Mobile VersionHow the Ordination Merit Changed My Life
“Coaching Monk, the Sun of the World & the Universe”
I pay the highest respect to the Most Venerable Luang Phaw Dhammajayo.Pra Saengsorn Theeranandho
My name is Pra Saengsorn Theeranandho. I am 25 years old. I am now joyfully collecting merit by being a coaching monk at Wat Dongketu Ordination Training Center of Sampran district in Nakhonpathom province.
Dear Luang Phaw, I came from another side of Mekong River. I was born and brought up in the land full of nature and sincere smiles … the Republic of Laos. My home is situated in Nakhon Champasak, which is in the south of Laos. Since I was young, I saw how hard my parents had to live their lives. They had to work hard and I also had to help them on the rice fields. I had to earn a living since I was still young.
When I was 19 years old, I came to Thailand to find a job. I found work in Chonburi province, Thailand. However, I had bad luck. I was often cheated on my wages, and in addition, people took advantage of me all the time. I had to change jobs very often. For example, I worked as a construction worker, a labourer at a fresh market, and a worker at different restaurants.
Though I had to work hard and often felt very tired, I never complained because I wanted to have lots of money to send back home to Laos. When I got a day off from work, I would normally go to the temple nearby. I swept the temple ground and meditated there too. Because of this merit, I met a fellow Laotian. He brought me to Wat Pra Dhammakaya. I was so excited. It was my first time to visit such a big temple like this. I wanted to come to the temple more often, but my boss at that moment didn’t allow me to visit the temple every Sunday. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to come to the temple so much, so I decided to quit that job and finally got a job at the ice shop of Ajarn Duangduan Thongampa. She is also a Kalyanamitra (a good friend) of Wat Pra Dhammakaya. Ajarn Duangduan is very kind and generous to let me visit the temple every Sunday. I later became a volunteer of the temple and performed my duty there every weekend.
I would like to say that I very much love the Most Ven. Phramongkolthepmuni (Sod Chandasaro), the Most Venerable Luang Phaw Dhammajayo and the Master Nun Chand Khonnokyung.
I got the chance to ordain in the 7,000 monks ordination program and then again in the 100,000 monks 3 seasons ordination program in 2011. At this moment, I am the Coaching monk in that program. What encourages me daily to enjoy monkhood is that I get a chance to meditate. My meditation techniques are to breathe in deeply and recite “Samma Arahung” continuously. During the times when I got a chance to meditate with the Most Venerable Luang Phaw Dhammajayo at the International Dhammakaya Convention Hall, my mind was so still. I heard nothing. I felt lightness & comfort inside my abdomen. I felt as if my body disappeared. It’s all empty. There were only my eyes left. I felt so happy that I couldn’t even describe that feeling correctly.
Pra Daengsorn Theeranandho
After that, I saw the Buddha images above me and, one by one, the images came down into my abdomen. The Buddha images were as clear as water and very bright. When the images were inside of me, they expanded and disappeared one by one. It just happened like a continuous line of raindrops. The Buddha images are now with me all the time. No matter what I am doing, I feel the Buddha images are on top of each other all the time. My Buddha images are so perfect nowadays and they are very beautiful. The Buddha images have a very smooth surface and they are as transparent as the air. Each time when I look at them, I am in a good mood, smiling and very happy. I know by now that I can be very happy without any help from anything.
Drawing of Inner Experience
On April 22nd, 2011 my parents traveled from Laos to Wat Pra Dhammakaya. The trip was sponsored. I haven’t seen my parents in 4 years. My mother broke out in tears when we met. It was the day that she was very proud of me that I had become a monk. I was also very glad that my parents got a chance to pay homage to the Maha Dhammakaya Cetiya. I told my parents that I had donated, from the money that I tried so hard to save when I was a layman, for casting 3 Buddha images, which are now inside the cetiya, And 2 of the 3 Buddha images belong to my parents. That made them smile joyfully.
Before my parents went back home, my mother said to me that she wanted me to stay as a monk. She didn’t want me to disrobe. After that, I always call her and teach her meditation by reciting “Samma Arahang”. She practices it nowadays and watches DMC on TV everyday. She keeps telling me that I am the only child out of her 11 children that ordained for her. It makes her very happy. Furthermore, she also donates her money and asks other people to join her in making donations as well. She collected a total of 800 Baht. She wants to join in the Kathina merit with the Most Venerable Luang Phaw.
Though I can no longer work as a layman and send money to my mother, I am very proud that I give Dhamma to her instead. Dhamma is her true refuge. I teach her to rely on merit to solve any problem in life. I believe in merit. Merit that my mother makes will follow her to her future lifetimes. She won’t have difficulty in her next life anymore.
I would like to thank the Most Venerable Luang Phaw Dhammajayo very much. If you were not here, I would not have had this great chance. Whenever I hear of your guidance and see your smile I feel so cheerful and encouraged. Dear Luang Phaw, I am willing to do my best as the coaching monk. I will strictly observe the discipline of monkhood. I won’t make you and anyone else disappointed in me. Moreover, I won’t disrobe. I want to help Luang Phaw save Buddhism in every lifetime.
With the highest respect,
Pra Saengsorn Theeranandho
Translated by Sunee VongnoiEdited by View Riddell
http://goo.gl/IRHsm
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