Luang Ta Chi

160 Pages·2005·3.14 MB·English

The Life Story of
Luang Ta Chi
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
The Life Story of
Luang Ta Chi
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1. Village of the Beautiful Termite Hill......................8
2. The Pleasure of Tending Water Buffaloes............12
3. The Education of Novice Sak................................16
4. State Religious Education......................................23
5. Monastic Life in Bangkok.....................................27
6. Working for His Homeland...................................35
7. Subduing Ghosts and Spirits..................................41
8. Hearing Sermons from Metteyya...........................46
9. Confronting a Dark Force......................................59
10. Jail: the School of Hard Knocks ...........................67
11. Practicing Dhamma to the Utmost ........................71
12. Meditation Teacher and Preacher..........................74
13. Preaching to Drunks...............................................85
14. The Origin of Wat Thai Washington, D.C. ..........87
15. The Most Influential Teachers...............................91
16. Luang Ta Chi as a Writer......................................96
17. For Future Generations of Buddhists ..................101
18. Awards Received..................................................104
Sources..................................................................105
Illustration credits.................................................108
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
Preface
In my translation of Luang Ta Chiûs life story I have
followed the romanization system of the Royal Institute. One
exception is the term ajan (teacher). Instead of achan, the
Royal Instituteûs spelling, I write ajan, because it reflects
both local pronunciation and English usage more accurately.
The monastic names of Thai monks are spelled phonetically,
unless the monk has his own preferred English spelling, such
as çBuddhadasaé instead of çPhutthathat.é The first time a
Pali or Thai term is mentioned it is in italic, after that it is in
plain type.
In addition to Ajan (teacher), Thai Buddhists, young
monks, and novices generally call elder monks Luang Pho
(venerable father) or Luang Pu (venerable grandfather) or
Luang Ta (venerable grandfather).
In translating the interviews with Luang Ta Chi I have
attempted to capture the essence of his ideas in English, as
well as the lively tone and the color of his talks. In quoting
portions of the interviews, I have left out repetitions and
switched sentences within paragraphs for a natural flow in
English. When possible I have tried to translate his recollec-
tions literally. In addition, I have attempted to put the stories
of his life into their historical context. I hope that Luang Ta
Chiûs life story will be accessible to students who are inter-
ested in Thai Buddhism and in the history of Thailand. Due
to time constraints, I end Luang Ta Chiûs life story when he
became abbot of Wat Thai Washington, D.C.
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
In Luang Ta Chiûs youth the country called Siam was
renamed çThailandé in 1941 during the Phibun regime. The
words çThailandé and çThaié are used in the post-1941
context. As a result of the nationalist policy of the Phibun
government, çThaié came to encompass all ethnic groups in
Thailand, not just the Siamese.
The source notes provided at the end of the life story
appear in sequential order. The books listed in the sources
are not meant to be exhaustive of the subjects; I list only
those from which I draw material in the creation of this life
story.
Finally, I would like to thank Professor David K. Wyatt
for providing the maps and scanning all the illustrations for
this book. I thank Dolina Millar for her help in rendering
several catchy titles of Luang Ta Chiûs short stories into
English. I am grateful to Patricia Connor for her copyediting
skills and to Dr. John LeRoy for his copyediting and com-
puter expertise. Despite short notice, they have cheerfully
helped me meet the publication deadline for Luang Ta Chiûs
life story.
Dr. Kamala Tiyavanich
Ithaca, New York
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
Map of Thailand showing provinces
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
The Life Story of
Luang Ta Chi
Luang Ta Chi is the pen name of Phra Maha Surasak
Dhammarat, abbot of Wat Thai Washington, D.C. A wat is
a place of residence for monastics and a temple of
worship. It is also a community center for monastics and
laypeople. Luang Ta means Venerable Grandfather. Chi
(pronounced Chee) is the first syllable of his monastic name,
Chiwanantho. Adults as well as children began calling him
Luang Ta Chi affectionately after he began using the pen
name in his writings. He will be referred to by his original
name, Maha Surasak, when the story of his youth in
Thailand is being told. His most familiar name, Luang
Ta Chi, will be used whenever he is speaking in his own
voice.
The following story is an adventure in education,
pursued not always under the best of conditions.
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
Village of the Beautiful
Termite Hill
Luang Ta Chi was born on Tuesday, June 8, 1925, in
the year 2467 of the Buddhist era, the year of the ox. As a
child he was called Sak, a nickname formed by shortening
his real name, Surasak. His fatherûs name was Chan; his
motherûs, Mun. Like most villagers, his parents were farm-
ers. They had nine children; Sak was the fourth. The family
lived in a Lao village called Ban Phon Ngam, or Village of
the Beautiful Termite Hill. At the time of Sakûs birth, his
natal village was part of Mukdahan district in Nakhon Phanom,
a province on the Mekong river. The people of Nakhon Phanom
were mostly Lao, but a variety of other ethnic groups made their
home in the province as well.
The Map of Northeast Thailand
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
Village house with spirit shrine in the foreground.
Sak was born near the end of the reign of King Rama
VI. The king died in November 1925, about six months after
Sakûs birth. During the absolute monarchy, Rama VI, who
was educated in England for several years, adopted many
Western customs. He popularized the phrase çNation,
Religion, and Kingé in order to inculcate devotion to the
nation and to state Buddhism. The king proclaimed that his
subjects were to attach surnames to their personal names.
Until this time, local people were known only by their given
names, and they usually responded to nicknames given in
infancy. Near the time Sak was born, King Rama VI, who
reigned from 1910 to 1925, decreed that education be made
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi
compulsory throughout the land. Consequently, all children
between the ages of seven and fourteen were required to
attend an elementary school run by the state, which offered a
curriculum based on Western models.
A village in Khamcha-ee district
Sak spent his entire childhood in what the Thai envi-
ronmentalists called the jungle-village era, a period that
reaches far, far back in time until its end in 1957. During
this long period of time, Siam, as the country was then called,
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The Life Story of Luang Ta Chi