Friday 19 September 2008

Chao khun Thiang - Story


Wat Rakhang Chao Khoon Tiang(Disciple of Luang Pu Hin)

This article was translated from Saksit Magazine written by Sanya Jampathong.Luang Phor Thiang of Wat Rakhang has special power to touch Luang Phor Toh's spirit. He had been the last student of Luang Poo Nak. He has been in monkshood with this temple for 50 years since 1952 when he was 14 years old during the time when Luang Poo Moon was the Wat Rakhang abbot. He was from Korat, then traveled to Ayuthaya and finally came back to Bangkok to study Dharma, Buddhist disciplines and Pali languages until he completed 5 Prayok. After that, he became a monk in Khorat and continued his studies until he completed 9 Prayok.


Luang Phor Thiang practiced prayers and meditation including the famous " Chinnabanchorn" chanting from the famous Luang Poo Nak of Wat Rakhang, his Teacher. He continued to practice his knowledge until he could communicate with Luang Poo Toh. He is a peace-loving monk and never seeks publicity for himself.


Luang Phor Thiang told us about his experience with Luang Poo Toh:" Not long after prayers, I melt jasmine fragrance, and the smell of areca nuts and betel leaves lingers at the tip of my nose. In front, I saw an image of Luang Poo Toh. He took me to the Wonder Forest laid down along the way by the red areca nuts. There were so many green plants from different species. There were some huts under the big trees. The ground was very soft to walk on. We went into the deep timeless forest and just then, Luang Poo Toh disappeared, leaving me there alone.... At that moment I woke up. This was my first experience of meeting with Luang Poo Toh.

From then on, he could communicate with Luang Poo Toh often. Luang Poo Toh has suggested many ideas in his works and had helped him out of bad situations many times. Luang Phor Thiang cited some examples."One night, Luang Poo Toh came to sit at the top of my bed rest for a while and then disappeared." In the morning, I tried to interpret that dream but I could not solve it. In the afternoon, at about 1pm, I traveled to Khorat. The car sped at 100km/h. But because the car was old, an accident happened - the right front wheel came off and ran ahead of the car far away. But amazingly my driver could control the car to safety without any injury to both of us!" He believes that this is the protection provided by Luang Poo Toh.


Another accident happened when he traveled from Khorat to Thung Rangsit. The driver suddenly lost control of the car and it turned over many times. Luang Phor Thiang recited the prayer 3 times. At the 4th overturn, he thought of Luang Poo Toh and called upon his help that " if Luang Poo Toh does not help me and if I have another overturn I may die." The next thing he knew was the car completed its turn and stood on the four wheels safely. Luang Phor Thiang has a picture of Luang Poo Toh, which was taken when he was preaching. This was given to him by Luang Poo Nak, his teacher. But it was black and white picture so he got somebody to paints some colors on it. That night, Luang Poo Toh came to ask him why he painted red on his robe. Luang Poo Toh likes this picture and that is why he responded to the change. He is still in this picture so we could pray to him through it. He gacw copies of this picture to so many of his followers. He also gave away many " Pra Somdet " which have been made according to Luang Poo Toh's instructions.


Another story is that around Luang Phor Thiang's residence there are many images of Luang Poo Toh. One of Luang Phor Thiang's sculptors dreamed that Luang Poo Toh came to him and asked for a shelter and a roof to prevent him from sunlight and rain. Luang Phor Thiang immediately ordered the building of the shelter and roof as he requested. Wat Rakhang previously known as " Wat Bangwayai " was a very old temple since Ayuthaya kingdom period. King Taksin of THonburi liked to come here to meditate during his reign. He came into Luang Phor Thiang's dream before. The Buddhist library was created by King Rama 1 of the present Ratanakosin Dynasty.


Luang Phor Thiang has been making images of Luang Poo Toh for many temples in Thailand and abroad. In Singapore, a group of Buddhists requested him to send some images of Luang Poo Toh to Singapore, Luang Phor Thiang acceded to their requested. He also has a sacred " Rakhang (Bell) called "Rakhang 12asee" which is for people who seek happiness and peace and freedom from bad luck" The Bell is placed outside his residence. Many people have been granted their wishes by beating this bell before. It is said that the sound of the bell will go so far to all gods and angels in heaven to hear and grant people's wishes. Luang Phor Thiang has good blessings and chanting that can protect his followers from bad things. Luang Phor Thiang or Phra Thep Suthi Methee. the head of Buddhist Region 11 committee and the Assistant Abbot of Wat Rakhang, is a very humble monk. He has no security personals to follow him everywhere. He is kind, compassionate and approachable. People should visit him at Wat Rakhang and receive his blessings.


Hope you enjoy reading this piece of translation by a fellow visitor to Wat Rakhang.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Absolute Equation




These are queries from a reader, almost all the email content is preserved:

Absolute Equation
These are queries from a reader, almost all the email content is preserved:
I recently bought an amulet, but after i wear it, i dont find anything special happening to me
!?

Comment: The problems are the "quality" of the amulet itself and the "quality" of you yourself. First, is your amulet a real item or a fake? If it's real and well made & blessed by qualified Gurus, the amulet will certainly be efficacious and should have some noticeable effects. Second, how do you-- the amulet owner--practice yourself. A close friend of mine has many real good great amulets, but apart from that he donates to help needed temples and regularly chants some good great Kathas with his high faith. He automatically and unintentionally attains good Smadhi in some degree. Strange phenomena and lucky fortune are happening to him.

The most important thing is before you are wearing amulets, you have to request for Buddha and LPs' protection, a blessing on Metta, fortune, and even daily good existence. The request process needs Smadhi or concentrated mind. The more Smadhi you have, the more result you will receive.

Thus, real good amulets + real good practices will really effect noticeable changes.


1) How to choose a real amulet?

ANS: In case of old or rather old amulets You must remember its specific features--its form or characteristic, its mass or material, and its surface. There is no exception--it's a must to have knowledge thoroughly on every item. The degree of success depends on your eyes and your memory. And this is why I always say that it's much more difficult to examine Thai amulets than gem stones. Or else, buy it from a real qualified, trustable and ethical shop or expert.

2) Can all the amulets i buy in Thai temples be trusted as real?

ANS: Certainly, they can be trusted as NEW REAL items, but the EFFICACY of amulets are NOT ALWAYS good great. It depends on ability of Guru(s) who made and blessed them. It means how strong their Visha Arkom (knowledge on magic or Saiyavej) and how High Dhamma they attained. Frankly speaking for Present Period, there are NOT MANY real qualified Gurus who could create real good great amulets.

3) How can i be sure which amulet is suitable for me?

ANS: There are many kinds of amulets --Metta, Klaew Klaad (free from harms or safty protection), Kong Kra Phan (impenetrability), Maha Amnaj (power), Maan Kong ( security), fortune, etc. Ask yourself what is/are your specific purpose(s) to use amulet(s), and then find such the spec amulet(s) to wear. A lot of people have concurrent reasons or purposes, so they can wear many amulets on a chain at wishes.

4) It's not that i don't believe but i bought an amulet at a shop, but it's not helping me, that's why i don't know whether its real or fake.

ANS: Good amulets + good practices = good effects. I strongly guarantee this absolute equation.

Beware of Propaganda Items




A lot of Thai and Singaporeans collectors are haunted by amulet propagandists. In some places tricky merchants cut and copy non-standard newspapers, which reported miraculous events of amulets, to blow up and make propaganda text for commercial purposes. It works !! A lot of propaganda items sell like hot cakes!!

The top-hit monk lists in Thailand and Singapore are not so different. Frankly say here that in among the lists only few of them can be accepted for their Dhamma practices and amulets. Most of them are not qualified while many are unknown. The truth is--they had been launched to the sky by propaganda printed media. They speedily go up high; and after propaganda items are already saturatedly absorbed by less scrutinized collectors, they acceleratedly fall down to earth like meteors.

This is the main reason why a lot of Thai and Singaporean collectors collected DECEPTIVE NOVEL-BASED AMULETS of no efficacies at all

Money is not so easy to earn, it's from our sweat, troubles and miseries, but we easily allowed ourself to be fooled by those propagandist merchants. Don't be gullible collectors anymore but please be SMART collectors. Here are some advice to protect your money not to fly out from your wallet cause by propagandist merchants:

1. Collect good amulets created by great Gurus--not propaganda amulets--by consulting the LIST OF GREAT GURUS I have prepared.

2. Beware of the news cut on amulets' unbelievable events referring to non-standard newspapers.

3. Beware of the unknown and strange names of monks to whom are referred on miraculous performance.

4. Buy amulets from ethical & trustable shops or persons only.

MAY YOU ALL BE LUCKY TO GET GOOD GREAT, ORIGINAL AUTHENTIC AMULETS.

Something You Should Know


" Sweet words are not true, but true words are not sweet "

1. The most important thing in collecting Guru amulets is--knowing on each amulet background, WHO made & blessed them and WHAT for. Please beware of very numerous items which are BUSINESS-ORIENTED.

2. FRANKLY SPEAKING, THE REAL GOOD GREAT AMULETS ARE SO MUCH LESS WHEN COMPARE TO THOSE FAKES AND INEFFICACIOUS, BUSINESS-ORIENTED ITEMS MADE BY UNQUALIFIED MONKS.

3. PRESENT-PERIOD amulets need more deliberate consideration because a lot of them are BUSINESS-RELATED amulets. But still so many are good great amulets. If we really know their backgroud, we could separate them and get the selected good great amulets with inexpensive prices. If you're not sure whether they are good or not, please consult real qualified, trustable experts.

4. Try to collect STANDARD amulets of good background and avoid strange-form or strange-name amulets, or unfamiliar names of makers(monks), otherwise you will lose your money for INEFFICACIOUS amulets.

5. Remember that in among a lot of PRESENT-PERIOD guru monks, NOT MANY are real qualified. And don't be frightened or shocked by the fact that MANY FAMOUS monks which you know quite well and whose amulets cost high prices ARE NOT real qualified!!

6. Amulet world is rather complicated. It's flooded with propaganda and fictions. Please think twice because there are a lot of mouth-to-mouth RUMORS and PROPAGANDA stories.

7. Please remember that amulets that one hanging or collecting will tell the owner's NATURE--taste, economic status, social status and wisdom. If you are hanging or collecting fakes, non-standard items, or naive-monk-produced amulets, you may be looked scornful.

8. The very truth is-- in every 10 amulet hangers or users, we will find only 2 or 3 that hang good, qualified-guru-made amulets. I do hope my dear net-readers are such the lesser 2 or 3 kind.

9. Please realize that a lot of fakes, non-standard items, and inefficacious amulets produced by non-qualified monks were exported and FLOODED in some neighbor countries. Thus, be yourself and don't be dragged along or influenced by those hot-sale, propaganda items.

10. Please remember that EXPENSIVE amulets do not always mean GOOD while GOOD amulets do not always mean EXPENSIVE.

11. Real QUALIFIED EXPERT, ETHICAL MEDIA that feed you with amulets knowledge and related information will help you much on your learning. But there are NOT MANY such the media.

12.Some LOW-QUALITY and NON-STANDARD printed media struggle their existence by dealing, directly or indirectly, with some NON-QUALITY newly-made or leftover amulets of large amount. They are really pure-business amulets. The propaganda and persuasive text is well prepared for readers. If we lack the good background or good sense, we will be gullible preys. So please think twice after reading any text related to PRESENT-PERIOD amulets.

Food for Thought



Few people in Singapore are willing to pay money for the real genuine amulets, unless exaggerated sales pitch are involved, or when buyers are shown newspaper cutting in regard the efficacy of amulets. Collectors have their own small circles for talk. My observation is that people here responded to sales talk more than genuine and factual presentation of amulets, whilst many responded significantly to magazine cutting, etc.



Many, for some misguided reasons, expect immediate results after wearing the amulets. You are quite right to point out that few people really appreciate real goody amulets in Singapore. Another observation here is that many have paid unnecessary exorbitant price for common-place amulets Then there is also a handful of veterans who spent great old time in Thailand but only to find them avoiding the amulet mainstream gossips for the right reasons. Like anywhere else in this world, the amulet fraternity here has its fair share of amulet politicking.



So my advice to our net readers is that we should get ourselves involved in productive dialogue with the experts and avoid those amulet gossips; it does not help us in our spiritual development and it is very unproductive. My old time friend is one such example. He feels embarrassed and sadden when he joined people in the dialogue in the past. It is unproductive insofar as our spiritual development is concerned. Singapore is small such that it is not difficult to know who are good and genuine collectors here. Very sadly, some genuine and well-meaning people paid unnecessary high price for fake amulets, or amulets which price are artificially and unreasonably inflated.


Mr Lek - sometimes it is not difficult to detect fakes from the genuine amulet by mere naked eyes. So my advice to net readers is to spend wisely. Invest your hard earned money into valued-orientated amulets that are efficacious


Don’t reinvent the wheel. Learn from the historian but look forward. Remember there is wheels within wheels in amulet collection. Good luck in your amulet quest.

No Sweet Truth


Derwent's comment on the article "Food For Thought" is very useful and always up-to-dated for every collectors. And I think the correct concept of amulet collecting should be established in among many Singaporean collectors, otherwise they would reinvent the wheel and lose their hard earned money. And these are some issues that should be realized by anyone who want to be "real" collector:
1.The indulging in the exaggerated sales pitch instead of self discretion based on the standard study system will cause a lot of Singaporean collectors not able to upgrade themself in amulets collecting. And this is no wonder why a lot of Singaporean collectors collect very strange-look or strange-name amulets. Sadly, many good great items should be collected but are ignored while a lot of fakes and fictitious should be ignored but are reversely collected. It's the upside-down collecting style.

2.The late great guru Chao Khun Nor teach us a very sharp and clear words:
The fakes talk a loud voice, but the real are deaf & dumb. The misleading collectors should think twice on this reminding sentence and try to understand it.

3. Studying and collecting Thai amulets relies on genuine and factual presentation approach--the imprint and mass--on those real good, long-year experienced, standard amulets. No exag-gerated sales pitch is concerned.

4. The real good-made and well blessed amulet has its real miraculous efficacy, but how strong its efficacy is and how fast it results depending on the user himself. If the user has good meditative mind and could harmonize himself with the amulet's power, he would receive strong and fast effects. So, the efficacy of an amulet depends directly on the mentioned two side inter-active action and reaction.

5. A major problem in Singapore is caused by the lacking of local experts. And some few good-knowledge persons or real mature collectors feel embarrassed to take inter-active relations with those talkative lacking-knowledge collectors. The collecting sys-tem in S'pore is not running on its track, it's like the off-road commuting. If they don't change their collecting concept, they would wear fakes and never experience the real great miraculous efficacies of the amulets forever.

6. Remember that running and grabbing amulets after the exaggerated news will be causing to get the fictitious, the fakes or the imitations.

7. As I have stressed before, the truth is not sweet while the sweet is not the truth. Some sentences on the above text may be bitter. The nature of the truth is that. And if we don't accept the truth, how can we improve ourself for going forward.

Prelude of Amulet Collection


Thai amulets is real big world. Many and many are collecting items. Even collectors could not know all of them, but they should know them as most as possible or at least in the scope related to their collecting. More than 20 years I have been in this field and many thousands of core and popular collecting items were closely examined by me, but still more in outer perimeter waiting to be learned --it's non-stop learning task.

Most important things for whoever want to achieve the title VETERAN COLLECTORS compose of the following factors: seeing a lot on real pieces, reading a lot on their backgrounds, and listening a lot from the learned persons.

The nowaday hi-tech communication system help so much on our learning. You can learn free from useful articles via internet with clear and high resolution pictures. But knowledges are not limited on those articles and pictures, even something from veteran conversation forum is also knowledge--maybe unwritten and unrecorded knowledge .

Remember that there are a lot of fakes and propaganda items spreading in Thailand's neighbor countries, especially in Malaysia and Singapore. So, we must also have knowledge on those fakes and propaganda items for wiping them out from our collection. This is the way we would get only the real good great items that are excellent value. To achieve this goal, it's a must for us to concentrate on seeing, reading and listening as mentioned.

Even I have a lot of daily tasks to do, I promise that I will often meet you here, so please often visit this page to upgrade your knowledge on Thai amulets. See you !!