“No one can save us but ourselves. No one can or will do it for us. We ourselves must walk our own path, » said Buddha.
Phra Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho, the greatest master of the Lao Forest Monk School, of which he was the founder, was born to serve and he instinctively knew that he had to save himself long before he crossed the path of the Dharma, almost by accident. Thereafter, he would not stop – until his death in 1968 – seeking the way to help as many people as possible so that each one could not only know the true nature of his heart, but above all find the key to put into practice the Four Incommensurables, sources of benevolence, compassion, altruism, and equanimity.
The last born of four siblings, including a sister, the child Pane Kèosomphou was born on October 25, 1911, in a small newly created village in the middle of a forest, in the province of Savannakhet, in the south of Laos. By launching his first cries to the world on the fourth day of the waxing moon of the twelfth month of the year 2454 (Buddhist era), at precisely seven o’clock in the morning, the future founder of the Lao Forest Monks School already possessed serious assets to flourish and succeed in his life, « 7 » being a particularly important number in Buddhist and T’ai-lao cosmology. It is, for example, the sum of the material « 3 » and the spiritual « 4 », and therefore means « creation ».
Compassion
At a very young age, he put into practice -without knowing it- one of the rules of the Four Incommensurables, Karuna or compassion, towards all living beings, starting with the buffaloes and cows that he raised and guarded instead of going to school like all the young city dwellers of his age. And it was to preserve the family livestock from repeated tiger attacks that he decided to learn the Gatha (ຄາຖາ incantations, magic formulas) to fight the felines instead of enjoying life, by playing with other children, or to live a carefree existence that is the main occupation of youngsters of well-off families. But, in developing countries, so many innocent young children have to work to survive and, sometimes, to take care of their family. His father, a local notable (he had the honorary title of Phia) and a former monk (he was called Thid Sène), had to give up one of his strongest buffaloes in payment (we say khai ຄາຍ in Lao) for this lesson given by a Burmese master. Since then, animals and peasants had been spending quiet days and peaceful nights.
He had, by the way, showed his future national and international connections as well as his propensity to privilege the essential and the general interest at the expense of the superfluous and the every-man for himself attitude.
It is quite unusual for a young peasant to feel so much compassion for his fellow of life, especially since they are not even humans like him. It is certainly the harshness of his own condition of existence that would explain this closeness to all animate beings, his compassion, and his love for them. Because he probably already sensed, without really knew the reasons at that time, that we create by ourselves our own karma, good ones, or bad ones, and no one else can ever change it.
Accountability for our own actions
« All creatures are accountable for their own actions (throughout their existence). It is impossible for these creatures to find happiness, or to escape misery, or to be deprived of their wealth, by the desire of someone else« , he would profess some decades later.
A question could still be raised: Why didn’t he find his way? Was he too young? Or it was his great compassion for all beings that prevented him from « seeing » his real way? In any case, Maha Ajahn Pane had entered Buddhism, not by a deliberate choice, but by conforming himself to a secular tradition: he had become a novice for the day, at the age of 17, to lead his father, who had died suddenly, to his final resting place. Popular Lao beliefs affirm that the male child, who sacrifices himself to die symbolically as a man before being reborn as a disciple of Buddha, then transmits all the merits of his action to the soul of his progenitor in order to guide him to paradise, or Nirvana.
Without knowing them at the time, but he would later theorize on the three types of children, Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho undoubtedly intended to behave as an Aphisatâbout (ອະພິຊາຕະບຸດ) or the son who surpasses his parents in everything. As his father had been a monk, he had to follow in his footsteps by trying to do better than him. But he didn’t know what to do and how to do to achieve his goal. He had no precise idea at the time, since he would have liked to return to civilian life as soon as his customary obligations were over, in this case his father’s funeral.
But, as a well-behaved child and respectful of the family tradition of piety and filial obedience, he had responded positively to the unanimous request of his mother and his family to remain Aichoi (ອ້າຍຈົວ) until the day of Cherkhao (ແຈກເຂົ້າ, the first festival of transfer of merits to a deceased person who then becomes aware that he or she is no longer part of the world of the living) and the end of the cycle of mourning, of funeral wake and of great sadness, in order to let the cycle of life, of impermanence, of the ordinary joy and sorrow of a daily existence, take place again.
Buddhist majority
Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho wanted to find again what he would qualify a few decades later as « the universe of beings whose hearts and minds are naturally inhabited, darkened, without any exception with just a small difference in intensity – little or much -, by revenge (Phagnabad ພະຍາບາດ in Lao), oppression of others (Vihingsa ວິຫີງສາ), hatred of others (Arâti ອະຣະຕິ), and sensual pleasure (Rakhâti ຣາຄະຕິ). »
Fortunately for all of us, he would provide a solution to combat -and defeat if need be- these four roots of evil in order to restore our hearts, and our minds too, to the clarity and innocent purity of our childhood. By remaining at the service of Buddha’s teaching until the end of his life…
He gradually discovered that the monastic life could help him learn to read and write, since he had spent his childhood watching over, protecting, and living (with) the family livestock. So, he asked his mother and family for permission to stay in the Sangha while he learned the subtleties of our language. Very gifted, and above all very curious and having an unquenchable thirst for discovery, for exploration of the universe of the Buddhist scriptures, he was naturally passionate about Pali, the historical language of the scriptures. Because he longed to be able to chant precepts, to give the Buddha’s teaching during a Thetsana (ເທດສະໜາ) or sermons, and because he wanted to deepen his training and broaden his knowledge.
This passionate quest for knowledge had led him, almost imperceptibly, to his twentieth birthday, that is to say, to the age of Buddhist majority and a choice of life: to become a monk or to return to secular society. For Phra Ajahn Pane, his path, his destiny, and his raison d’être were clearly traced: to serve the teaching of Buddha and to make the Dhamma known to the greatest number.
It was thus necessary to proceed to his ordination (Uppasomboth ອຸປະສົມບົດ) and four venerable of high rank (ຍາທ່ານ Gnathane) were then in charge of the material and ritual organization. The first one donated a Kongbouat (Chao mounla sattha ເຈົ້າມູນລະສັດທາ); the second inherited the responsibility of the ordination itself (Ong Upassa ອົງອຸປັດຊາ), that is to say, to be the representative of Buddha, since originally it was the Enlightened One who took charge of ordaining his disciples by pronouncing the formula Ehi Bhikkhu Upâsam Patha (Come, O monk. Our Dhamma is good, you can come to practice it in a just way to escape from the sufferings); the last two being a kind of morality witnesses (left and right Kamma vaja, ກໍາມະວາຈາ ຊ້າຍ-ຂວາ) in charge of asking him questions about his sincerity in serving Buddha and his teaching, as well as informing him about the basic rules of the Dhamma and his new responsibilities. There was in all 21 monks in the sima to accompany Nen Pane into the world of Bhikkhus.
Kongbouat and Kongboun
The Kongbouat (ກອງບວດ), or more generally the Kongboun (ກອງບຸນ), which can be literally but unsatisfactorily translated as « ordination heap » or « merit heap » respectively, is the central, inescapable element of any Buddhist festival. It is the constituent elements of a household with a bed, a mosquito net, pillows, a blanket, a Bad or offering container, a set of monastic clothes called Phakai Chivone (ຜ້າໄກ ຈີວອນ) and composed of a just-at-body, a sarong, a cotton belt, a large toga used to cover the entire body as well as a large ceremonial scarf (Pha sangkha ຜ້າສັງຄາ) and a fabric bag. There are also the necessities of daily life (knives, sticky rice and/or white rice cooker, plates, cutlery, bowls, water bucket, pots and so on.) as well as food (rice, cakes) and some money. On the Boun kongbouat and the Boun konghod CF. https://laosmonamour.wordpress.com/2016/07/21/laos-boun-kong-hod-ou-la-promotion-dun-bonze-a-leau-benite-%e0%ba%9a%e0%ba%b8%e0%ba%99%e0%ba%81%e0%ba%ad%e0%ba%87%e0%ba%ab%e0%ba%bb%e0%ba%94/.
The three years spent to learn Pali and to study Buddha’s teaching had deeply transformed Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho‘s characters, who was more than ever determined to serve the Dhamma and to guide each being towards the discovery of the true nature of one’s heart. To show his determination, he had made to himself and to the Sangha, as soon as his ordination was completed, three oaths: to become a Thetsana speaker (ເທດ) with a beautiful voice -a kind of tenor- in order to help propagate the Dhamma ; to learn in great detail the fundamentals of ancient Buddhism and, finally, to remain a monk for four years -like the four legs of a bed- in order to be able to become, upon leaving the Sangha, a Morlam (ໝໍລໍາ singer) who is able to answer questions and riddles of the lady Morlam in alternating chanting.
First trip to Isane
Alternate singing with two morlam, a man and a woman, is a popular performance in village festivals or festivities of the Buddhist calendar. This musical variety, called Lam phagnâ yoi (ລໍາພະຫຍາຍ່ອຍ), proves doubly perilous insofar as each of the two protagonists becomes in turn the one who asks questions and the one who has to give an answer. Moreover, nothing is written in advance and the two singers, endowed with a particular gift called or-nam-lai (ອໍ້ນໍ້າໄຫລ), invent their prose as the show progresses. The whole thing must respect a rather strict versification even if there is no written codification. Khouba Pane was, therefore, right to want to deepen his knowledge, to perfect his intellectual reflexes and to sharpen his sense of appropriateness, the exchanges in an alternating song may include daring remarks, saucy words, even if everything is done through poetic images, floral metaphors, or clever hyperboles.
« Leaving the Sangha before four years will expose me to criticism and malicious innuendo. The bad tongues will say that I became a monk just to get the kongbuat, » he explained.
To achieve his goals, he left Savannakhet, his hometown, for Ubon, located on the right bank of the Mekong River in Isane, and its various pagodas. The north-eastern part of present-day Thailand, but formerly the territory of Anachack Lanexang, was also the birthplace, training ground, and blossoming ground of the venerable Ajahn Chah, the greatest master of the Thai forest school. The geographical space formerly united of Isane and the southern part of Laos reveals itself as a particularly favourable land for the advent of great masters of Buddhism with, among others, Luang Pu Nenkham Chattigo or, a few centuries earlier, Somdeth Loun (1850-1920) and Phrakhou Phonsameck (1631-1720). This last great master had moreover stayed and taught at Wat Sok Paluang, the future seat of the Vipassana center founded by Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho. Like the roots of rare species of trees, the connections between great masters always end up joining in one way or another and therefore know no borders and even less space-time.
On the road to Vientiane
After completing the five Khamphi (ຄໍາພີ ທັງຫ້າ) according to the traditional rules, in Ubon, Phra Ajahn Maha Pane Anantho had returned to his hometown where he had first established a school for training in ancient Pali (Moulàkàchaï ມູລະກະຈາຍ) before moving to Vientiane, the capital, in 1935, because of the presence of a center for Buddhist studies at Wat Chanh (ວັດຈັນ) with renowned teachers such as Maha Kèo Rajvong and Maha Sila Viravong, two « fathers » of modern Lao literature. The seriousness of the center, whose scientific council was chaired by Prince Phetsarath, viceroy, and later founder of the Lao Issala movement, was then well established. Four years later, he earned the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree (Maha prariene sam prayock ມະຫາປະຣຽນ ສາມ ປະໂຫຍກ) or Maha 3rd level, allowing him to be appointed as a Pali teacher in another pagoda in the capital, the center was then developing its activities with branches across the country.
While teaching the language of the scriptures, he was also studying for the most important degree awarded by the center at the time: the Maha prariene hoc prayock, the equivalent of a master’s degree or Maha 6th level, Maha prariene kao prayock being the highest academic level in Buddhist studies. He received his final degree in 1941 and for three years he visited various pagodas in Vientiane to deliver Thetsana and Buddha’s teachings as well as his technique of Vipassana meditation, a method of self-transformation through self-observation and a deep interconnection between the mind and body.
A clear conciousness
Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho first taught them to focus on the present moment, to invest their mind and their being entirely in the here and now, to forget the past and not to think about the future. He also gave them a seemingly simple exercise to do. Every night, before going to sleep, the devotees were asked to lie in a bed and first pay homage to the Triple Jewel by reciting three times the Namo Tassa, and then to remember what they have done this morning when they woke up, then at noon, and finally at night before going to bed. Then, gradually, they were to remember their actions hour by hour: what they did at five o’clock, at six o’clock, when they entered the room, or when they took the bus or the subway to go to work, and so on. The master wanted his disciples to have a clear, awake consciousness at every moment: when they walk, when they stand or sit, when they take hold of something, or when they look to the left or to the right, and so on. This was « mindfulness » long before its theorization by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979. Later, Phra Ajahn Pane asked his disciplines and students to remember what they had done two days ago, three days ago, and so on.
This assiduous practice allows each person to remember what they did a week ago, then a month ago and even beyond for the most conscientious who combine meditation (bhavana), ethical discipline (sila) and knowledge of reality (prajna). This is the next stage of the Vipassana practice which participates in the development of insight and wisdom through the understanding of the true nature of reality.
The Four Incommensurables
Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho subsequently introduced students, disciples, and devotees to the Four Incommensurables, which are the basis of the work of self-purification and rebirth for every candidate for Vipassana learning, since Mettà in Pali and Lao (Maitri in Sanskrit) is benevolence towards all beings, with in particular the wish, the immeasurable hope, that all beings will find happiness as well as its causes. Benevolence is naturally accompanied by compassion or Karuna (Pali et s.) with, again, the immense hope that all will be liberated from suffering and its causes, suffering being the quintessence of the Four Noble Truths. As a corollary to the wish for liberation from all suffering, it is the wish for joy without suffering for all beings or Mudita (p. and s.). Finally, Uperkkha (Upeksa, s) or equanimity is the wish that all remain, under all circumstances, at peace, equal, and free from partiality, attachment, and aversion.
“All beings, whether human or animal, will only find harmony and inner peace through the Dhamma: Mettà, Karuna, Mudita and Uperkkha. Because if they no longer feel revenge (Phagnabad), envy of oppression of others (Vihingsa), hatred (Arâti), and sensual pleasure (Rakhâti), then, these beings, whether humans or animals, will find harmony and inner peace in the same way”, he taught to the faithful.
In 1946, Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho had to interrupt his teaching and take refuge in Sixiangmay, on the right bank of the Mekong, because of the skirmishes linked to the Franco-Siamese conflict which then saw bombs explode in Vientiane itself, including in the courtyard of the pagoda where he resided. Two other venerable were also on the trip. After spending a night in the stopover town, the three venerable and their companions descended the Mekong River by canoe for two nights before reaching their destination, Nongkhaï, which would become, on April 8, 1994, the first town of Isane to be connected – united? – to Laos by a bridge. He was to live in this province until 1951, staying in different pagodas during the Buddhist Lent. It was precisely in one of them that he had tried to perform a very advanced, even extreme Vipassana, by fasting for 15 days. But, like Buddha before his Enlightenment, it was a resounding failure: too weak and having so much suffered physically, he stopped the experience and changed his method.
In Bangkok until 1954
He then went to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. He was fixed at one of the most renowned centers in the practice of meditation, the Maha That Pagoda (ວັດມະຫາທາດ) of the great master Phra Ajahn Thane Chaokhoune Phraphimontham (ພຣະອາຈານ ທ່ານເຈົ້າຄຸນ ພຣະພິມົນທັມ) and where Phra Ajahn Phavanna Philamà Théra (ພຣະອາຈານ ພາວະນາ ພິລາມະ ເຖຣະ) was teaching. He also received there, from a Burmese master, the teaching of Aphitham (ພຣະອະພິທັມ), a set of Dhamma rules and their theoretical explanation without taking into account events and beings.
In just seven months, Phra Ajahn Pane had completed the entire curriculum of the center. His speaking skills and the clarity of his beautiful voice had earned him an invitation to give Thetsana, initially on a trial basis, and then on a regular basis, especially as he attracted more and more devotees to his sermons. He stayed at Wat Maha That until 1954 before returning to Nongkhai at the invitation of a delegation sent to Bangkok expressly to bring him back to his home pagoda. Upon his return to Wat Bane Dongkheme (ບ້ານດົງແຂມ), he had set up the teaching of Vipassana meditation which was then experiencing a great reputation throughout the region. Devotees flocked to attend the sessions as well as to donate the Kouti (a small dwelling on stilts with just a door and a window as well as basic equipment) for the meditators. In all, 25 kouti had been built in a very short time whereas Phra Chaokhoune Phraphimontham had fixed as conditions with the departure of Ajahn Pane the construction of two kouti, one bearing his own name and the other that of Ajahn Pane Anantho.
The new master of the place did not forget his ancestral land and made frequent visits to Vientiane to deliver Thetsana and to give Vipassana teachings in the pagodas where he had spent the Buddhist Lent before his exile due to the war.
Back to Laos
After the Nongkhai region, his reputation spread to Vientiane. So much so that a very important delegation, headed by the highly respected Gnaphor Phimpho Philaphandeth (ຍາພໍ່ ພີມໂພ ພິລາພັນເດດ), went to Nongkhaï in 1955 to beg Phra Ajahn Pane to return to Laos. He accepted without any reserve. It was during the year of his return that he opened his first Vipassana Kammathâne center in Luang Prabang. At first, he lived in a pagoda in the centre of Vientiane, while he was looking for a site that was suitable for the practice of Vipassana and that had a rich past in connection with the school of the forest monks.
« Four great masters of Vipassana had stayed at Wat Maha Phoutthavongsa Paluang: Somdeth Phra Sangkarath, Somdeth Phra Maha Vixay, Somdeth Maha Phouttharangsy and Phrakhou Phonsameck, » he read one day in History of Wat Maha Phoutthavongsa Paluang, Muong Sisattanark, Vientiane.
He then asked an inspection team to go to the site to check out the veracity of the document and, above all, to try to find any remains or archaeological remains of this great meditation center which seemed to have had a great influence. The results of the investigation filled the master with joy and satisfaction. The remains of a hundred small kouti, the distinctive signs of a space devoted to Vipassana meditation, several Sima, one of the largest of which bore the very name of the pagoda, Poutthavong, 25 wells, 37 stupas, and five large Buddha statues. The remains of another large Sima, the one that belonged to Phrakhou Phonsameck, attracted particular attention since they attested to the stay of this great master, who came from the south of Laos, like Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho. From the ruins, a great richness of Buddhist art and a rare dexterity of our craftsmen were apparent.
A powerful symbol
When Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho settled down at Wat Sok Paluang, in 1957, the pagoda measured one kilometre of side thanks, largely, to the parami or transcendent virtue of the new Master of the places which had then “helped”, « incited », or « encouraged » to generosity, or driven to remorse, the old neighbours who had seized the ground in fallow, and abandoned at the time, of the temple. The ruins of a large sima were located on the property of a village resident. According to the 1996 cadastral data, its surface area is now only 66,912 m2… That is less than 7% of its surface area at the time of the death of the founder of the forest monks’ school in 1968!
After the green light from the Ministry of Cults, Phra Ajahn Pane sent a first team of four monks, accompanied by novices, to Wat Phoutthavongsa for the work of clearing brush and reclaiming living space from nature. Work had also begun to rebuild the kouti, the various buildings inherent to the life of a pagoda. The Master regularly visited the site to monitor the progress of the work and its proper functioning, while giving advice to some and encouragement to all. Finally, on October 15, 1957, he decided to settle there and thus establish the main center of the Lao Forest Monks’ School. The date of the inauguration of Wat Maha Phoutthavongsa Paluang or Wat Sok Paluang, symbol of the rebirth of Buddhism in Laos after a difficult period linked to the Franco-Siamese conflict and the political instability reigning in the country, was not chosen at random, since it corresponded to the year 2500 of the Buddhist era, that is to say half of the expected duration (5000 years) of the reign of the Dhamma, established by the historical Buddha Gautama, before the arrival on earth of a new Enlightened One. A strong symbol of the liveliness, the power and the accuracy of the teachings professed for the first time, exactly 25 centuries ago.
The oldest…
Wat Maha Phoutthavongsa Paluang, from its official name, but people prefer to call Wat Sok Paluang, is undoubtedly one of the oldest pagodas in Laos. According to Maha Sila Viravong’s History of Laos (ພົງສາວະດານລາວ by ຍາພໍ່ ມະຫາສີລາ ວີຣະວົງສ໌), Wat Sok Paluang had been founded in the Year 236 by Phra Chao Chanthabury Prasitthisak (ພຣະເຈົ້າຈັນທະບຸຣີ ປະສິດທິສັກ), a very pious king, to donate it to an Arahan (arhat or arhant in Sanskrit, arahant in Pali), Phra Maha Phoutthavong (ພຣະມະຫາພຸດທະວົງສ໌). This explains the official name of the pagoda, as it was « given » to him by the monarch. The latter had also built a second monastery, Wat That Foun (ວັດທາດຝຸ່ນ), in the center of Vientiane, for another Arahan, Phra Maha Satsady (ພຣະມະຫາສັດສະດີ).
At the same time, three Arahan, disciples of Phra Mahakashyapa (Mahakaspa ພຣະມະະຫາກັດສະປະ in Lao), one of the very first and most important disciples of Buddha Gautama (there were ten in all), had come from India to spread Buddhism in Anachack Lanexang. They were accompanied and helped in their task by five disciples – nationals of the kingdom of Vientiane – who had also attained the dignity of Arahan. According to some historical documents, the same king also had pagodas built for these five Arahan within Wat Maha Phoutthavongsa Paluang. Given the vastness of the land allocated to this forest pagoda, which extended from Phra That Luang to the Chinaimo district, i.e., 10 km in length, the construction of these monasteries seemed quite feasible. Especially since, in ancient times, it was common for a sovereign and his court to grant such a large area to a pagoda or a stupa of great stature.
Donation of soldiers, land, a princess…
King Sayasetthathirath (1534-1571), who is considered as the « father » of Phra That Luang in its present architectural form with its three levels as a nod to the Triple Jewel, had, for example, donated slaves and soldiers (in thousands), land and rice fields (extending to Thalat, at the confluence between the Nam Ngum and Nam Lik rivers, more than 85 km in length), animals, jewellery, and even a princess, the daughter of the monarch in person, to the stupa that was, then, called Phra That Lokachunlamany Maharattana Chedy (ພຣະທາດ ໂລກະຈູລາມະນີ ມະຫາຣັດຕະນະເຈດີ), i.e. Phra That Kèo Douangpraseuth An Yodying khong Lok (ພຣະທາດແກ້ວ ດວງປະເສີດ ອັນ ຍອດຍີ່ງ ຂອງ ໂລກ), which can be imperfectly translated as “the most precious and cherished stupa in the world.”
This was a very prosperous period for Buddhism and its Vipassana branch. King Chanthabury Prasitthisak, with the enlightened help of the five Lao Arahan trained in India, built pagoda after pagoda, and had established the primary Phra That Luang. According to the inscriptions on the steles deciphered by the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), the first That was built in the form of an obelisk in the 3rd century B.C. to preserve the relics of the historical Buddha Gotama, brought by a high dignitary (believed to be King Prasitthisak himself) and monks and commissioned by the Indian emperor Asoka or Ashokkamahalath to spread Buddhism across Southeast Asia. The original That, made of stone, would have been built during the time of the ancient Khmer civilization, when its inhabitants were still called Cham. On Phra That Luang, CF. https://laosmonamour.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/phra-that-luang-the-symbol-of-lao-permanence/.
Impermanence…
When King Sayasetthathirath transferred the capital of the Lanexang kingdom from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in 1560, he continued the work of building pagodas, stupas, Buddha statues and especially the Phra That Luang of King Chanthabury Prasitthisak. Thus, he had the large golden stupa built in its present form while contributing to the development of Wat Sok Paluang to make it the main center of Vipassana Kammathane. He had particularly presided over the construction of a large sala or Horcherk to give the opportunity to the faithful ones to meet and to make the festival together. He had also bult stupas to cover That kaduk of the five Arahan having taken part in the diffusion of Buddhism in Lanexang and the construction of the primary That Luang. After the splendid period of the reign of Chanthabury Prasitthisak, Buddhism was then at its apogee with King Sayasetthathirath. The latter continued and completed with happiness the work of Buddhist piety undertaken by his father, King Photisarath, who was also very pious. When King Sayasetthathirat died in 1571, not only was the Lanexang kingdom in decline, but Buddhism and its Vipassana branch were also going through a very complicated period. Wat Sok Paluang did not escape the rule until its revival in the early 1950s and its restoration undertaken by Ajahn Pane Anantho.
At the peak of Wat Sok Paluang, there were permanently several hundred monks, novices, and nuns. Several meditation sessions were organized every week and most of the time, the hundred or so kouti for meditators were full. In 2022, only 35 monks, 40 novices and 20 nuns live at Wat Sok Palung and, since the health crisis linked to Covid-19, no more meditation sessions had been scheduled whereas they used to be held once a week before, on Saturdays.
Of the impermanence of things and beings, or Anicca, Buddha had made it one of the pillars of his Teaching, and Phra Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho had included it in his rules of life, which allowed him to have seven perfections, called Kunnatham (ຄຸນນະທັມ). Once again, he was paying homage to Buddha Gautama, who just so happened to take seven steps from birth. The seven Kunnatham of Ajahn Pane are the Thammatan yuta, the Hoù atthan yuta, the Attan yuta, the Mattan yuta, the Kalan yuta, the Prisan yuta, and finally the Poukkhala Paropran yuta.
His 7 Kunnatham
Thammatan yuta (ທັມມະະຕັນຍຸຕາ) is the knowledge of the causes of all things. For example, the Master knew what caused happiness and what caused unhappiness.
Hoù atthan yutà (ຮູ້ອັດຖັນຍຸຕາ) is the complement of the previous one since it is the knowledge of the effects of all actions. Why are we sad and why are we happy?
Attan yuta (ອັດຕັນຍຸຕາ) is the knowledge of oneself, of one’s own qualities and flaws, of one’s personal limits and abilities in order to be able to act accordingly without showing either arrogance or excessive restraint.
Mattan yuta (ມັດຕັນຍຸຕາ) is the clear knowledge of the life and behaviour of animate beings (humans and animals) in order to adjust our own attitude so that our interactions with them are not misperceived.
Kalan yuta (ກາລັນຍຸຕາ) is the knowledge of the proper time and hour to perform a task or action. For instance, digging or turning the soil early in the morning or late in the afternoon in hot countries.
Prisan yuta (ປຣິສັນຍຸຕາ) is the clear knowledge or understanding of others’ desiderata in society in order to behave accordingly.
And, finally, Pukkhala Paropran yuta (ປຸກຄະລະ ປະໂຣ ປະຣັນ ຍຸຕາ) is the knowledge of the deeper nature of other people in order to know who one can help and who one can befriend or make connections with.
(We will come back with more detail, in other papers, on the main teachings of Phra Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho which only exist, for the moment, in Laotian.)
One strict rule for all
Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho‘s fame went far beyond the circle of Vipassana or even Buddhism insofar as his name was the one most commonly quoted in religious education courses. In fact, he is the only name of a great master of Lao Buddhism that I have known since elementary school and my college years, even though I had absolutely no idea what the school of the monks of the forest and even more so the Vipassana kammathan could correspond to. In my small village, located seven kilometres from the province’s main city, Thakhek, we were content to live Buddhism on a daily basis by participating in the various rituals: the morning takbad (ຕັກບາດ), the offering of the two daily meals to bonzes and novices, the participation in the calendar festivals, or helping my grandmother prepare gifts, candles and flowers, and so on. I could see my grandmother and the village elders making a retreat at the pagoda on the eighth and fifteenth days of the waxing and waning moon, but this did not appeal to me much more. The testimony of Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho‘s former disciples emphasizes above all the austerity and seriousness of the meditation sessions as well as the severity of the Master who did not grant any favour to anyone, and even less to members of his own family.
“The great Master did not accept a person because it is the tradition (of the pagoda to welcome people) and out of habit. He always asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ And his first advice to any candidate to stay (at Wat Sok Paluang) was invariably, ‘Do like the masters. Don’t do like the masters!’ Translation: imitate the masters when they perform good deeds, but don’t copy them if they were to commit illicit or forbidden acts« , related the nun (mèkhao ແມ່ຂາວ) Kèo Muongsène, the master’s own niece.
« For those aspiring to become a mèkhao, the rule proved to be quite severe: strictly observe the eight precepts, wear a white shirt, a black skirt and a white scarf for four years. Then, training to the monastic rules and to the Dhamma between three and six months before being able to shave one’s head and to enter the service of the Buddha’s teaching. And those who dared to make eyes at the monks were immediately excluded without any exception« , added mèkhao Kèo.
In Buddhism, the faithful or laity observe five precepts (abstain from killing, abstain from stealing, abstain from sexual misconduct, abstain from wrong speech, abstain from the use of intoxicating substances that cause inattention. CF. Buddho.org), and when they are on meditation retreat (chamsinh ຈໍາສີນ) eight. Aichoi (novice, long term or for one day) has ten precepts to follow while Bhikkhu do have 227 and Mèkhao 311.
More rules
« As for the monks or novices, their residence area was separated from that of the Mekhao by a barrier. And any breach of the disciplinary or monastic rules led to severe punishments which could go from mowing the lawn by hand to the right away exclusion, with in-between the chore of emptying the toilets and pouring their contents at the feet of the coconut trees to fertilize them. As for the master himself, he performed the binthabad every morning and participated in the maintenance of the pagoda like any other monk or novice. He never failed in his mission, except, of course, when he fell seriously ill, » said the woman who only became a Mekhao after four years of learning and practicing the rules governing the monastic life of nuns. When her uncle died…
It may seem surprising that Mekhao have more rules to observe and a longer period of time to prove themselves than bonzes and novices. The explanation is quite simple: at the beginning, Buddha did not want to accept women in his orders for fear that they would disturb his male disciples and thus divert them from their path to enlightenment because of their sexual attractions. He only relented at the insistence of his very first disciple Ananda and his adoptive mother and maternal aunt, Mahaprajapati Gautami, who also wanted to follow in his footsteps and serve his teaching. Somewhat forced, Buddha Gautama had then imposed stricter conditions with a greater number of rules and prohibitions to women in order to protect the Sangha and the Dhamma: as we have just seen, 311 for the mekhao or nuns against only 227 for the monks.
Like a savant
For his part, Ghathane Maha Saly Kanta Silo, one of the three first disciples sent to Bangkok for training by Phra Ajahn Pane for seven years, considered that the great Master « had left a legacy of great importance to the Lao people on the practice of Vipassana Kammathane, which is still relevant today as it will be in the future”.
« I respect him as my own parents, just like the venerable who made me a monk, » added the successor to Phra Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho at the head of Wat Sok Paluang. He also underlined the « exceptional personality » of the founder of the school of the monks of the forest by remembering an aura never seen before among great masters. « His words, addressed to the laity as well as to the religious, novices, monks, venerable, and so on., were always full of Dhamma. He spoke like a scholar, a savant, trying to bring every living being to nirvana. But he would also ask about the seriousness, the determination, the commitment of each one, before accepting a candidate to his school. So, he asked me if I had made the decision (to join him) by myself or if I was accompanying someone else. And what did my parents, my teachers think of this decision?”
The first Lao monk to receive a doctorate in Buddhist metaphysics from the famous university of Wat Mahathat in Bangkok, where the Master had completed his own Vipassana training, the venerable Phra Maha Saly later joined Wat-pa Nakhoune Noi (ວັດປ່າ ນາຄູນນ້ອຍ), one of the most renowned Vipassana centers, and established the Buddhist Development Program in 2003.
Phra Maha Saly Kanta Silo‘s approach is, in every respect, in line with that of the founder of the Lao Forest Monks School and is, in a way, a logical continuation of the work initiated by Phra Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho. The great Master had built meditation centers, sima, kouti, schools, homes for orphans and had launched a news magazine, the bimonthly Buddhavongsa, in 1959. This propensity to create, as well as the daily practice of manual labour, inherent to the very status of forest monks, constitute the main differences with the so-called village or city monks who, on the contrary, are not allowed to work.
One of the very last disciples of Ajahn Pane Anantho is the perfect illustration of this perpetual search to « make oneself useful » in order to help all beings to discover the true nature of each and every heart.
From Paris to Amazonia
Sent to Paris in 1975 by his second master Ajahn Chah to found in France and Europe the first pagoda of the school of the forest by a monk who was a political refugee, the venerable Nyanadharo Visuddhinyano has been overflowing with activities, for more than 40 years now, to prolong this heritage, both spiritual and material. While spirituality and Vipassana meditation are the foundation of his life and his raison d’être, he also knows the critical importance of material stewardship for a successful meditative existence.
This is why he spends his « free time », without ritual obligations linked to the daily practice of Buddhism, on the very uneven terrain of the Bodhinyanarama monastery in Tournon, which requires constant care and attention to protect the site from the ravages of rainwater. The vegetable garden, which provides organic fruits and vegetables, also monopolizes the care of a dedicated team while another unit takes care of the cleaning of the stream, whose upper part remains inaccessible in March 2022 because of fallen trees which were not yet treated, as well as the undergrowth of the domain. A titanic task that never stops, just like the quest for the harmony of opposites of the disciples of the school of the monks of the forest.
Like his first master before him, the venerable Nyanadharo Visuddhinyano makes many trips to France and abroad where his « connections » had led him in particular to Thailand and Laos naturally, to China and Shanghai where he had been appointed to the surprise of everyone the Eighth patriarch or element during the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the great pagoda of the megalopolis, in October 2016. In California, he had been placed right next to the venerable Chen Yu during a mantra recitation at the Berkeley University. « Can you chant in Pali? » he asked him. « Yes, of course, » replied the master of El Monte’s Waken Temple, adding that he felt as if he had « known each other all his life.”
In Honolulu, Phra Ajahn Pane Khao actively participated in the establishment of Wat Lao Buddha Sacksit, located at the Sacred Falls International Meditation Center, by donating two meteorites, buried in the foundations of a sima, « for future generations”. In Amazonia, which was his terra incognita, he was recognized by all the Indian chiefs as « the spiritual guide we had been waiting for so long.”
In two generations of masters, the Buddhism of the forest school has, in a way, « come full circle », since it has reached the largest forest on the planet, the Amazon, starting from a tiny village in southern Laos surrounded by a forest inhabited by tigers.
In addition to his exclusively Buddhist actions, Venerable Nyanadharo Visuddhinyano also undertook activities of a more social or humanitarian nature. In close collaboration with a Breton businessman, he contributed to the establishment of a distribution network for French products in Vientiane, providing work to young people experiencing difficulties, welcoming to his monastery in Tournon all those who are in search of landmarks or in need of a space of existence where they can find both reassurance and contemplation. He has also contributed to the setting up, still in Brittany, of a house for autistic people as well as a garden that he describes as « community », and the welcoming of a family of Ukrainian refugees. On a more global and long-term level, Phra Ajahn Pane Khao is committed to helping Prof. Franck Zal globalize and popularize the « first universal oxygen carrier for therapeutic purposes. »
« Thank you, professor, for allowing me to start a new life at almost 80 years old« , said to him as an explanation the Bhikkhu, who was forced in 1968 to keep the pants following the brutal death of his master, Phra Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho.
With the death of the Master, on November 13, 1968, at the age of 57, 41 of which were in the service of the Dhamma (3 years as an aichoï, 38 as a bhikkhu-researcher and then as the master-founder of the school of the monks of the forest), Buddhism, and its Vipassana branch at the same time, regained its former influence in Laos, after having experienced a real decline due to the Franco-Siamese war and a period of political instability inside the country. Wat-pa branches had been created in the provinces (19) as well as in the Nongkhai region (11), with schools, kouti for monks, novices and nuns, homes for orphans and a newspaper to spread the Dhamma.
First Buddhist chaplain in US Army
A vanguard of modern communication, Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho participated in a radio program three times a week, in addition to the precept days or Vanh-sine (ວັນສີນ). Several administrations, including the Directorate of Worship, the National Police, and the psychological service of the Armed Forces, were organizing seminars on Buddhism and meditation. In March 2012, Captain Thomas Dyer became the first Buddhist chaplain to serve in the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, located on the Alabama-Georgia border. He explained that Zen meditation could bring better discipline and focus to soldiers, which would allow them not to lose focus or not to panic on a battlefield.
His great reputation and his contribution to the development of Buddhism, especially its Vipassana branch, earned Phra Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho a special treatment once he died, somewhat like a prince or a king. In T’ai-lao society, it is customary to keep the body of a dear departed for a certain period of time, depending on his social status and the financial situation of his family, and that of princes, kings or great masters can be kept for several years in order to allow everyone, inside the country or coming from abroad, to pay their last respects. The body of the founder of the school of the monks of the forest in Laos had been placed in a large glass coffin, itself inserted in a catafalque built in the manner of a sima with, at the base, three footings of different sizes like stairs, carved and decorated, the roof being an exact replica of that of a Sala hongtham (ສາລາ ໂຮງທັມ), or of a sima, decorated with Naga heads and with a gradation of three roofs laid one below the other.
A candle is to be burned…
Due to the instability and geopolitical upheavals, linked to the second Vietnam war, the ad hoc commission in charge of organizing the funeral of Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho had not set the official date until 1974. Ironically, the venerable Nyanadharo Visuddhinyano, who was forced to keep his pants on following the sudden death of Phra Ajahn Pane, was not even able to attend the last tribute to his first master. In 1975, the future founder of the Bodhinyanarama monastery in Tournon was on the streets of Paris, in the company of tramps, as a political refugee…
But, as Phra Ajahn Pane Anantho said, « A candle is destined, by nature, to be burned to bring light and usefulness to other matters. In the same way, a scholar must sacrifice himself for the welfare and benefit of other people. »
P.S.: my sincere thanks and fraternal greetings to Ai Non Soulatha for his help in translating Pali terms, and to my friend and fellow student Vayolinh Phrasavat for his research of documents in Vientiane and the surrounding pagodas.
SOURCES
Ajahn Pane Anantho – ສັນຕິສຸກ ຂອງ ໂລກ(Peace in the World, in Lao), in
. ຫລັກການດໍາເນີນຊີວິດ ຂອງ ຊາວພຸດ (Rules of conduct of Buddhist Life, in Lao), in https://fr.scribd.com/document/507973762/%E0%BA%AB%E0%BA%BC%E0%BA%B1%E0%BA%81%E0%BA%81%E0%BA%B2%E0%BA%99%E0%BA%94%E0%BA%B3%E0%BA%A5%E0%BA%BB%E0%BA%87%E0%BA%8A%E0%BA%B5%E0%BA%A7%E0%BA%B4%E0%BA%94%E0%BA%82%E0%BA%AD%E0%BA%87%E0%BA%8A%E0%BA%B2%E0%BA%A7%E0%BA%9E%E0%BA%B8%E0%BA%94
ຮ່ວມລະນຶກ 97 ປີ ພຣະອາຈານໃຫຍ່ ມະຫາປານ ອານັນໂທ (Remembering the 97 years of the great master Maha Pane Anantho, in Lao), in ຈົດໝາຍຂ່າວ ຊາວພຸດ, ປີ ທີ່1 ສະບັບ ທີ່3 ປີ 2551 (Newsletter of the Buddhists, 1st year, N°3, Year 2551)
ວິທີຝືກຫັດຈິດ ໃຫ້ ຈື່ຈໍາ (Mental Training Handbook, in Lao), in https://punlao.com/simproject/diary/412/
ອະຈາຣິຍະ ບູຊາ ນຸສອນ (ຊີວິດ ແລະ ຜົນງານ ຂອງ ມະຫາ ອາຈານປານ ອານັນໂທ – Life and works of Maha Ajahn Pane Anantho – In Lao), in https://fr.scribd.com/doc/63090184/%E0%BA%AD%E0%BA%B2%E0%BA%88%E0%BA%B2%E0%BA%AE%E0%BA%B4%E0%BA%8D%E0%BA%B0%E0%BA%9A%E0%BA%B9%E0%BA%8A%E0%BA%B2%E0%BA%99%E0%BA%B8%E0%BA%AA%E0%BA%AD%E0%BA%99?fbclid=IwAR2a1u2bmzFcc6td8XRjO9mCOcipCw5078tB9v7HtmpB411aYmwG76-fSys#scribd
Viravong, Sila – ພົງສາວະດານລາວ (Phongsavadan Lao), Vientiane, EB 2500 (1957), 301 pages (en Lao)
Zen Training at Fort Benning, Buddhist Chaplain Parts: 1-2, in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc-UAumSVL8 et
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