MA 54 The Master Nun Who Founded Our First Temple

Meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition following a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This track taught live at Azusa CA on 19 November 2023, describes the sacrifices and perseverance of Khun Yay Chandra Khonnokyoong (1909-200) to master Dhammakaya meditation and act as lineage-holder for the tradition until Wat Phra Dhammakaya, Thailand was founded in 1970.

Transcript

I would like to start by making sure you're comfortable for your meditation practice.

Settling yourself into a comfortable posture for the meditation,

Whether you're sitting on a meditation mat or on a straight-backed chair.

So if you're sitting cross-legged,

Then try to make sure that both your knees reach as far as the floor,

Perhaps propping up your position with smaller cushions to achieve that stable triangle of support.

If you're sitting on a chair,

Then sit up straight with both your feet flat on the floor.

In any case,

You should bring your spine up nice and tall in order to energize yourself,

Letting your lower back relax to its natural shape and allowing your hand to rest palm upwards in your lap,

With the right hand over the left hand,

The index finger of the right hand touching against the thumb of the left hand,

And close your eyes very gently.

Close your eyes gently or just cast your gaze softly downward to the floor in front of you,

Allowing your eyes to defocus.

You might imagine that as you breathe out,

You're letting go of any confusion in your life,

And as you breathe in,

You're inhaling clarity.

As you breathe out,

You're exhaling any darkness,

And as you breathe in,

You're inhaling light.

As you breathe out,

Letting go of any hatred,

And as you breathe in,

Inhaling love,

Exhaling any anxiety,

And inhaling nothing but peace and kindness and forgiveness,

So that you're letting go of any shortcomings and gaining only strength through your meditation.

And from there,

We do what's known as a body scan to relax all the muscles of our body.

So we invite a sense of relaxation to our face,

Allowing our eyelids to soften,

Allowing that softness to flow down through our temples in a gentle wave,

Allowing our lips to touch only very lightly together as our mouth relaxes,

And letting our jawline soften.

We relax our neck and let our shoulders drop to their natural height,

Releasing any tension in our arms,

Our forearms,

Our hands and fingers,

So that our hands rest only very lightly in our lower back.

Continuing on down,

We relax all the muscles of our torso,

Chest,

Trunk,

And throughout our core,

Before relaxing both legs all the way down to our feet and our toes.

And if there's any part of our body that still feels constricted or tight,

We allow those areas to relax more completely.

Meanwhile,

We feel ourselves opening up and expanding,

Becoming lighter as we let go of any tension until it feels as if our whole body has melted away into the atmosphere around us,

Leaving us with no further worries about our body anymore,

Allowing us to turn our attention toward the inside of our body.

So we allow our attention to gently peel away from the outside world,

This time allowing us to relax our state of mind by putting aside any worries or concerns about everyday life.

Just like a person with no past and no future,

Entirely focused in the present moment and on the task in hand.

We might imagine that our mind is like a clear blue sky,

Where the thoughts are just like white fluffy clouds floating on by.

We might feel as if our body and mind were sinking deeper and deeper,

Letting go and unwinding with each exhalation,

Allowing our mind to withdraw from the tangled mesh of everyday life,

Leaving behind any anxiety or worries about our obligations or responsibilities,

Allowing ourselves to go to a place where we can be completely free and relaxed,

Completely at peace,

And for us that place might be like a sunny beach or a grassy meadow,

A majestic mountain top or a favorite room,

Conjuring up such a place in our mind's eye,

Our ideal spot for relaxation,

With no cares or worries,

As if we're completely free from the usual round of daily hassles or pressure,

And we take in a sense of wholeness,

The feeling of space,

Sensing the infinite,

Boundlessly outward,

Extending forever,

And we take this expanse fully into ourselves,

Letting go of our boundaries,

Connecting for a moment with the wonder of remaining fully in the here and now,

Letting go of the boundaries as we connect with a wider reality,

Beyond what we can normally see,

Extending wider than our conventional imagination,

And when we feel relaxed and refreshed,

Both in body and in mind,

Very gently and using no effort at all,

We can imagine that the whole of our body is nothing but an empty space,

Or a hollow cavity,

With no organs or tissues,

No muscles or bones,

Or inside you,

You might imagine that your whole body has been transformed into a sort of transparent bubble,

With nothing on the inside,

And when you're ready,

Again very gently,

Using no effort at all,

You might cast your mind back again,

To that imaginary picture of a bright,

Shining sun,

Which we imagined a few moments ago,

Maybe yellow or golden in color,

White or red,

It doesn't really matter,

And we shouldn't feel put off if the actual picture is not as clear as we normally see it with our eyes,

Even if it's vague,

We accept it anyway,

And there may be some people who find the warmth of the sun is more tangible than the actual picture of it,

And again,

We can use that tactile sense of warmth as the object for our meditation,

In this case,

We allow that bright picture,

Or that feeling of warmth,

To make its way gradually downwards inside the space of our body,

Almost as if we were gradually breathing it down inside us to the deepest point of the breath,

Or gently swallowing the object down to the very pit of our stomach,

And once the bright object,

Or the sense of warmth,

Reaches that point in our abdomen,

There's no need for us to move the object anywhere else anymore,

We gradually and gently maintain it,

With a feather-light touch,

At the very center of ourselves,

And if we find our awareness wandering away onto other things,

Whether it be the sounds or distractions around us,

Each time we realize,

We simply bring our attention back again,

To the center of our body as before,

If the inner object disappears,

Then we can conjure up a new one,

And we don't make a big deal about it,

And when we're new to meditation,

We'll find that our mind wanders quite often,

But each time we notice its absence,

We simply bring it back,

And it'll become a little bit easier to keep it in place the next time round,

Until before long we'll find our awareness is spending more time centered than it does wandering,

At which point we'll start to have an intuitive feeling of the mind being able to stay at the center of the body,

Almost by a second nature,

And to help create a space between ourselves and our thoughts,

We start to tap into that still small and silent space between the thoughts,

And if the thoughts return,

We do our best to ignore them,

But if ignoring the thoughts proves ineffective,

We can make use of the traditional mantra instead,

Using the words Samma Arahang,

Samma Arahang,

Samma Arahang,

Or any other affirmation of our own that we prefer to substitute in,

And the more you repeat the mantra,

The deeper those words will lead us towards a sense of purity in the mind,

Helping us to free the mind of thought,

As those words resonate within our heart,

Within every cell,

Every fiber of our being,

As the mind becomes more settled within us,

So we continue in this way,

Lightly and gently,

Just for a few more moments now in silence,

Until we come to the appropriate time,

We continue to keep our mind gently on track at the center of the body,

The whole of the time,

By means of our inner object,

Whether it's something we see,

Or something we feel inside us,

And if we find our mind is slipping away onto other things,

Each time we realize,

We just bring our attention back again to the center of the body as before,

If the inner object disappears,

We can conjure up a new one,

But if it changes,

Then we just follow it in its new form,

At the same time,

We try to keep the mind free of thought,

Either by ignoring any thoughts that arise,

Or by making use of the mantra as a way to run interference on those random thoughts,

So we continue to meditate in this way,

Lightly and gently at the center of our body,

And today as we're meditating,

We can bring to mind the meditation journey of the second generation root teacher of our tradition,

The master nun,

Kunyay,

Maharatna Obasika Jankunovyong,

Or Kunyay as we call her for short,

Who lived between 1909 and the year 2000.

She's often revered by our meditators as a model of excellence in meditation,

That allowed her to break through the glass ceiling of a monastic tradition usually dominated by males and scholars.

She came originally from a landed farming community in Nakhon Phatom in Thailand,

Was inspired to learn meditation from an early age by the wish to offer spiritual help to her father,

Who'd passed away prematurely when she was still young.

She left behind the comfort of her recently wealthy provincial home,

And humbled herself by engaging in domestic service in the Thai capital,

In order to get the connection she needed to continue her spiritual education at the temple of her choice.

Kunyay's first contact with a meditation teacher at Dong Suk Sam Dinh Ban was when her mistress,

Kunay Liep,

Trusted her enough to join a family meditation lesson held in their home.

As a servant,

She had to work even harder than normal to gain this privilege.

In Dong Suk's usual way of teaching meditation was to have her students focus their mind gently at the center of the body,

Visualizing a crystal ball,

While repeating the mantra Samma Arawang silently inside themselves.

Even these simple instructions at first seemed quite difficult for Kunyay to follow.

Whenever she closed her eyes and wanted to let go of the things of the world,

Suddenly she'd find her mind filled with thoughts of work she hadn't completed,

And she would peek at her mistress to make sure she wouldn't be caught neglecting her domestic duties.

Sometimes there would be thoughts of the family she'd left behind,

Or images of the open fields of her hometown that bothered her during the meditation.

But her meditation teacher explained that thought is the greatest hindrance to meditation.

And consequently,

Even outside her meditation lessons,

Kunyay divided her time strictly,

Trying to finish her chores more quickly each day so she could sneak in extra time to meditate.

She would slip meditation into the gaps between her household duties.

But it was hard for her to settle the mind when she was constantly having to look over her shoulder when meditating.

Even so,

When she got to close her eyes and meditate,

She did so in earnest,

Cultivating concentration at the center of the body,

Determined to see the crystal ball for herself.

If she meditated too seriously,

And it brought on a headache or feelings of dizziness,

Then she learned to avoid the sort of effort that makes it uncomfortable to breathe.

But still she found her mind did not reach the point where her thoughts had made her needless silence.

Still,

She could see nothing but darkness in her meditation.

And this seemed to go on for weeks and months,

Without any glimpse of the inner light her teacher had promised.

Kongsuk advised her always to keep her mind in peace,

By means of a visualization and a mantra,

Saying not to worry if she wasn't an overnight success,

And to avoid using force on the mind,

Never squeezing the eyes closed,

Not to be afraid of seeing nothing,

And even if there was something to see not to get elated about it,

Otherwise the newfound inner image would disappear again.

But eventually her teacher,

Kongsuk,

Was able to confirm that Kunyaya's mind was starting to become refined.

And when it became yet more stable,

It would reach a standstill on its own.

Her experience of meditation made Kunyaya think of trying to catch a hen in a chicken coop,

Because if you rushed to catch a hen,

Then it would just fly away and all your efforts would be in vain.

But if you were able to approach the chicken gently,

Then it would become tame and easily caught.

In the same way,

It's impossible to control the mind by force.

But only by slow and careful application of the attention,

Irrespective of whether we can see the inner object clearly or not,

Until in the end the mind will come to a standstill at the point of balance.

So in this way,

She continued to maintain the concentration with mindfulness,

Both inside and outside the practice,

Until eventually,

After two years,

She was able to reduce the number of thoughts in the mind,

Leaving herself with a feeling of lightness and spaciousness inside.

On one occasion,

She was able to perceive a tiny pinhole of light inside herself,

Rather like a star in the sky,

At which point she was able to bring her mind to a stage of progress known as a standstill within a standstill,

Where the mind is able to penetrate through the center,

Going continually deeper on a central axis within,

At which point a bright crystal sphere became firmly established at the center of the body,

Staying with her even between meditations,

Till eventually she was able to pass the awareness through the very center of the crystal ball,

To see the astral version of herself,

And eventually a succession of inner bodies of increasing refinement,

Until she was able to reach the body of enlightenment within herself.

And it was at this point that both Kunyaya and her teacher Dong Suk made a pact to renounce that household life and enter the temple as nuns.

And on the night of entering the temple,

She had a dream about crossing over a great ocean,

To an island where a huge Bodhi tree stood.

Not long afterwards,

She got the chance to learn meditation from the Great Abbot of Wat Phra Dung Nguan.

He greeted her with the words,

What took you so long,

Even though he had never met her before.

Later,

He fast-tracked her progress into a meditation research facility in his temple.

The Great Abbot was a hard taskmaster and never usually spared any compliments for his meditation students.

Nonetheless,

The unequalled prowess shown by Kunyaya in answering his questions through her lucid meditation earned her the praise of second-to-none from the Great Abbot.

She used to meditate for two six-hour sessions every day over the course of decades in conducting that meditation research.

And although she never received any formal education,

And remained illiterate throughout her life,

Never expecting recognition,

But it was her efforts to defend Bangkok from the air raids during the Second World War that made her a household name,

When this was described in a journal called Wipasana Banteng Sawan.

Eventually,

She outlived both the Great Abbot of Wat Phra Dung Nguan and of the teacher from Suk,

And she started to engage with a new generation of meditators at Dhammaprasit's house,

Leading to the foundation of Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Batumthani province from 1970 onwards,

Which is why Kunyaya is known as the founder of our main temple in Thailand down to the present day.

So we reflect on the roots of our own tradition in this way,

As we continue to apply our mind lightly and gently at the center of the body,

Following on with our own practice for a few more moments in silence,

Until we come to time for some loving-kindness meditation.

So we continue to keep our mind on track at the center of the body the whole of the time,

Lightly,

Gently,

Continuously,

Always at the center of whatever inner experience we have built up for ourselves.

As a result of the meditation so far today,

We allow ourselves an extra measure of loving-kindness to spread out towards every part of our body,

With the wish that it will help us overcome difficulty of every kind,

Checking in with the part of ourselves that equates with peace and harmony,

Rather than conflict or attrition,

Filling ourselves with love,

Making sure that every cell is open to that love,

And taking a moment to purify and cleanse our body and mind in a way that feels right for us,

As if there's nothing that love cannot conquer,

As if there's nothing that love cannot heal,

And in the same way reaching out to all the people and beings around us with that same experience of loving-kindness from our center,

But reaching out to all the inhabitants of the world,

Even to those with whom we might not see eye-to-eye,

And extending outwards to all those individuals the sense of love and understanding and healing light,

With a powerful,

Cleansing,

Healing light,

Extending for the benefit of all our parents and siblings,

Our friends,

Our children,

Our life partner,

Our in-laws,

Uncles and aunts,

Nieces and nephews,

Cousins,

Teachers,

Those in public office,

Extending towards them all a powerful,

Cleansing light,

To all living beings near and far,

And as this healing energy grows and expands to fill this whole room,

To fill this whole building,

Outwards to the whole city,

The whole of our county,

The whole country,

Reaching out to all living beings with a sense of blessing,

Auspiciousness for all,

With this healing energy,

Where the spreading of loving-kindness is almost like a tangible expression of a wish or a hope for a wider society of elevated awareness,

Extending outwards around the world with the inner knowledge of meditation,

To make a real change for the good on a different wavelength in the world,

As if our own meditation somehow ushers in a broader change in the world,

A sense of transformation that starts with ourselves,

We might even think back to the master nun,

Khun Yai,

Who founded our original temple in Thailand,

With a sense of gratitude,

Extending positive energy as we continue to bring this meditation lineage to a new generation,

For the last few moments of our practice together.

Reviews

Lovely once again. Brings much peace. Wonderful story and very calming practice. Many thanks! ☮️💖🙏🖖🪷🕉