Meeting Luang Por Dattajeevo: A Personal Reflection : หน้า 10/164

When I first met Luang Por1, it was in the summer of 2008. I had come to visit my son, Luang Pi2 Joshua, during his first year as an ordained monk living at Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Bangkok, Thailand. I must say that my initial meeting with Luang Por Dattajeevo, the Vice-Abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, was a bit intimidating for me, but that was simply because I had no experience with meeting, and talking to, a Buddhist monk who knows me better than I know myself. As a bit of background to this book, Wat Phra Dhammakaya is famous for many reasons, including: Its status as the largest Buddhist Temple in the world; being founded in the Theravada tradition by Khun Yai, a master meditator and student of Luang Pu3 Sodh Wat PakNam who was the re-discoverer of the Dhammakaya Meditation Technique and the monk who is famous for helping to restore the integrity of true Buddhist practices in Thailand; the Abbot, Luang Por Dhammayao, who is famous not only for his level of meditation but also for the many philanthropic projects he originates and continues to support, including his belief in World Peace through Inner Peace; and, of course, the Vice-Abbot, Luang Por Dattajeevo, the Dhamma Master about whom this book is written, and to whom it is dedicated. Now, in the Spring of 2011, I look back on all of the meetings I have had with him, and I realize just how lucky I am: Not many Westerners have had the opportunity to speak with a true Master of the Dhamma face to face. Because I am who I am, I simply ask the questions, and he, being who he is, answers them all. Additionally, he seems to tailor his answers so they benefit each listener and I, therefore, find myself understanding issues that I normally might not have if he were not answering them all, while reading my mind! What more could I want? I wish that I could do justice to a description of him for you so that you could get a total picture of him in your mind’s eye as you read his teachings. With the picture I have included, I hope you get an inkling of the aura he exudes and the treasure that those who know him think he is. At one point, I said I was a total Luang Por “groupie”, and I would definitely like to start a Facebook page for him. But then I simply came to love this monk as any sane person would: clearly, absolutely, and without reservation or hesitation. He knows I feel this way and so he looks at me, laughs his brilliant laugh, waves his arm, and gives me a twinkle of his eye. 1 Venerable Father Monk 2 Venerable Brother Monk 3 Venerable Grandfather Monk