1951 - Honorary Pali Grade Fan
1955 - Phramonkolrajamuni
1957 - Phramonkolthepmuni
Luang Phaw Wat Paknam was promoted to a very high level in the monastic hierarchy and was eventually officially awarded the royal title of ‘Phramonkolthep-muni’.
Luang Phaw’s vocation was not without hindrances. The impact of the Dhammakāya meditation was widespread, causing a stir among those used to other Buddhist practices. References to Dhammakāya in the Theravāda Buddhist Canon are scant, and Luang Phaw found himself confronted by many people who believed that Dhammakāya Meditation was alien to Buddhism, and that the highest Truth of the Buddha’s Teaching had died with the passing of the historical Buddha.
Only much later would Dhammakāya meditation become one of the most popular techniques in Thailand. During Luang Phaw’s lifetime, this meditation system caused many points of controversy to be raised among his fellow Buddhists. Some monks thought that Luang Phaw had meditate too much and as a result was teaching something that was not in keeping with Buddhism. At first sight Luang Phaw’s teachings didn’t seem to correspond with those recorded in the Pali Canon. Such was the absolute profundity of the truth into which Luang Phaw had gained insight that his Buddhist teachings were very precise. Ironically, he received a continuous stream of complaints from a public long used to vague platitudes on Buddhism. However, Luang Phaw, like any ‘pioneer’, had to treat these prejudices as ‘just another obstacle to be overcome’.
Luang Phaw was quite close to the Supreme Patriarch,
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