volumes prior to the terms brahmā and arūpabrahmā bodies. He states that these terms refer to the original bodies or 310 dhātudhamma of human beings (Sermchai 2016). When the world was destroyed by the elements at the end of each aeon (kappa), only a few heavens in the brahmā and formless brahmā realms survived (Sermchai 2016). Later, when the lower realms were formed again, these brahmās came down and tasted the earth’s savoury substances, which made their bodies less refined (Sermchai 2016). Gradually these beings became human beings (Sermchai 2016). Thus, according to Achan Sermchai, the first consciousness bodies were the brahmā and formless brahmā bodies as these beings were the origins of human beings. This story of the beginning of human life on earth is found in the second part of the Aggañña Sutta (D III 80). As for the origin of the term paṭhama viññāṇa body, Achan Sermchai (2016) speculates that it probably came from a much older source. I also discussed this issue with Chanida Jantrasrisalai. She believes that it is possible that Luang Pho Sot taught a five-body system prior to the 18-body system. However, she questions Chali’s conclusion that 1952 was the year of the introduction of the 18-body system (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, November 22, 2016, e-mail message to the author). She explains that mae chi Chan, the founder of Dhammakaya Temple, started practising Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with mae chi Thongsuk in 1934 and with Luang Pho Sot in 1937, and in all of her recorded teachings, she never mentioned that Luang Pho Sot taught an earlier five-body system (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, November 22, 2016, e-mail message to the author). She has always practised and taught the 18-body system. Chanida believes that had Luang Pho Sot ever taught a five-body system, he would have switched to the 18-body system long before the Second World War and prior to mae chi Chan becoming mae chi Thongsuk’s pupil (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, November 22, 2016, e-mail message to the 311 author). Alternatively, she proposes that these mentions of five bodies and one sphere could have been merely a concise summary and providing of examples (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, November 22, 2016, e-mail message to the author). In my interview with mae chi Wanchai Chukon, she argued that most of this evidence is adduced by various pupils of Luang Pho Sot and does not constitute the direct words of Luang Pho Sot himself.293 She informs me that she started practising Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in 1945 at the age of 12, and Luang Pho Sot had always taught her the 18-body system (Wanchai 2016). She has never heard from anyone that he ever taught a five-body system (Wanchai 2016). Mae chi Wanchai’s year of 1945 is the same year as the Topic of dhammakāya, after Complete maggaphala rraining, but prior to the Abbot’s handbook and the sermon Ratanattayagamanapaṇāmagāthā. In my opinion, it is still inconclusive whether or not Luang Pho Sot taught a five-body and one-sphere system prior to developing the 18-body and six-sphere system. The textual evidence cited by Chali, the additional evidence I have found and the confirmation by Achan Sermchai do seem to give weight to the hypothesis. The Abbot’s handbook and Complete maggaphala training are detailed guidelines of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation written for the Supreme Patriarch and advanced practitioners, respectively. The sermon, Ratanattayagamanapaṇāmagāthā, is also very detailed and reads like a meditation session, in which Luang Pho Sot seems to be guiding practitioners through each sphere and body. 293 Interview at Wat Paknam on 27 November 2016. Made chi Wan Chai (1933‒ ) is the founder of the Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre in Ratchaburi. She currently resides at Suan Kaeo and Wat Paknam. 312 The references to the bodies and spheres in the four works cited are parts of step-by-step guides to reaching dhammakāya, and nowhere do they state that these lists are only concise summaries or examples. However, having discussed this issue with Chanida and interviewed mae chi Wanchai, who is a direct pupil of Luang Pho Sot, it is not possible to draw a definite conclusion as to whether or not Luang Pho Sot taught a prior five-body system. I also question the year 1952 proposed by Chali. Had Luang Pho Sot introduced the 18-body system for the first time in 1952, mae chi Wanchai should have been instructed in the five-body system. Mae chi Chan’s introduction to the tradition was in 1934, even before the compilation date of the first Complete maggaphala training. However, it is possible that mae chi Chan initially practised the five-body system and later switched to the 18-body system but did not talk about this. It is also possible that for a period of time, Luang Pho Sot may have taught the five-body system in conjunction with the 18-body system before switching completely to the 18-body system. 4.6.2 Debate on the practice of offering food to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna Unlike the above debate, whose details are known and discussed by only a few practitioners, the practice of purifying food and offering it directly to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna has been the subject of many heated discussions among Sammā Arahaṃ practitioners. This is partly due to the fact that the practice did not originate from Luang Pho Sot himself but from two of his immediate pupils, namely mae chi Thongsuk and mae chi Chan. As I mentioned above, mae chi Thongsuk was a senior meditation instructor at Wat Paknam who was responsible for teaching many female students of Luang Pho Sot 313 including mae chi Chan, the founder of Dhammakaya Temple, and Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh. It is also due to the fact that this practice at Dhammakaya Temple drew a lot of criticisms from the media during the temple’s crisis around the year 1999. The origin of this practice is recorded in the book Persons of original vijjā vol. 2, a compilation of biographies of Luang Pho Sot’s immediate students.294 As part of mae chi Thongsuk’s biography, there is a small section titled ‘The offering of food to the Buddha is one of the most important practices mae chi Chan and mae chi Thongsuk developed’ (Singhon 2008: 66‒7).295 Singhon cites mae chi Chan as follows: Back then when I was living in the province, I used to build sand cetiyas. After I came to live at Wat Paknam for two to three years, as it is surrounded by canals, I saw boats carrying sand for the construction of temple cetiyas passing by. So I obtained some sand to build a cetiya and invited mae chi Thongsuk to offer it to the Buddha in nibbāna. I clearly saw that it was possible. (Singhon 2008: 66)296 The above passage and this book are also cited in Dhammayaka Temple’s biography of mae chi Chan.297 From then on, according to Singhon (2008: 66), mae chi Thongsuk and บุคคลต ้นวิชา ๒. ่ าคัญทีสุ ่ ดวิชาหนึ่งแม่ชจี น ้ การบูชาข ้าวพระเป็ นวิชชาทีส ั ทร ์และแม่ชท ี องสุขได ้ค ้นคว ้าขึน. 296 สมัยก่อนอยู่บา้ นนอกเคยก่อเจดีย ์ทราย พอมาอยู่วด ั ปากน้า ประมาณ ๒-๓ ปี ทีวั่ ดปากน้ามีคลองรอบๆ เห็นเรือบรรทุกทรายผ่าน ่ ้ มาข้างวัด เพือใช ้กองเป็ นเจดีย ์ทรายในวัด จึงเอาทรายมาก่อเป็ นพระเจดีย ์ แล ้วชวนแม่ชท ี องสุขนาขึนไปถวายพระพุ ทธเจ ้าบนนิ พพาน ้ เห็นชัดเจนว่าสามารถนาขึนไปได ้. 294 295 297 www.kalyanamitra.org. 314 mae chi Chan would offer food to the Buddha once a week on every Buddhist day. They would put the food and other offerings into new dishes, meditate to purify them, then collect them and offer them directly to all the Buddhas in nibbāna (Singhon 2008: 66). Both mae chis believed that the essence of their offerings was able to enter nibbāna and given directly to the dhammakāyas of the Buddhas. Mae chi Chan continued this practice at Wat Paknam after mae chi Thongsuk’s death and handed it down to Phra Dhammajayo, who performed it at Dhammakaya Temple and its branches up to the present day. Dhammakaya Temple and all its branches perform the offerings to the Buddha every first Sunday of the month at exactly the same time. The temple claims that all participants gain ‘immeasurable merits’ as the offerings are given directly to the Buddhas in nibbāna. On Dhammakaya Temple’s website, www.kalyanamitra.org, the temple describes the practice as follows: Offering food to the Buddha means taking the offerings, namely flowers, incense, candles, food and sweets, which are coarse objects, and through witcha Dhammakaya [Sammā Arahaṃ meditation], purifying them until these offerings become clear and refined, as refined as the dhammakāya, and giving them to the dhammakāyas of the Buddhas in āyatana (nibbāna) as buddhapūjā. The dhammakāyas of the Buddhas, unlike human beings, do not need to consume or use these offerings but enjoy the happiness of the pure dhammadhātu, being always fulfilled. We are making these 315 offerings as buddhapūjā, in order for us to gain merit and perfection. (Dhammakaya Temple 2017)298 However, some teachers in the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition who are not direct pupils or part of the lineages of mae chi Thongsuk and mae chi Chan do not practise it and are sceptical about the doctrinal accuracy of the practice. In my interview with mae chi Wanchai Chukon (2016), she informs me that Luang Pho Sot did not initiate this practice and that she has never heard Luang Pho Sot give his approval of it. She states that mae chi Thongsuk and mae chi Chan, who were her seniors at Wat Paknam, ‘liked the supernatural’ (ชอบอภินิหาร), and attracted a lot of followers from practising it (Wanchai 2016). However, she has always stayed away from this kind of practice and meditated solely to gain wisdom and to overcome defilements (Wanchai 2016). As to whether or not the practice is possible, she states that some people believe it is possible, but she does not (Wanchai 2016). Achan Sermchai (1999: 450), answering the question ‘would merits be gained from purifying offerings and giving them to the Buddha in nibbāna?’, explains that the purifying of the offerings for them to enter nibbāna cannot doctrinally and practically be done.299 He states that all dhammas in āyatana (nibbāna) are asaṅkhatadhātu and asaṅkhatadhamma, are unconditioned and not made up of the four elements. All saṅkhāradhammas in the three ่ ่ นของหยาบ นามากลั่น ให้ละเอียดด ้วย การบูชาข้าวพระ คือการนาเครืองไทยธรรม อันมีดอกไม้ธป ู เทียน อาหารคาวหวานซึงเป็ ่ ้ ์ ากับพระธรรมกาย แล ้วจึงน้อมนาไป ถวายเป็ นพุทธบูชาแด่ วิชชาธรรมกาย จนกระทั่งเครืองไทยธรรมเหล่ านี ละเอี ยด ใสบริสุทธิเท่ พระธรรมกายของพระพุทธเจ ้าในอายตนนิ พพาน แต่ธรรมกายของพระพุทธเจ ้านั้นท่านไม่ต ้องฉันเหมือน มนุ ษย ์ท่านมีสุขอยู่ด ้วยธรรม ่ ่ ้ นพุทธบูชา เพือต ่ ้องการบุญบารมี. ธาตุอน ั บริสุทธิ ์ อิมอยู ่เสมอ ทีเราเอาไปถวายนี เป็ 299 ่ ่ การกลันเครืองไทยทานถวายพระพุทธเจ ้าบนนิ พพาน ได ้บุญจริงหรอ. 298 316 realms, however, are conditioned and can never enter nibbāna (Sermchai 1999: 450). He then quotes from the Udāna (80) passage regarding nibbāna as an ‘āyatana’: There is, monks, āyatana where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind, nor that base consisting of endless space, nor that base consisting of endless consciousness, nor that base consisting of nothingness, nor that base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, nor this world, nor the next world, nor both sun and moon in that āyatana. Monks, I do not speak of that āyatana that it is coming, or going, or remaining, or falling, or arising. That āyatana is without foundation, without occurrence, without object. This is the end of dukkha. This passage is also cited by Luang Pho Sot in his description of āyatana (nibbāna) (for example, 63 Sermons 1984: (319‒20)). The practice therefore contradicts this statement and Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of āyatana (nibbāna). He goes on to clarify that it is possible to purify offerings in meditation, but their essence cannot achieve a purity beyond that of deva objects (ของทิพย),์ i.e. things used and consumed by devas, which are still saṅkhāra and made up of the four elements (Sermchai 1999: 451). Just as the human, deva, brahmā and formless brahmā bodies of the practitioner cannot go beyond the conditioned realm, worldly objects that have been purified in meditation can never reach the unconditioned nibbāna (Sermchai 1999: 451). Achan Sermchai also questions the claim that countless merits would be gained from making the offering. He argues that as the offerings do not reach the Buddha in nibbāna, the merits gained from this would be 317 equivalent to making an offering and paying respect to the Buddha image, and recollecting the Buddha’s qualities (Sermchai 1999: 454). Similarly to mae chi Wanchai’s statement above, he adds that while Luang Pho Sot was still alive, he never taught anyone to perform this kind of offering nor informed them that they would gain countless merits from doing so (Sermchai 1999: 456). I asked Chanida Jantrasrisalai, a member of the Dhammachai International Research Institute (DIRI), about Dhammakaya Temple’s current practice and doctrinal stance on this. She stated that the temple’s practice remains exactly the same i.e. offerings are still being purified in meditation and offered to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna, but over the years the DIRI compiled as much textual evidence as it could to support all the temple’s practices. This attempt culminated in the book titled Questions-answers regarding dhammakāya 1, published by the DIRI in 2015.300 Under the section regarding the practice of offering food to the Buddha, the book does not go into details concerning the purification of offerings in meditation and giving them to the Buddhas in nibbāna. This, according to Chanida, is within the realm of advanced-level meditation and beyond DIRI researchers’ experience and comprehension. Instead, the book redefines the practice in scriptural terms as ‘the offering of dāna objects, for example fine food and water, to the saṅgha headed by the Buddha’ (Dhammachai International Research Institute 2015: 67). This definition is 300 ่ ถาม-ตอบข ้อสงสัยเรืองธรรมกาย 1. The 120-page book, similarly to Achan Sermchai’s 1999 Answering Questions Regarding Dhamma Practice, is presented in a question-and-answer format. The first section (7‒ 65) provides answers regarding dhammakāya and various aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, while the second section (66‒76) presents answers regarding the practice of offering food to the Buddha and the origins of various Buddha images at the temple. The book is written by a team of researchers at the DIRI and edited by Phra Khru Withetsuthammayan (Sutham Sudhammo), who at the time of publication was the assistant abbot of Dhammakaya Temple. 318 taken from the commentary to the Dakkhiṇāvibhaṅga Sutta (Ps V 73). It then proceeds to argue that this kind of offering, even in the absence of the Buddha, can generate the highest merits. The book explains that even though the Buddha has already entered nibbāna and can neither consume nor use the offerings, the merits gained are equal to those offered to the living Buddha because 1) ‘they are offered in order to pay respect to his qualities’ and 2) ‘the mind of the giver is more refined than performing ordinary offerings as it is endowed with wisdom arising from mental clarity’ (Dhammachai International Research Institute 2015: 67). In support of this claim, the book cites a Pāli verse from the canonical text Vimānavatthu (Vv 801): ‘[W]hether the Buddha is living or has entered nibbāna, when the state of mind is the same, then the fruit of the offering is the same’ (Dhammachai International Research Institute 2015: 67).301 The book, then, summarizes passages from the Dakkhiṇāvibhaṅga Sutta (M III 255) and its commentary (Ps V 73), in which the Buddha refuses robes offered to him by his maternal aunt Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī and advises her to present them to the saṅgha. In giving them to the saṅgha, the Buddha states that she would be giving the dāna both to him and the saṅgha, which is described in the commentary as the highest kind of offering (Dhammachai International Research Institute 2015: 67‒8). The book explains that according to the commentary (Ps V 73), ‘saṅgha’ here refers to the two communities of bhikkhus and Dhp-a III 253: tiṭṭhante nibbute vāpi same citte samaṃ phalaṃ. The verse is also quoted in the Dhammapada commentary (Dhp-a III 253) and in the Maṅgaṭṭhadīpanī. The book does not state where this verse comes from. As it is quite a well-known verse, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with it. 301 319 bhikkhunīs headed by the Buddha (Dhammachai International Research Institute 2015: 67‒ 8). In the case that the Buddha has passed away into final nibbāna, the commentary instructs that the offerings should be made to the saṅgha in front of the relics of the Buddha contained in an image (Dhammachai International Research Institute 2015: 68).302 Thus, in redefining the practice in accordance with the Dakkhiṇāvibhaṅga Sutta, the book does not attempt to defend the temple’s practice and whether or not the offerings can reach the Buddha, but is able to argue that an offering made in the Buddha’s absence, whether in the Dhammakaya Temple’s way or any other ways, as long as the above conditions are met, can also generate the highest merits. Dhammakaya Temple and its branches are not the only groups that perform the offering. I asked Chali Chotsuwan and Phra Khru Phawana Sitthikhun (Bancha Sirivijjayo), the abbot of Wat Mongkhonthep, and they both believe that the practice is possible. Chali participated in the dāna performed by his meditation teacher, Achan Karun Bunmanut, who inherited the practice from his teacher, mae chi Thongsuk. Chali informs that Achan Karun forbade all of his students to practise it and limited the number of participants to a 302 The book here is summarizing the following passage from Ps V 73: But is it possible to make a gift to the two saṅghas headed by the Buddha once the Tathāgata has reached parinibbāna? It is. How? For by placing an image containing relics on a seat in front of the two saṅghas, and by setting up a table and then making an offering of water, etc., by giving everything first to the Teacher, [the gift] should be given to both saṅghas. In this case, what should be done with what is given to the Teacher? It should be given to the monk who performs the duty of looking after the Teacher. For the father’s property is allotted to the son, and this applies also in giving to the saṅgha. But when ghee and oil are acquired the lamps should be lit; when cloth is acquired banners should be raised. (Ps V 73: kiṃ pana tathāgate parinibbute buddhappamukhassa ubhatosaṅghassa dānaṃ dātuṃ sakkāti? sakkā. kathaṃ? ubhatosaṅghassa hi pamukhe sadhātukaṃ paṭimaṃ āsane ṭhapetvā ādhārakaṃ ṭhapetvā dakkhiṇodakaṃ ādiṃ katvā sabbaṃ satthu paṭhamaṃ datvā ubhatosaṅghassa dātabbaṃ, evaṃ buddhappamukhassa ubhatosaṅghassa dānaṃ dinnaṃ nāma hoti. tattha yaṃ satthu dinnaṃ, taṃ kiṃ kātabban ti? yo satthāraṃ paṭijaggati vattasampanno bhikkhu, tassa dātabbaṃ. pitusantakaṃ hi puttassa pāpuṇāti, bhikkhusaṅghassa dātum pi vaṭṭati, sappitelāni pana gahetvā dīpā jalitabbā, sāṭakaṃ gahetvā paṭākā āropetabbā ti). I thank Rupert Gethin for his help with the translation of this passage. 320 small group of pupils (Chali Chotsuwan, May 12, 2017, e-mail message to the author). He asserts that the purpose of the offering is in order to provide strength and to inspire Achan Karun and his students to continue to practise and teach Sammā Araham meditation, and not for the sake of financial gains or to attract a large number of followers (Chali Chotsuwan, May 12, 2017, e-mail message to the author). Achan Bancha (2017), who neither has any direct teacher nor belongs to a Sammā Arahaṃ lineage, taught himself how to perform it. 4.7 Apologetic works by other Sammā Arahaṃ lineages and the Suk Kai Thuean tradition Achan Sermchai is not the only person to have produced a scholastic defence of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. Phra Khru Bhavanāmaṅgala (Wiwat Katavaḍḍhano), the abbot of Wat Pa Charoen Thammakai, Roi Et province, also compiled the book Tam roi thammakai or ‘Tracing dhammakāya’, first published in 2003, which attempts to list all references to the word dhammakāya from all possible sources he has found (Wiwat 2003). Achan Wiwat does not state his intention in compiling it, but it is my opinion that it was to provide Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with further links with the Theravāda textual tradition and Thai Buddhist heritage. As I mentioned in Chapter two, Achan Wiwat (2003: 11–16) and his father, whom he calls Luang Pho Sai, are immediate students of Luang Pho Sot and Phra Ratchaphromathen, who was the deputy abbot of Wat Paknam and Achan Sermchai’s meditation teacher. 321 The Dhammachai International Research Institute (DIRI) published a similar scholastic defence in 2014 titled Lakthan thammakai nai khamphi phut boran nung (Evidence of dhammakāya in ancient Buddhist texts: Volume 1).303 The book was written by a group of researchers headed by a monk at the Dhammakaya Temple, Phra Khru Withetsuthamyan (Sutham Sudhammo), and edited by Chanida Jantrasrisalai. Other contributors to the book include Phra Kiattisak Kittipanyo, Chaisit Suwanvarangkul, Supranee Panitchayapong and Kitchai Urkasame, all of whom are researchers and scholars at the institute. The book provides evidence of dhammakāya in ancient texts and manuscripts found in Gandhāra, central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. In the preface to the book, Phra Khru Withetsuthamyan304 states that this book is part of a project initiated by Phra Dhammajayo ‘to conduct research into evidence of dhammakāya in ancient Buddhist texts’ (Chanida 2014: preface). The aim of this project is ‘to act as a lawyer who defends on behalf of Buddhism’ in order to create social acceptance, especially within the Buddhist Studies community (Chanida 2014: preface). Chanida Jantrasrisalai informs me that this book and other publications by the DIRI, such as Questions-answers regarding dhammakāya 1, mentioned above, are intended to counter criticisms that Dhammakāya (Sammā Arahaṃ) meditation is not Buddhism or is a distortion of the Dhamma (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, September 11, 2017, e-mail message to the author). However, she asserts that this book does not intend to provide evidence of possible precursors to Dhammakāya (Sammā Arahaṃ) meditation as the DIRI’s research does not 303 หลักฐานธรรมกายในคัมภีร ์พุทธโบราณ๑. 304 His monastic title as of September 2017 is Phra Suthamyanwithet. 322 touch upon this subject (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, September 11, 2017, e-mail message to the author). The book is the first published so far in the series. The first chapter consists of the background, objective and hypothesis of the research; the second chapter deals with Luang Pho Sot’s biography, an outline of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and prior research on dhammakāya by Thai monks and scholars, which includes Achan Wiwat’s Tracing dhammakāya. The third chapter provides evidence of dhammakāya/dharmakāya in nonTheravāda texts and manuscripts found in Gandhāra, central Asia and China, including references to the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra, Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanāda Sūtra, Bodhisattvapiṭaka Sūtra, Samādhirāja Sūtra, The Perfection of Wisdom literature, The Golden Light Sūtra, etc. The fourth chapter provides evidence from texts and manuscripts in Southeast Asia, for example the dhammakāya verses that equate parts of the Buddha’s body with different attributes of the Buddha and the doctrines of Abhidhamma. The book provides descriptions of the various sources of these verses, such as the inscriptions inside the cetiya of Wat Suea, Phitsanulok province; a nineteenthcentury palm leaf manuscript at Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho), Bangkok; a palm leaf manuscript at Wat Pasak Noi, Chiang Mai; a Lanna Mūlakammaṭṭhāna text at Wat Pa Mueat, Nan; a meditation book at Wat Chetpon, Kampong Cham, Cambodia, etc. It also provides references to dhammakāya in Caturārakkhā, a chanting text popular in Sri Lanka and northern Thailand. The references to the above Mahāyāna sources, the dhammakāya verses and the text Caturārakkhā are not found in Achan Sermchai’s works. 323 The Suk Kai Thuean tradition also attempted to align itself with the Pāli canon and the Visuddhimagga. In 2007, Luang Pho Wira Ṭhānavīro (Phra Khru Sitthisangwon), the meditation teacher at Wat Ratchasittharam, published a book titled Samatha vipassanā meditation from the Tipiṭaka according to the (Theravāda) Kammathan Matchima Baep Lamdap of Supreme Patriarch (Suk Kai Thuean).305 This book consists of descriptions of the foundational stages of Suk Kai Thuean meditation and a compilation of excerpts from the various suttas in the Pāli canon and the Visuddhimagga on the different topics regarding samatha and vipassanā meditation.306 From the title and the content of this book, it is clear that Luang Pho Wira is attempting to demonstrate that the tradition is based on the Pāli canonical texts and the Visuddhimagga, perhaps as a response to criticisms from other meditation traditions and/or its decline in popularity. Each relatively short description of the system is separated by a lengthy explanation taken from various excerpts from the Pāli texts. Many aspects of the so-called borān kammaṭṭhāna tradition found in the Chai Yasothonrat anthology are omitted and downplayed in this book. The connections associated with the sacred syllables of ‘namo buddhāya’ are omitted. The diagrams of the bases and the elements, the details of visualization and their application to healing are not mentioned either. Interestingly, the book does not emphasize satipaṭṭhānas and does not describe them as the ‘only path’ to nibbāna. Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is cited in the fourth 305 สมถะวิปัสสนาจากพระไตรปิ ฎก ตามแนวกรรมฐานมัชฌิมา แบบลาดับ (เถรวาท) ของสมเด็จพระสังฆราช (สุก ไก่เถือน). The 384-page book is divided into four sections: 1) Gateway to meditation; 2. Practice; 3) Six abhiññā; and 4) Meditations on rules of training. The first part consists of preparation for meditation. The second is the longest section (over 200 pages) and consists of descriptions of Suk Kai Thuen’s meditation regarding the five joys: pleasurable concentration, mindfulness of breathing, kasiṇa meditation, meditation on ugliness and loving-kindness meditation. The third section is the shortest section and consists of short explanations regarding the six higher knowledges, and the last part seems to be a miscellaneous section comprising dhutaṅga and alms-collecting guidelines, mantras, parittas and more summaries and excerpts from Pāli texts regarding various topics such as the seven purifications, the Eightfold Noble Path, the seven factors of enlightenment, etc. 306 324 section, near the end of the book, and ekāyanamagga is given a partial transliteration of ‘this way is the eka place’ (Wira Ṭhānavīro 2007: 349).307 It is my opinion that this translation is intentional as the Suk Kai Thuean system does not take satipaṭṭhānas as its central practice like the Rise and Fall and Sammā Arahaṃ methods. 307 ้ นทีไปอั ่ นเอก. หนทางนี เป็ 325 Conclusion Luang Pho Sot, in the Sermon titled ‘Ratana Sutta’ given in 1954, states: If the Buddha had not been born into this world, this Dhamma would not have been taught. No one would have explained it. No one would have heard it. Even so, [the Dhamma] that was shown ceased for almost 2,000 years, and reappeared again at Wat Paknam. (Compilation of Dhamma sermons 2012: 421)308 With regard to this statement, Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, the late deputy abbot and head of meditation at Wat Paknam, in his biography of Luang Pho Sot, writes: Dhammakāya meditation, the dhammakāya and the Dhamma that Luang Pho attained are profound [...]. Although the meditation existed during the time of the Buddha and was handed down for a period of time, there was a lapse when it was not taught by anyone for a thousand years. (63 Sermons 1984: (56))309 These two passages provide the origins of the claim that Luang Pho Sot ‘rediscovered’ the meditation method of the Buddha, which had been lost sometime in the 500 years after his 308 ้ ้ มใี ครแสดง ไม่มใี ครบอก ไม่มใี ครเล่าให้ฟัง พระพุทธเจ ้าไม่เกิดขึนในโลกละก็ ธรรมอันนี ไม่ ้ ่ ้ ้ วั่ ดปากน้านี แล ้ ้ว. ถึงกระนันทีเกิดขึนแล ้วก็ดบ ั เสียเกือบ๒,๐๐๐ปี มาเกิดขึนที 309 ่ ้ ลึกซึง้ [...] วิชชาธรรมกาย กายธรรม ธรรมดังทีหลวงพ่อได ้บรรลุรู ้เห็นและเป็ นนัน ้ ่ ้ กนับเป็ นพันปี . วิชชาแม้นดารงอยู่ครังสมัยพุทธกาลและสืบทอดกันมาอีกระยะหนึ ง แต่ก็เว ้นว่างไปมิได ้มีผส ู ้ อนวิชชานี อี 326 death. However, Luang Pho Sot did not elaborate on the details of what exactly had ceased and what exactly reappeared at Wat Paknam. The lengths of time that the Dhamma has ceased in both accounts also do not agree and appear to be given as rough estimates. Various teachers and practitioners of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition interpret this claim differently. Chali Chotsuwan, a lay meditation teacher and student of Achan Karun Bunmanut, claims that this rediscovery refers to the practice of purifying the mind by stopping the mind still at the centre of the body and discovering inner spheres and inner bodies within the dhamma sphere (Chali Chotsuwan, May 12, 2017, e-mail message to the author). Chanida Jantrasrisalai, a member of the Dhammachai Research Institute, claims that this refers to the level of dhammakāya gotrabhū onwards, while the inner spheres and inner lower mundane bodies are found in various meditation traditions during the time that the ‘knowledge’ (witcha) of the full dhammakāya system had ceased (Chanida Jantrasrisalai, September 11, 2017, e-mail message to the author). Achan Sermchai (2016), however, states that the lost teachings refer only to the highest level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, beyond the 18-body level and beyond the attainment of dhammakāya arahatta. He believes that the practitioners of other meditation systems can also reach dhammakāya arahatta and nibbāna as well (Sermchai 2016). This dissertation’s findings do not attempt to disprove or contradict any of these claims but to argue that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, like all other Buddhist meditation systems, was not developed in a vacuum. It is the product of various sources, texts, teachings, meditation methods and manuals that claim to stretch back to the ancient past. Moreover, it was not 327 static but went through a process of change and development, taking in ideas and practices from these sources, interacting with them and adapting them. As I have argued in this dissertation, one of these sources is undoubtedly the canonical text of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. The evidence of Luang Pho Sot’s initial interests in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in the autobiography is not a later interpolation. This account and the references to the sutta and satipaṭṭhāna practice in two of his earliest surviving sermons provide support for the argument that Luang Pho Sot developed Sammā Arahaṃ meditation with the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in mind from the very beginning, and certainly prior to the introduction of Rise and Fall meditation into Thailand. However, the centrality of Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation was not a major break from Thai traditional meditation practices, as the characterization of the four satipaṭṭhānas as the only path to nibbāna was already present in Thailand prior to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, and was held by influential Thammayut figures such as Phra Upāli Khunupamachan (Chan Siricando) and Phra Winairakkhit, a Thammayut monk who was ordained by King Mongkut. Moreover, as my research into Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s meditation teachings has shown, Luang Pho Sot’s focus on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta demonstrates a shift from Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s kāyagatāsati-centred practice to satipaṭṭhāna-centred practice. Luang Pho Sot extended Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s practice of mindfulness to include not just the inner bodies but also feelings, cittas and dhammas of those inner bodies. This interpretation of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is understood by Luang Pho Sot as providing 328 the meditative reading of the sutta. Luang Pho Sot sees the practices as laid out in the sutta as examples and guidelines, not an exhaustive list of practices; for Luang Pho Sot, their scope can be widened according to the practitioner’s level of attainment. Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s interpretation of kāyagatāsati regarding the hierarchy of inner bodies and the maintaining of one’s body to be as radiant as those of devas, brahmās and the noble ones are major influences on Luang Pho Sot’s development of the 18-body system, and the different levels of dhammakāyas as corresponding to the different types of ariyapuggalas. Moreover, Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s understanding of nibbāna as a special deva state that is higher than brahmā and beyond saṃsāra is also an influence on Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of nibbāna as the dwelling place of the dhammakāyas of the Buddhas and arahants. Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s influence on Sammā Arahaṃ meditation seems to be greater than Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s influence as the latter’s influence is confirmed to be the sammā arahaṃ mantra, the visions of the dhamma sphere, the bodily bases, and the vision of one’s inner body decorated with a crown, a necklace and a breast chain. The vision of the meditator’s inner body decorated with a crown, a necklace and a breast chain is the most significant aspect in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system as it became an influence on Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of inner deva bodies. The least influential of the confirmed sources is Wat Pradusongtham’s current meditation system. The aspects of this system that are similar to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, namely the recitation of ‘sammā phra arahaṃ’, visualization of a light sphere and the bodily bases, are also present in Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean’s system and are common characteristics 329 of borān kammaṭṭhāna found in many systems of the tradition. In the light of these recurring aspects, it is clear that these common elements in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation are not derived from a single source but are the outcomes of Luang Pho Sot having been trained in a number of borān kammaṭṭhāna systems, not only at Wat Ratchasittharam and Wat Pradusongtham but also at other temples as well. As mentioned above, the visualization of the sphere nimitta around the stomach is also taught by another teacher of Luang Pho Sot, namely Achan Sing, Wat Lakhontham, the one who invited Luang Pho Sot to become a meditation teacher of his tradition. According to the available evidence, Luang Pho Sot appears to be among the first Thai meditation teachers of his time to incorporate the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the scheme of the four satipaṭṭhānas as a central text and practice of his meditation system. There is some evidence of the existence of single manuscripts of the Pāli Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta and their translations at the time. Yet all the available Thai meditation manuals and teachings prior to Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, while mentioning practices found in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, do so in the context of a variety of other canonical and noncanonical practices. Explicit mention of the sutta is rarely found, and when these manuals and teachings refer to the four satipaṭṭhānas directly, they are usually referred to in passing and among various other practices. This may be because when these manuals were being composed, they did not need to conform to the Mahāsatipatthāna Sutta in order to provide what they thought was the most correct form of meditation practice as the understanding that the practice set out in this sutta constituted the only path to nibbāna was not at that time so prevalent in Thailand. 330 Thus, while Sammā Arahaṃ meditation borrowed elements from various older traditional meditation practices and systems, it does not correspond in any simple or straightforward way to any one particular traditional form. Despite all these findings, many aspects remain unique to the Sammā Arahaṃ system. These include the 18-body system; the inclusion of the coarse and refined inner bodies; the usage of the terms dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna, sīla, samādhi, paññā, vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana to refer to the inner spheres; the vision of dhammakāya as appearing like a translucent Buddha image; the description of dhammakāya as permanent, happiness and self (attā); and the understanding of nibbāna as an āyatana or the unconditioned realm of the enlightened ones’ dhammakāyas. Moreover, the highest level, beyond the 18-body system, which this dissertation does not touch on, also contains aspects that are unique to the system. Some of these aspects could be attributed to Luang Pho Sot’s independent development, i.e. thoughts and practices deriving from his own meditative visions and understanding. The second half of this dissertation accounts for the development of various lineages, networks and centres of Sammā Arahaṃ tradition after the death of Luang Pho Sot, focusing on Achan Sermchai and Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram. The section also discusses two important figures of the tradition: 1) mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan, the meditation teacher of mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung and Achan Karun Bunmanut; and 2) Achan Wira Gaṇuttamo, the meditation teacher of Achan Sermchai. It also mentions one of the teachers recognized by Wat Paknam, Phra Khru Phawana Sitthikhun (Bancha Sirivijjayo), the abbot of Wat Mongkhonthep, Chachoengsao, who claims that his training 331 of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation has been completely self-taught. The fact that Achan Bancha, who does not belong to any Sammā Arahaṃ lineage, is recognized as a teacher within the tradition shows that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is essentially a non-esoteric meditation system. The network of teachers and students intermingling and exchanging ideas often creates a variation in the interpretations of the founder’s meditation teachings, which originate from different emphases and/or personal interpretations of the teachers. Sometimes this resulted in new practices being introduced by the teachers and students themselves. A clear example of this is the practice of offering food directly to the Buddha in (āyatana) nibbāna discussed in Chapter 4.6 of this research, which incorporates material from my interview with mae chi Wanchai Chukon, one of the few remaining direct pupils of Luang Pho Sot. The dissertation also discusses the various negative and positive impacts other meditation systems and their practitioners have had on the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. It is apparent that the introduction and popularization of the Rise and Fall method in Thailand have not only had a negative impact on the tradition but also led to the view that the four satipaṭṭhānas constitute the ‘only path’ to nibbāna, already present in Thailand, to become much more widespread. On the other hand, the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition also benefited from practitioners of other meditation traditions. Under the section on Luang Pho Sot’s influence outside the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition (Chapter 3.5), I consider two meditation masters whose teachings and practices were influenced by Luang Pho Sot and Sammā Arahaṃ meditation: 1) Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam; and 2) Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh. Both Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s and Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh’s biographies list Luang 332 Pho Sot as one of their teachers and some of their teachings as derived from him. Bhikṣuṇī Voramai practised and taught Sammā Arahaṃ meditation along with four other meditation methods throughout her life. In Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s Manomayiddhi meditation tradition, one can see the influences of not only Luang Pho Sot but also Luang Pho Niam’s and Luang Pho Nong’s teachings regarding the different kinds of inner bodies and the conception of nibbāna as the dwelling place of the Buddha and arahants. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam’s understanding of dhammakāya as the supra-mundane body of the arahants and appearing like crystal is derived from Luang Pho Sot. His understanding of the minds of the arahants as self (attā) is most likely adopted from Luang Pho Sot as well. The final chapter of this dissertation analyses Achan Sermchai’s teachings in the context of the changes within the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition during the last three decades. Achan Sermchai’s works can be described as apologetic in their systematic usage of Pāli canonical and commentarial texts to provide a defence of Luang Pho Sot’s Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This is done to counter criticisms that Sammā Arahaṃ meditation is heterodox, not in accordance with the Pāli canonical and commentarial texts, and provides only the samatha (and not the vipassanā) aspects of meditation. At the same time, his elaboration of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings can also be characterized as an attempt to reinterpret and systematize Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. This can be clearly seen in various aspects of his teachings, for example: the linking of the basic level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to five of the 40 objects of meditation as listed in the Visuddhimagga, namely buddhānussati, 333 dhammānussati, saṅghānussati, ānāpānasati and āloka kasiṇa; the linking of the bodily bases to the various contact points and divisions of the breaths in the Visuddhimagga’s explanation of ānāpānasati; incorporating Sammā Arahaṃ’s understanding of the rebirth and cognitive processes into the contemplation of Dependent Origination as part of the mindfulness of dhammas. The last of these consists in taking two Pāli terms, namely paṭisandhicitta (rebirth-linking consciousness) and kalalarūpa (first stage of the foetus), connecting them to Luang Pho Sot’s description of the rebirth process, and then incorporating the rebirth and cognitive processes into the interpretations of the 12 links of Dependent Origination over three lives and in one single moment. With regard to Achan Sermchai’s elaboration of Sammā Arahaṃ’s understanding of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, I discerned a four-tier system in Achan Sermchai’s teachings of satipaṭṭhānas, in which the meditator is able to practise satipaṭṭhāna at four different stages of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation from the very beginning to the most advanced stages. Achan Sermchai understands satipaṭṭhāna practices similarly to Luang Pho Sot, Phra Phromuni (Phin Suvaco) and Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam, namely that the scope of contemplation can be widened according to the practitioner’s level of attainment. He explained to me that ‘ekāyanamagga’ is like ‘a huge highway’ rather than ‘a small alley’, and so satipaṭṭhāna practices must be interpreted as encompassing all the teachings of the Buddha (Sermchai 2015). This view resulted in Achan Sermchai incorporating the practice of the four satipaṭṭhānas at the basic preliminary level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, prior to the attainment of the dhamma sphere and access concentration. In doing so, Achan Sermchai reinterprets Sammā Arahaṃ meditation by bringing a ‘bare insight’ technique into its basic 334 level and thus bringing this level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation closer to Burmese vipassanā methods. At the higher levels, Achan Sermchai widens the scope of mindfulness of the body to include the practitioner’s body in the future. The mindfulness of dhammas is also widened to the broadest possible sense, i.e. the entire three-world cosmos. These adaptations are made to allow the practitioners to develop a deeper understanding of the three characteristics through seeing the process of aging and death, and also the workings of kamma and saṃsāra. The widening of the scope of satipaṭṭhānas is also found in Bhikṣuṇī Voramai’s teachings. Here, rather than extending it forward into the future, Bhikṣuṇī Voramai extends the scope of her mindfulness backwards to include the bodies and minds of her previous lives (Voramai 2003: 280). Moreover, Achan Sermchai is also known for his conception of nibbāna as having three aspects, namely: 1) the state of nibbāna; 2) the holder of the state, nibbānadhātu, which is equated with dhammakāya; and 3) the unconditioned dwelling place of the holder of the state, i.e. āyatana (nibbāna). The three aspects of nibbāna can be seen as an attempt to systematize and reinterpret Luang Pho Sot’s conception of nibbāna, dhammakāya and āyatana (nibbāna). Moreover, Luang Pho Sot’s understanding of vipassanā as involving a comparison between the opposite characteristics of the conditioned and unconditioned dhammas is given a scriptural reference and also elaborated to include the contemplation of the different characteristics of the Four Noble Truths. In reinterpreting and systematizing Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, Achan Sermchai (2017) asserts that he has taken great care not to deviate from what he saw as the essence of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings. 335 Lastly, Achan Sermchai, in compiling and distributing The handbook of the five traditions of samatha vipassanā kammaṭṭhāna, which outlines the basic meditation techniques of the five most popular meditation methods found in Thailand, attempted to create harmony and to prevent discord among the various meditation traditions in Thailand. As mentioned in this book and above with regard to the interpretation of Luang Pho Sot’s rediscovery of the Buddha’s lost technique, Achan Sermchai believes that all the meditation methods based on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta are valid practices that lead to nibbāna. 336 INTERVIEWS Bancha Sirivijjayo, Phra Khru Phawana Sitthikhun. 2017. Interview by the author. Chachoengsao. July 23. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh. 2017. Interview by the author. Nakhon Pathom. February 28. Chinphat Chinnālayo, Phra Mahā. 2018. Interview by the author. Ratchaburi. August 16. Prayok Niamnet. 2019. Interview by the author. Nonthaburi. July 3. Rungarun Chantharasongkhram. 2017. Interview by the author. Bangkok. June 8. Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo, Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon. 2015. Interview by the author. Ratchaburi. June 9. ____________________________________________. 2016. Interview by the author. Ratchaburi. November 21. ___________________________________________. 2017. Interview by the author. Ratchaburi. March 27. 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Lopez, Jr. (ed.), Buddhism in practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 207-215. ________________. 1995b. ‘Summary of the seven books of the Abhidhamma’ in Donald S. Lopez, Jr. (ed.), Buddhism in practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 336– 42. _______________. 2004. Becoming the Buddha: The ritual of image consecration in Thailand (Princeton: Princeton University Press). Taylor, J. L. 1993. Forest monks and the nation-state: An anthropological and historical study in northeastern Thailand (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies). Terwiel, B. J. 2011. Thailand’s political history: From the 13th century to recent times (Bangkok: River Books). ___________. 2014. ‘On the trail of King Taksin’s Samutphāp Traiphūm’ in Journal of the Siam Society, 102, 41–66. 369 Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.). 2001. Itivuttaka: The group of fours. Accessed April 17, 2019. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.4.100-112.than.html. Triple-Gem. 2013. ‘Phra Terry’. Accessed June 6, 2013. http://www.triple- gem.net/PhraTerry.html. U Nyi Nyi. 1996. ‘Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw: A biographical sketch’. Accessed December 5, 2013. http://www.buddhanet.net/mahabio.htm. von Hinüber, O. 1994. Selected papers on Pāli Studies (Oxford: The Pali Text Society). Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram . 2015. ‘Phra Thepyan Mongkhon’. Accessed October 21, 2015. http://www.dhammakaya.org. Wat Paknam. 2015. ‘Monks of Wat Paknam’. Accessed June 15, 2015. http://www.watpaknam.org. Williams, Paul and Antony Tribe. 2000. Buddhist thought: A complete introduction to the Indian tradition (London: Routledge). Woodward, F.L. 1916. Manual of a mystic: The Yogāvachara’s manual (London: The Pali Text Society). 370 Wyatt, David K. 1994. Studies in Thai history (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books). _____________. 2002. Siam in mind (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books). _____________. 2003. Thailand: A short history (2nd edn, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books). 371 APPENDICES 1. Reigns Late Ayutthaya Borommakot 1732-1758 Uthumphon 1758 Ekkathat 1758-1767 Thonburi Taksin 1767-1782 Bangkok Rama I 1782-1809 Rama II 1809-1824 Rama III 1824-1851 Rama IV (Mongkut) 1851-1868 Rama V (Chulalongkorn) 1868-1910 Rama VI (Vajiravudh) 1910-1925 Rama VII 1925-1935 Rama VIII 1935-1946 Rama IX (Bhumibol Adulyadej) 1946-2016 Rama X 2016- 372 2. Glossaries 2.1 Glossary of names Achan Chap Suwan or ‘Kong Chap’ (1883-1958). Lay meditation teacher at Wat Pradusongtham, Ayutthaya. Meditation teacher of Luang Pho Sot. Also taught Luang Pho Thiam, Wat Kasattrathirat, Ayutthaya; Luang Pho Ki, Wat Huchang, Nonthaburi; and Luang Pho Pluem, Wat Suan Hong, Suphanburi. Achan Chodok Ñāṇasiddhi (Phra Thamthiraratmahamuni) (1918–88). Mahānikāya monk. Born in Khonkaen. Studied meditation under Mahasi Sayadaw in Yangon, in 1952, for one year. Became the deputy abbot of Wat Mahathat. Taught Rise and Fall meditation method at Wat Mahathat, Bangkok, throughout his life. Taught Phra Thamsinghaburachan (Luang Pho Charan), Khun Mae Siri Karinchai, and the mother of King Bhumibol (Rama IX). Achan Man Bhūridatta (1871–1949). Thammayut monk. Founder of the modern Thai forest tradition. Born in Ubon Ratchathani. Ordained at Wat Liap, Ubon Ratchathani, in 1893. Spent most of his life wandering through the forests of Thailand, Burma and Laos. Taught Achan Waen Sucinno, Achan Maha Boowa Ñāṇasampanno, Achan Cha Subhaddo, Achan Fan Acaro, Achan Thet Thetrangsi and Achan Lee Dhammadharo. 373 Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo or Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (1929-2018). Mahānikāya monk. Born in Buriram. Received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Thammasat University, Bangkok. Worked as a Research Specialist at the United States Information Services, Bangkok. Studied Sammā Arahaṃ meditation under Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo). Ordained at Wat Paknam, Thonburi, in 1986, age 57. Became the abbot of Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Ratchaburi, in 1991. Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh (1908–2003). Student of Luang Pho Sot, Phra Phromuni (Phin Suvaco) and Achan Lee Dhammadharo. First Thai woman to have received ordination from both the male and the female saṅgha. Founded Thailand’s first bhikṣuṇī temple, the Songdhammakalyani monastery, in Nakorn Pathom, in 1960. Became the monastery's first abbess. Mother of Chatsumarn Kabilsingh (Bhikkhunī Dhammananda). Karun Bunmanut (1935–2018). Student of mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan, mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung and mae chi Thanom Asawai. Taught Sammā Arahaṃ meditation in Ang Tong and Chanthaburi. Worked as a teacher at Wat Bowonniwet School. Became assistant provincial education officer in 1982. King Taksin (1734-1782). Only king of Thonburi Kingdom. Born in Ayutthaya. Became the governor of Tak during the reign of King Ekkathat. Defended Ayutthaya before its fall in 1767. Unified Siam and established Thonburi as the new capital. Reigned for 15 years before deposed and executed by King Rama I. Believed by some not to have been executed, but ordained and fled to Nakhon Sri Thammarat where he remained for the rest of his life. 374 Ledi Sayadaw (1846-1923). Burmese monk. Born in Dipeyin, Shwebo. Founder of one of the two main traditions of Burmese vipassanā. Acknowledged by several meditation lineages as the lineage founder, including the lineage of S. N. Goenka. May have been an influence on Mingun Sayadaw, the meditation teacher of Mahasi Sayadaw, and on Mahasi Sayadaw. Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti (1828–1909). Mahānikāya monk. Meditation teacher of Luang Pho Sot, Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo, Luang Pho Pan Sonando, and Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam. Ordained in Suphanburi in 1847 and later moved to Bangkok to study Pāli and meditation. Speculated to have studied under Somdet To Brahmaraṃsī at Wat Rakhang, Thonburi. Became the abbot of Wat Noi in 1869. Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo (1865–1933). Mahānikāya monk. A senior pupil of Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti. Ordained at Wat Songphinong, Suphanburi, in 1889. Became the abbot of Wat Amphawan (Wat Klong Madan), Suphanburi. Meditation teacher and ordination-proclaiming teacher (anusāvanācāriya) of Luang Pho Sot. Also taught Luang Pho Pan Sonando and Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam. Luang Pho Ruesi Lingdam or Phra Ratchaphromyan (Wira Thāvaro) (1916-1992). Mahānikāya monk. Born in Suphanburi. Student of Luang Pho Pan Sonando, Luang Pho Niam Dhammajoti, Luang Pho Nong Indasuvaṇṇo and Luang Pho Sot. Became the abbot 375 of Wat Tha Sung, Uthai Thani, in 1968. Founder of Manomayiddhi meditation tradition. Taught King Rama IX. Luang Pho Sot or Phra Mongkhon Thepmuni (Sot Candasaro) (1884-1959). Mahānikāya monk. Founder of the Sammā Arahaṃ tradition. Born in Suphanburi. Ordained at Wat Songphinong, Suphanburi, in 1905. Became the abbot of Wat Paknam, Thonburi, in 1916. Developed and popularized Sammā Arahaṃ meditation. Transformed Wat Paknam into a centre of meditation and scriptural studies. Mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung or Khun Yai Chan (1909–2000). Born in Nakhon Pathom. Student of Luang Pho Sot and mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan. Became mae chi at Wat Paknam in 1938. Founded Dhamma Prasit Group and later in 1978 Dhammakaya Temple together with her students Phra Dhammajayo and Phra Dattajīvo. Also taught Achan Sermchai and Karun Bunmanut. Mae chi Thongsuk Samdaengpan (1900-1963). Born in Bangkok. Became a student of Luang Pho Sot in 1930. Became mae chi at Wat Paknam in 1940. Responsible for teaching mae chis at Wat Paknam. Taught mae chi Chan Khon Nokyung, Karun Bunmanut and Bhikṣuṇī Voramai Kabilsingh. Mae chi Wanchai Chukon (1933-). Born in Samut Songkhram. Became a student Luang Pho Sot in 1952. Became mae chi at Wat Paknam in 1958. Taught at Wat 376 Khlongphocharoen, Ratchaburi. Founded Suan Kaeo Meditation Centre, Ratchaburi, in 1997. Mahasi Sayadaw (1904–82). Burmese monk. Born in Seikkhun, Shwebo. Meditation student of Mingun Sayadaw. Founder of the Rise and Fall meditation tradition, one of the two main traditions of Burmese vipassanā. Taught Phra Thamthiraratmahamuni (Chodok Ñāṇasiddhi). Acted as a questioner and an editor at the Sixth Buddhist Council in Yangon, Burma, in 1954. Phra Ariyakhunathan (Pusso Seng) (date unknown). Thammayut monk. Student of Achan Sao Kantasīlo and Achan Man Bhūridatta. Taught Achan Phut and Achan Sing Khantayāgamo. Author of Book of divine power. Resided at Wat Khao Suan Kwang, Khonkaen province. Phra Ratchaphromathen (Wira Gaṇuttamo) (1919–2014). Mahānikāya monk. Born in Bangkok. Studied Japanese at the Japanese Society of Thailand and one year of law at Thammasat University. Became a student of Luang Pho Sot in 1953. Ordained at Wat Paknam in 1954. Became the deputy abbot and head of meditation of Wat Paknam in 1970. Main teacher of Achan Sermchai. Prince-patriarch Wachirayan Warorot (1860-1921) Thammayut monk. Born in Bangkok. Son of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and half-brother of King Chulalongkorn (Rama 377 V). Became the abbot of Wat Bowonniwet in 1892. Responsible for the reform of monastic education during the reign of King Chulalongkorn. Appointed Supreme Patriarch in 1910. Saṅgharāja Suk Kai Thuean (1733-1822). Born in Ayutthaya. Invited by Rama I to Bangkok to reside at Wat Phlap as head of meditation. His meditation method, ‘Kammathan Matchima Baep Lamdap’, is believed to have been the predominant form of meditation in Bangkok during the reigns of Rama I, II, III and IV. Appointed the Supreme Patriarch in 1819. Somdet Phra Phuthachan (At Āsabhamahāthera) (1903–89). Mahānikāya monk. Born in Khonkaen. Ordained at Wat Mahathat in 1923. Sent Achan Chodok to study meditation with Mahasi Sayadaw in Yangon. Set out to propagate the Rise and Fall method throughout Thailand. Became the abbot of Wat Mahathat, Bangkok, and President of Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University. Somdet Phra Wannarat (Thap Buddhasiri) (1806-1891). Thammyut monk. Born in Bangkok. A member of the first group of monks to be re-ordained in the Thammayut lineage. Presided over King Chulalongkorn’s (Rama V) ordination ceremony in 1875. Became the abbot of Wat Sommanat, Bangkok, in 1856. Somdet Pun Puṇṇasiri or Somdet Phra Ariyawongsakatayan (1896-1974). Mahānikāya monk. Luang Pho Sot’s nephew. Born in Suphanburi. Ordained at Wat Songphinong, Suphanburi, in 1917. Became the abbot of Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho) 378 in 1949 and the temporary abbot of Wat Paknam from 1959 to 1966. Wrote a biography of Luang Pho Sot. Appointed Supreme Patriarch in 1972. Wat Pradusongtham. Temple in Ayuttha. An important borān kammaṭṭhāna centre during the Ayutthaya period associated with forest-dwelling monks’ division of the saṅgha. Residence of Phra Rachakhana responsible for overseeing meditation practices 2.2 Glossary of technical terms abhiññā higher knowledge; supernormal powers achan teacher āloka kasiṇa light device; meditation on bright light or white colour amulet object believed to be endowed with powers to protect and bring good fortunes anāgāmi non-returner; one who has attained the third stage of enlightenment ānāpānasati mindfulness of breath anattā not-self anupādisesa nibbāna nibbāna without the five aggregates remaining anusāvanācāriya ordination-proclaiming teacher; one of the three main monks responsible for conducting an ordination ceremony appanā samādhi attainment concentration; jhāna/absorption concentration arahant enlightened one; one who has attained the fourth stage of enlightenment and achieved nibbāna 379 ariyapuggala noble person; noble one arūpabrahmā divine being in the formless realm; inhabitants of the highest heavens asaṅkhata unconditioned āsava canker; mental intoxication or defilement asubha ugly; loathsome; foulness; corpse āyatana base; sphere; ___domain; place bhikṣuṇī/bhikkhunī nun; fully ordained female monastic bodhisatta Buddha-to-be; one who is resolved to become a future Buddha bodily bases different points within the body that serve as resting places for the mind borān kammaṭṭhāna traditional/ancient/old meditation; Theravāda meditation tradition(s) of mainland Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka; also known as yogāvacara tradition brahmā divine being in the realm of form; inhabitants of the higher heavens brahmavihāra divine/holy abiding buddhānussati recollection of the Buddha cakkhu eye cetiya bell-shaped stūpa; reminder; shrine citta mind; thought deva deity; god; heavenly being dhammakāya dhamma body; meditation system developed by Luang Pho Sot, also called Sammā Arahaṃ meditation 380 dhammas states; phemomena; nature of things dhamma sphere luminous sphere seen in meditation; termed dhammānupassanā satipaṭṭhāna sphere in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation ekāyanamagga one way; only way; direct path; unified path four satipaṭṭhānas Four Foundations of Mindfulness; having mindfulness established on four objects: body, feelings, mind and dhammas gotrabhū the matured one; one who has entered the lineage of the noble ones jhāna mental absorption; meditative state of stillness and concentration kammavācācāriya act-announcing teacher; one of the three main monks responsible for conducting an ordination ceremony kasiṇa external device; object of meditation aimed at developing concentration kāyagatāsati contemplation of the body; mindfulness with regards to the body khandha aggregate; one of the five basic constituents that make up the human and other beings khaṇika samādhi temporary/momentary concentration lokiya worldly lokuttara supra-mudane luang pho venerable father mae chi female renunciant; Buddhist laywoman who follows the eight or ten precepts Mahānikāya one of the two monastic lineages of the Thai saṅgha Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna discourse (sutta) on the establishing of mindfulness 381 Mahatherasamakhom Thai Saṅgha Supreme Council; governing body of the Buddhist order of Thailand mantra sacred or magical incantation; verbal formula nāmarūpa name and form; mind and body nibbāna Nirvana; cessation of suffering; the release from rebirths; the goal of the Buddhist path nibbānadhātu nibbāna element; sphere of nibbāna namo buddhāya praise the Buddha nimitta mental image paccekabuddha solitary/silent Buddha; self-enlightened beings who do not bring others to enlightenment paramattha ultimate parian monks and novices who have passed Pāli examinations parikamma bhāvanā preparatory/preliminary stage of meditation parikamma nimitta preparatory/preliminary sign parinibbāna final or complete nibbāna; death of an enlightened one pariyatti scriptures; studying the scriptures; school that teaches and prepares monks and novices for Pāli and Naktham (Dhamma Studies) examinations Rise and Fall meditation system; one of the two main Burmese vipassanā traditions developed by Mahasi Sayadaw sakadāgāmī once-returner; one who has attained the second stage of enlightenment 382 samādhi concentration; one-pointedness of mind samatha calm/tranquility meditation sammā arahaṃ meditation system developed by Luang Pho Sot, also called Dhammakāya meditation; Pāli words that represent the Buddha’s qualities recited at the basic level of this meditation sammuti conventional saṃsāra round/cycle of rebirths saṃyojana fetters that bind beings to the round of rebirths Saṅgharāja Supreme Patriarch, the head of the Thai saṅgha saupādisesa nibbāna nibbāna realized with the five aggregates remaining sotāpanna stream-enterer; one who has attained the first stage of enlightenment sutta discourse Thammayut Thammayuttika nikāya, one of the two monastic lineages of the Thai saṅgha founded by King Mongkut (Rama IV) in 1833 upacāra samādhi access concentration; approaching jhāna vimuttiñāṇadassana knowledge and vision of liberation vipassanā insight; insight meditation vipassanādhura task of meditation practice; obligation of insight development vipassanā ñāṇa insight knowledge visaṅhkāra unconditioned Visuddhimagga Path of Purification, treatise and meditation manual composed by Buddhaghosa c. fifth century C.E. 383 yantra protective diagram consisting of geometrical, animal, and deity designs accompanied by Pāli phrases yogāvacara practitioner of spiritual discipline; Theravāda meditation tradition(s) of mainland Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka; also known as borān kammaṭṭhāna 3. Interview with Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo) This section is a translation of the interviews I conducted with Phra Thep Yan Mongkhon (Achan Sermchai Jayamaṅgalo) at Wat Luang Pho Sot Thammakayaram, Ratchaburi, on 9 June 2015, 21 November 2016 and 27 March 2017. It highlights his answers to the most interesting questions regarding his life, aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation and his views on other Thai meditation traditions. Interview on 9 June 2015 Question: What were your main reasons for choosing to practice and teach Sammā Arahaṃ meditation? Answer: I believed that throughout his life, Luang Pho Wat Paknam’s [Sot] conducts and teachings were in accordance with the principle of the threefold training [trisikkhā] of morality [sīla], meditation [samādhi] and wisdom [paññā] […]. With regard to sīla, Luang Pho [Sot] was very careful not to violate the monastic rules [vinaya] and was very strict in 384 enforcing them at Wat Paknam. For example, he did not allow a woman to be alone in the same room as a monk and never touched or kept any money […]. With regard to samādhi and paññā, I found Sammā Arahaṃ meditation to be both samatha and vipassanā and in accordance with the four satipaṭṭhānas, which enabled its practitioners to reach dhammakāya and nibbāna. I was lucky enough to have met Phra Ratchaphromathen [Wira Gaṇuttamo], who taught me all of Luang Pho Sot’s teachings. He imparted to me everything he knew and did not withheld any teachings from me. His invaluable teachings, together with my children’s meditation progress, were what convinced me to choose Sammā Arahaṃ meditation as well. Question: What is your understanding of the word ekāyanamagga in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta? Answer: Ekāyanamagga means the eka way, the only way, and refers to the four satipaṭṭhānas. The four satipaṭṭhānas, namely, seeing of body in body, feelings in feelings, citta in citta and dhamma in dhamma, are the vehicles that take one directly to nibbāna. Question: If the four satipaṭṭhānas are the only way to nibbāna, what about the other teachings of the Buddha? Answer: They are regarded as the foundation of the four satipaṭṭhānas. Ekāyanamagga is not a small alley. It is a huge highway that includes all the teachings of Buddhism. For example, the teaching of morality [sīla], the light [āloka] kasiṇa and the recollection of the 385 Buddha [buddhānussati], these are the foundations of the four satipaṭṭhānas. Each of the seven factors of the Eightfold Noble Path is also the foundation of right mindfulness [sammāsati], that is, the four satipaṭṭhānas. Interview on 21 November 2016 Question: According to Luang Pho Sot, ekāyanamagga means the centre of the body. What did he mean by that? Answer: Where are our defilements, cankers [āsavas], the wholesome, unwholesome and neutral dhammas? They are within the mind. Where is the mind? It is within the body. The centre of the body is the permanent ___location of the mind. The mind is like all of us. We wake up and go to our offices to work. The mind also wakes up and goes to its offices, which are the sixfold sense bases [saḷāyatana], and then it goes back home to sleep again. Where is its home? It is at the centre of the body, at the navel. The centre of the body is where the four mental aggregates [nāmakhandha] – sensing, remembering, thinking and knowing – are located. This is where the citta arises and ceases and changes from unwholesome to wholesome, wholesome to unwholesome, etc., according to its bhūmi [realm]. Scholars often say that the mind constantly arises and ceases. That is correct. But where does it arise and cease? Luang Pho Wat Paknam [Sot] realized that it arises and ceases at the centre of the body. When we are born, when we die, when we go to sleep and when we wake up, our minds cease and arise at the centre of our bodies. The mind also changes from worldly [lokiya] to the supra-mundane [lokuttara] here. For those who are 386 about to attain the noble paths and fruits [ariyamagga and ariyaphala], their minds’ bhūmis change right here and not anywhere else […]. When our minds change, our refined bodies also change with them. According to the links of Dependent Origination [paṭiccasamuppāda], formation [saṅkhāra] is a condition for the arising of consciousness [viññāṇa], consciousness is a condition for the arising of name and form [nāmarūpa], name and form are conditions for the arising of saḷāyatana, etc. Therefore, when consciousness arises, form [rūpa] arises at the same time. This form is the refined body within which arises along with consciousness in every mind moment […]. Consciousness and the refined body cease and arise in every moment. Where? Right here, at the centre of the body. This is how Luang Pho [Sot] understands the meaning of bodies in bodies […]. The centre of the body is, therefore, the ___location where one can see one’s body in body, feelings in feelings, citta in citta and dhamma in dhamma, from the coarsest to the most refined. Question: Do you think that practitioners of other meditation systems are able to reach nibbāna, even though their meditation systems do not focus on stopping still at the centre of the body? Answer: Other systems are the same. If they are based on the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, they are all good. They all lead to nibbāna. When they [practitioners of other systems] meditate, their minds also become refined at the centres of their bodies. Whether you practice Rise and Fall, Buddho, or other systems, your sensing, remembering, thinking and knowing, 387 that is, your mind, becomes pure and attains nibbāna at the same place. For those who have not reached the noble paths and fruits, they might not realize it. But for those who have, they see that these attainments arise there. They become awakened at the centres of their bodies. Question: If the centre of the body is so important, why does the Pāli canon not mention it? Answer: It mentions mindfulness of breath [ānāpānasati]. It teaches one to be mindful of the breath and know whether the breath is coarse or refined, short or long, and to be mindful when the breath ceases. The breath is usually observed passing three contact points: the nostril, the throat and the navel. The mind is fixed at one of these points while observing the breath going in and out of the body. Whether you choose to focus on the breath passing the nostril, the throat or the navel, once you have done it for a while, your breath gradually becomes more and more refined, shorter and shorter, and eventually, your breath stops. Where does the breath stop? It stops at the centre of the navel, the centre of the body, which is also called the end of the breath. In Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, this place is called the sixth bodily base. Luang Pho [Sot] did not choose to focus on this base as it is like having your eyes touching a mirror. You cannot see your reflection, that is, the dhamma sphere, very clearly. So Luang Pho [Sot] moves the contact point to the seventh base, two finger widths above the navel. In this way, it is like having a little distance between your eyes and the mirror. You can see your reflection much more clearly […]. 388 Sammā Arahaṃ meditation consists of ānāpānasati from the very start. Luang Pho [Sot] has always taught this, but he has never taught to follow the breath up and down as it does not allow the mind and the breath to become most refined. Question: What did Luang Pho Sot mean when he said that the Dhamma has ceased for almost 2,000 years and reappeared again at Wat Paknam? Answer: He meant that when the Buddha was alive, he instructed his disciples to reach dhammakāya. The Buddha taught dhammakāya as well, but it had been ‘lost’. ‘Lost’ here does not mean lost from the Pāli canon, but lost from the practices of his later disciples. As practices declined overtime, those who were able to reach dhammakāya became fewer and fewer. In truth, there have been practitioners who have reached dhammakāya up to the present. The paccekabuddhas and arahants all reached dhammakāya and nibbāna, but there had been fewer of them, especially during the later periods. Some of them we do not know. Some of them dwelled in the forests [...]. Therefore, lost here does not mean lost from the canon or that there has never been an enlightened one since, but there has not been anyone whose teachings are as complete and profound as Luang Pho Sot’s. Question: Which aspects of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation do you think is truly unique, ones that you can say were lost and rediscovered by Luang Pho Sot? 389 Answer: The highest level of Sammā Arahaṃ meditation, after the 18 bodies Interview on 27 March 2017 Question: Why are the formless [arūpa] brahmā bodies in Sammā Arahaṃ meditation seen as having forms [rūpa]? Answer: If beings are able to be born without their bodies and exist only as minds, then the teaching of Dependent Origination [paṭiccasamuppāda] would become redundant. According to its links, formation [saṅkhāra] is a condition for the arising of consciousness [viññāṇa], and consciousness is a condition for the arising of name and form [nāmarūpa]; therefore, form aggregate [rūpakhandha] must arise together with the four mental aggregates [nāmakhandha]. The formless brahmās in formless realms do have forms, but their forms are so refined that their own eyes [cakkhu] and the eyes of beings in the lower realms cannot see them. This is the result of their non-attachment to forms in their previous existences. Only those who have reached dhammakāya, which possesses even more refined eyes, can see their [the formless brahmās’] forms. Question: Can those who have already attained dhammakāya fall back on their attainments? 390 Answer: Yes, if they have not completely abandoned the three lower fetters [saṃyojana]310 and become stream-enterers [sotāpannas]. Luang Pho [Sot] called those who have reached dhammakāya but have not abandoned the lower fetters gotrabhū persons. A gotrabhū person is like someone who has one leg in nibbāna and the other leg still in the three worlds. They must continue to practice abandoning the fetters and become noble ones [ariyapuggalas]. However, if they step back into the three worlds and let defilements, ignorance, craving and clinging overcome their minds, their dhammakāyas can cease. When that happens, they go back to being ordinary persons [puthujjana] who can be reborn in the suffering realm. The three lower fetters are sakkāyadiṭṭhi (false view of the individual), vicikicchā (doubt) and sīlabbataparāmāsa (adherence to rules and rituals). 310 391