LP Sanit of Wat Lam Bua Loi

LP Sanit of Wat Lam Bua Loi, Nakhon Nayok province, was the top guru monk there most famous for his wealth crocodile and turtle wicha, which he learned from LP Seng. Legend has it he was able to make crocodiles made from wood or stone come alive and start swimming. He passed away in 2542 at the age of 74. Above we see the main shrine.

 

 The Ubosot.

 

 Wealth crocodile statue.

 

 Bell tower.

  Phra Pang Umbat and Wealth Turtle statue.

 Shrine of  LP Sanit.

 

 The current abbot and disciple of LP Sanit, LP Prasit.

 

 Old article on the turtle and crocodile amulets.

  Lersi statues.

 

 Photo shrine of LP Sanit.

 

 His old crocodile amulets.

 Turtle amulets with kring inside.

Katha Ngern Lan 百万财富咒

The famous enhanced rich katha by LP Lersi Lingdam of Wat Thasung.

Namo Tassa (3x)
Sampajitchami ***
Nasangsitmo
Promma Ja Maha Dewa Sappe Yakka Palayanti
Promma Ja Maha Dewa Apilapha Phawantume
Maha Punyo Mahalapho Phawantume
Mite Phahuhati
Putta Ma Ah U Na Mo Put Tha Ya
Wira Thayo Wira Konayang
Wira Hingsa Wira Thasi
Wira Thasa Wira Ittiyo
Puttassa Mani Mama Puttassa Sawahom
Sampatitchami
Peng Peng Pha Pha Ha Ha Ler Ler.

Note: *** If you chant more than one time such as 3, 5, 7 or 9 times,
just chant Sampajitchami only once at the 1st time,
after that in every begining just begin with Nasangsitmo....

Katha Maha Jakkapat 大宇宙王经

Recitaton of Katha Maha Jakkapat 大宇宙王经 from LP Doo of Wat Sakae, Ayuttaya.

"But what, sire, is the duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch?

It is this, my son: Yourself depending on the Dhamma, honouring it, revering it, cherishing it, doing homage to it and venerating it, having the Dhamma as your badge and banner, acknowledging the Dhamma as your master, you should establish guard, ward and protect according to Dhamma for your own household, your troops, your nobles and vassals, for Brahmins and householders, town and country folk, ascetics and Brahmins, for beasts and birds.

Let no crime prevail in your kingdom, and those who are in need, give property. And whatever ascetics and Brahmins in your kingdom have renounced the life of sensual infatuation and are devoted to forbearance and gentleness, each one calming himself and each one striving for the end of craving, if from time to time they should come to you and consult you as to what is wholesome and what is unwholesome, what is blameworthy and what is blameless, what is to be followed and what is not to be followed, and what action will in the long-run lead to harm and what to welfare and happiness, you should listen, and tell them to avoid evil and do what is good.

That, my son, is the duty of an Ariyan wheel-turning monarch." - Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta

White Dragon King is LP Tim's disciple

Recently it was reported that the White Dragon King (1937-2013), spiritual godfather to many HK and Taiwan celebrities who passed away a week ago, was himself a disciple of LP Tim Wat Lahanrai. Master Chow aka White Dragon King always venerated LP Tim as his guru monk, and kept many of his amulets. His wife had selected one of his favourites to be buried with him after the funeral. He was also building a new Buddhist temple not far from the White Dragon temple, with a large statue of LP Tim in the Vihara. However Master Chow died before the construction could be completed.

Unknown to many is that Master Chow was actually an ordinary man with no special abilities. His spiritual power come only after the White Dragon (Naga deity) chose him to be a medium. But as with all mediumship, it comes with a big price. When trancing a deity on a regular basis, it takes a huge toll on the body and in the long term one's health is affected and lifespan shortened. One only needs to take a look at the famous mediums of Jatukam like AJ Kopong and Luang Nui, who died not long after the Jatukam craze was over. When they trance Jatukam they performed seemingly superhuman feats like swallowing an entire bottle of XO (in AJ Kopong's case), but after the deity left their bodies, it is inevitable that some damage is done to their internal organs. Longer still I can remember AJ Tim of Wat Changhai, who was the first medium of LP Tuad. He too passed away at 57 yrs old, just as LP Tuad amulets were becoming famous throughout Thailand and overseas. As such famous mediums all have their share of health problems and die before their natural lifespan are exhausted. They may be able to help others through the deity's powers, but ultimately they cannot help themselves. In life they cannot escape aging, sickness and death, and in death they cannot escape becoming and rebirth.

The Dhammapada says:

"Better than sole sovereignty over the earth,
better than going to heaven,
better even than lordship over all the worlds,
is the supramundane Fruit of Stream Entry."

It would better to be an instrument of the Dhamma, seeking an end to suffering, then to be an instrument of any god or deity, filled with power to move mountains, yet still chained to the wheel of Samsara. 

Katha Metta Prom Wiharn Phawana 梵天慈心三味经

Recitation of Katha Metta Prom Wiharn Phawana by my master LP Jaran Wat Ampawan.
吾师峦珀扎兰念诵之梵天慈心三味经。

The Merits of Metta Bhavana:

Lord Buddha said - "Monks, when universal love leading to liberation of mind is ardently practiced, developed, unrelentingly resorted to, used as one's vehicle, made the foundation of one's life, fully established, well consolidated and perfected, then these eleven blessings may be expected. What eleven?

one sleeps happily;
one wakes happily;
one does not suffer bad dreams;
one is dear to human beings;
one is dear to non-human beings;
the gods protect one;
no fire or poison or weapon harms one;
one's mind gets quickly concentrated;
the expression of one's face is serene;
one dies unperturbed;
and even if one fails to attain higher states,
one will at least reach the state of the Brahma world.

Monks, when universal love leading to liberation of mind is ardently practiced, developed, unrelentingly resorted to, used as one's vehicle, made the foundation of one's life, fully established, well consolidated and perfected, then these eleven blessings may be expected."

Guan Gong buchas from AJ Tee Lek

AJ Tee Lek was recently asked to consecrate a batch of Guan Gong buchas by Thai Chinese supporters from Bangkok. Above we see the banner at AJ's Samnak.

The Guan Gong buchas. There were also Nammon bowls.

Standing Guanyin Bodhisattva buchas carved from wood. 

Chowing a bag of takruts from AJ. 

Catalog of the lastest Rians from AJ. 

The copper and alpaka ones with Lersi and takrut behind.

Back view.

Controversial LP Nenkam of Wat Pa Kantitham

LP Nenkam, the young abbot of Wat Pa Kantitham in Si Saket province has recently come under investigation by the Thai authorities for his massive wealth, luxurious possessions and allegedly immoral behaviour which violates the Vinaya precepts. He was propelled into national and worldwide attention after circulation of video showing him riding a private jet plane, toting an iPhone and Louis Vuitton bag. Not only him, but some relatives of LP Nenkam also became abnormally rich, with properties in their possession worth over 20 million baht along with numerous sports cars. It was also alleged that he was not only married, but had sexual relationships with 7 other women, one of them a minor. This is a "monk" living the high life of a tycoon, fat from the donations of the faithful. Not only had he committed Parajika offences which immediately nullifies his monkhood, he had greatly shamed the holiness of the saffron robe.

"It would be better to swallow a red-hot iron ball,
blazing like fire, than as an immoral and uncontrolled
monk to eat the alms of the people."

"Just as kusa grass wrongly handled cuts the hand,
even so, a recluse's life wrongly lived drags one to hell." - Dhammapada

LP Nenkam may still enjoy those worldly pleasures heedlessly at the moment, but if he even has any slight idea of the karma that awaits him, I think he would no longer feel any desire for them. Indeed, would he not regret eating caviar with the money of devotees, when burning iron balls are forced down his throat everyday when he reappears in hell? And would he still think of those women he had sex with when he is forced to embrace the burning pillars? Impossible to imagine are the torments of hell, yet this man in saffron robes knows not to avoid them. He pursues darkness and great suffering, instead of seeking the path of liberation. I truly pity such a man, and others like him. Will they ever awake from their deep ignorance?

LP Gliang of Wat Nern Suttawat

LP Gliang of Wat Nern Suttawat in Chonburi is a 96yrs old guru monk who is one of the top living master for Hanuman amulets today.

The side vihara for the previous abbot.

The temple counter.

Monday Buddha or Phra Pang Ham Yat statue.

Reclining Buddha statue inside the side hall.

Mother of pearl murals.

LP Wichian statue. He was one of LP Gliang's masters.

Buddha statue behind LP Wichian.

Phra Chinaraj Buddha in front of the Ubosot.

Lersi Gelaigot wax statue.

Lersi Gelaigot katha.

Main chedi in the temple.

Flying Hanuman roops.

Hanuman waving flag roops.

The Price of Faith?

Recently there is an article on Facebook talking about HK celebrity Cecilia Chung paying 300,000 HKD or around 1 million baht for a piece of Somdej Kaiser Krut Wat Pra Kaew (seen above), which is an obvious fake amulet. Almost anyone with some basic knowledge about old Thai amulets know that such a batch of Somdej Kaiser does not exist, but unfortunately Ceclilia does not. Fake Somdej amulets such as this can be easily found at the fake amulet market in Tha Pachan, Bangkok for 100 baht or less. It is a shame because for that kind of money Cecilia could get a real antique piece of Somdej Wat Rakang or Bangkhunprom, with change to spare for performing other forms of Sangkatan (donations to the Sangha).

But the sad fact is rich people like Cecilia are scammed by the unscrupulous all the time. They pay a hefty price for their misplaced faith in the commercial aspect of Thai Buddhism. It is another example of the danger of collecting amulets without any basic knowledge about Buddhism and Thai amulets. In the past when LP Sod created his first batch of Wat Paknam amulets, he gave only 1 single piece to each devotee who came to make a donation, no matter whether they were rich or poor. It did not matter whether they gave a lot or a little money; they still received 1 piece as a token of appreciation. There was great meaning in why LP Sod gave out amulets in this way. It is in great contrast to what is happening today, where even the rich donate a lot just to get a cheap piece of fake amulet. When rich donors like Cecilia one day realizes that she paid so much for a fake, she will inevitably lost faith in the Triple Gems. Those who sold her such fakes have committed a great sin, destroying people's faith in Buddhism. The profits of sin brings very short term enjoyment to the sinner, but long term suffering in the lower realms. As the Dhammapada says:

"It may be well with the evil-doer

as long as the evil ripens not.

But when it does ripen,

then the evil-doer sees (the painful results of) his evil deeds."

HK celebrities popularize Thai Amulet culture

Recently there was an article in Malaysia's New Life Post paper regarding the practice of many famous Hong Kong celebrities wearing Thai amulets to help them in their show biz career. For example, Cecilia Chung is said to wear a Somdej Wat Rakang (more likely to be Somdej Kaiser) and known to keep many Kumantongs at home. She is probably heavily influenced by ex-husband Nicholas Tse and mother in law Deborah, who are both Thai Buddhists and Phra Prom Erawan devotees. It also mentioned Jackie Chan, who was said to be wearing Somdej Than Saem 2517 from LP Pae when he survived falling from a great height during a movie shooting accident in 1986. Later this Somdej was named "Pim Jackie Chan" after him and became extremely popular in HK and Taiwan. Finally it talked about martial arts and action star Donny Yan, who always wear his Khun Paen while shooting dangerous action sequences.

These HK celebrities and their belief in Thai amulets have helped to spread Thai Buddhist culture not only in HK, but Taiwan and today China, covering a large part of East Asia. Especially in China, where waves of Thai amulet shops have mushroomed in many major cities, against an officially atheistic communist culture. We can say the zeal of persecuting organised religion since the days of the Cultural Revolution has not only been totally eaten away by commercialism, but ironically a commercial part of religion at that. In a vast China market, the demand for Thai amulets very often exceeds the supply that those dealers could provide. Which is why we can now see many China citizens prowling Tha Pachan and Pantip Ngam Wong Wan in Bangkok, buying amulets and casings in large numbers. But although the varieties of Thai amulets number into thousands, these guys are only interested in a few types, most notably: Butterfly, 9-tail Fox, KMTs, LP Pae and maybe LP Koon. So much so that the prices for these amulets have shot up many times. A good example mentioned in the article is China rich girl Guo Meimei, who gained some celebrity status flaunting her wealth on the Internet. Having gained some good fortune in the casino after chowing 2 KMTs, she eventually opened a shop in Beijing selling mostly KMTs and other popular amulets. Above we can see her chowing many KMT buchas from AJ Nikom (aka AJ Kom) in Suphanburi. She said that the cheapest KMT in her shop cost 3800 RMB, or more than 18000 Thai baht. This is at least 9x the original price at AJ Kom's Samnak, which is a huge profit for our already rich Ms Guo. The expensive ones cost more than 20000 RMB. She claims that the business at her shop is excellent and so we can only imagine the rich getting richer.

Although it is not a bad thing for China people to soak up Thai amulet culture, I'm afraid they do not know why they work or what is their purpose. And by this I mean the real amulets and not those fake or commercial ones. Like many from other countries who are captivated by them, they only see the superficial aspect of amulets and not its spirit - which is to make merit in the Triple Gems, to keep the 5 precepts, to refrain from all evil and to cultivate all that is good. Without the basic tenets of Buddhism in place, amulets are only empty gadgets, no different from toys. If one day their amulets fail to bring them good luck or protect them from danger, they will only have themselves to blame for being ignorant. I hope that they can slowly be inspired by Thai amulets to learn more about Buddhism and improve their lives spiritually. Only then would the purpose of those guru monks who created them be fulfilled, sadhu.

Melon in exchange for Corpse

"There also came from different lands in other worlds and from the Saha world deities such as those of the seas, of the rivers, of the forests, of the mountains, of the earth, of the streams and lakes, of the crops, of the day, of the night, of space, of the sky, of food and of vegetation; all assembled there." - Ksitigarbha Sutra

Last week there was a Wanbao article regarding how the missing corpse of one of the local victims in a fishing trip mishap in Pulau Layak, Malaysia was found. Apparently the body of Mr Chen Wan Seng was found soon after one of the search boat owners threw a water melon offering with Mr Chen's name and particulars written on it into the sea. The family of the victim was surprised as prior to that, the search and rescue boats had searched the sea in that area for 2 days without finding his body.

How is it that a melon can help to find corpses lost at sea? I think not many people know that this is actually an ancient Chinese ritual with its roots in Taoism and Buddhism. Because the pronunciation of water melon in dialect sounds like "water ghost", thus it is offered as a replacement to the Naga King (which some call the god of the sea) in exchange for the bodies of those who drown at sea. Why is it that such an offering need to be done? Simply due to fact that all creatures dead or alive in the sea comes under the jurisdiction of the Naga Kings. Which is why the boat owner prayed to the "god of the sea" before setting off and made the water melon offering to appease him once they reach those waters. Sure enough, the corpse mysteriously appears floating on the surface less than half an hour after the offering was done. This incident tells us that those deities and Devadas that have dominion over the forces of nature do exist, even though they are invisible to ordinary humans. Whether it is the water, wind, fire, lightning, thunder, earth, mountains, big trees etc, there are always higher beings who control them or live in them. As they are frequently mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures, we should always respect these nature deities who are in many cases, Dharma protectors. Very often they will help humans who are righteous in the Dharma and humble towards them.

AJ Tee Lek of Samnak Khao Sunamo

AJ Tee Lek of Samnak Khao Sunamo, Petchaboon province is known in the whole of Thailand as the "Bulletproof monk of Petchaboon". He became somewhat of a legend due to the TV programs that show his takruts and amulets being tested regularly against guns. He lives on a remote hill without a temple, yet devotees from Thailand and overseas, both near and as far as thousands of miles away come to pay respect to him. Above we see the main Sala.

The kutis on the hilltop where AJ and his followers live.
Chatting with AJ abt his new takruts coming out next month.

AJ reblessing the stuff that I chowed.

His famous Maha Ut Kongkapan takruts.

Equally famous Rian Chanachai.

LP Chalerm of Wat Boon Nah

LP Chalerm of Wat Boon Nah in Samut Songkram province is a guru monk well respected for his strong wicha knowledge. Having consecrated some new amulets to raise funds for the temple, I went there to take a look. Above is the kuti where LP resides.

The bell and drum towers.

The Ubosot still under construction.

Altar inside LP's kuti.

Shot taken with LP.

LP reblessing the items I chowed.

9" Maha Jakkapat takrut.

Kring Mongkon Jakkawan (Vairocana).

Sian Lersi.