Forest monk leaves gift of his wisdom
Published: 27/08/2014 at 06:12 AM
Newspaper section: News
When Luang Por Khamkhian Suvanno drew his last breath as dawn broke on Saturday, the country not only lost a great meditation master, but also a socially conscious monastic who dedicated his life to saving the forests and the livelihoods of the poor.
The late Luang Por Khamkhian Suwanno. (Photo by Vichai Napua, Lampathao Group)
"If nature is destroyed and people are still hungry, monks have little chance of saving their souls," the forest monk once told me during an interview many years ago.
After 46 years in the monkhood, Luang Por Khamkhian succumbed to lymphoma at Sukhato Forest Monastery in the mountainous area of Tambon Tha Mafaiwan in Chaiyaphum's Kaeng Kroh district. He was 78.
Over the past seven months, the meditation master used his approaching death as a dhamma exercise for his disciples. It was a chance to contemplate on impermanence and non-self. Equally important, it was an opportunity to strengthen mindfulness which is a necessary tool to transcend both negative and positive changes in life.
It was not the only precious lesson his life had to offer.
For those who followed his meditation teaching, they may well find their own path to inner peace. For those who learned from his life, they may well find the answer to problem-plagued Thai Buddhism.
Growing up in a frontier community plagued by lawlessness and hardship in the Northeast, the young Khamkhian discovered early in life that the monkhood was his calling. He became a disciple of the late meditation master Luang Por Tean Jittasupo who taught the inculcation of mindfulness through hand movements.
Forest monks normally concentrate on their meditation. But he believed village folks couldn't free themselves from worldly desires while they were not free from hunger.
To ease their hardship, he set up a rice bank, a temple nursery, a village co-operative shop, and a community fish pond. He convinced local villagers to restore forest that had been destroyed by state logging concessions and cassava plantations. When the forest returned, so did a source of free food and herbs.
When roads and electricity brought new temptations to his village, he taught villagers how meditation could provide spiritual immunity, how a proper lifestyle free of vice and superstition could save their families, and how cooperation could save their community.
He also taught a new concept of merit-making. "Merit-making is being good to others and making others happy," he told me. "You don't have to make merit by giving alms to monks."
Fulfilling one's duty to oneself and others is also a form of merit-making, he added.
"I also don't preach heaven and hell. I talk about here and now. Hell is here if we are constantly quarrelling," he said.
I still remember the amiable Luang Por vividly. He didn't have an iota of a seriousness associated with a meditation guru. Instead, he radiated a happy energy and friendly kindness with his broad smiles. Even when he was not speaking, there was always a soft smile on his face and his eyes twinkled.
His hands and feet were rugged from hard work. Unlike city monks who are waited on to the point of being pampered, he led his monks in building shelters, fetching water from ponds, or other labourious work in the temple.
His "activism" attracted a big following among university students in the 70s. He was accused of being a "red" monk, a Communist. But his sincerity was his shield.
One of his students is now a highly respected conservationist monk and advocate of Sangha reform, Phra Paisal Visalo.
One the Tha Mafaiwan community's biggest threats came from state tree farm projects in the guise of reforestation programmes. Secondary forests are cleared so areas can be leased to tree farm investors. The villagers are evicted and their source of foods destroyed.
Phra Paisal and the villagers have the blessing of Luang Por Khamkhian to stage dhamma walks every year to protect the forests in the area.
Besides saving forests, Luang Por encouraged villagers to grow vegetables to cut food expenses and protect themselves from toxic farm chemicals. Everything he did gave a favourable atmosphere for people to practise dhamma. "Teaching dhamma and meditation is still my main goal," he said.
Monks, he said, cannot deny social responsibility. "We are also to blame if the villagers are trapped in indebtedness. It is our duty to show the way."
How I wish more monks followed Luang Por Khamkhian's way.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.