The Dhammakaya Tradition and Luang Phaw Wat Paknam : หน้า 104/263

practice of the Middle Way until attaining levels of Buddhist sainthood according to their potential. All the evidence that is left by some Buddhist saints is their scriptural testimo- nies, but some are still around, even to the present day. The Noble Monk who discovered the Dhammakaya Tradition Phramongkolthepmuni, (Luang Phaw Wat Paknam Bhas- charoen) is well known and respected by all Buddhists in Thailand and beyond. Even though it is several decades since his death, his picture still hangs in innumerable homes and workplaces of those in the Thai and Chinese communities. The tales of the powers and sanctity of Luang Phaw Wat Paknam which he used to help his followers still abound. Luang Phaw Wat Paknam heir from Supanburi prov- ince in Thailand and before ordaining was known as Sodh Mikawnoi. He became disgusted with the superficiality of his working life and at the tender age of twenty-two com- mitted himself to lifelong ordination as a Buddhist monk. He dedicated himself to Buddhist academic studies until he felt that the educational resources at his home temple in Songpinong, Supanburi were limiting him. He continued his studies in Bangkok — academic studies and also meditational studies, the latter for which he trained with the utmost strictness. The Dhammakāya Tradition is what he discovered as the result of all his efforts. In his sermons, Luang Phaw Wat Paknam explained that the Dhammakāya Tradition (i.e. the method for attaining Dhammakāya) is what the Lord Buddha used in the train- ing of sentient beings from the earliest days of his dispensa- tion. Even the teachings on *āyatana-nibbāna* and *dhammakāya* which are prominent features of the Dhammakāya Tradition, are present in the Buddhist scrip- tures, but they are not sufficiently well explained in the com-