Luang Pu Waen

Luang Pu Waen

Even though Luang Pu Waen was a disciple of Phra Ajaan Mun and was an arahant in his own right, he kept to his own low profile until he was spotted levitating through the clouds by a airforce pilot, who relentlessly searched for the monk he saw in the sky until he found LP Waen at Wat Doi Mae Pang. That made Luang Pu Waen the most popular monk in Thailand of that era. 

"There were seven of us making the visit: four doctors, a nurse and two photographers. 

The Prime Minister had asked for a picture to be taken of Luang Phu Waen, to be put in the wing of Chiang Mai's Suan Dawk Hospital recently named after him. Also, Luang Phu Waen was 91 years old and although in fairly good health, his eyes were troubling him, so one of the doctors, an oculist, was sent to look him over. 

His temple is in the village of Doi Mae Bang, near the amphoe town of Phrao, about seventy miles north of Chiang Mai. You probably know that Luang Phu Waen became famous about five years ago. Of course, even before that people in the locality respected him - the villagers and so on. They think he's an arahan (enlightened being), probably because he's so kind to them, advising and helping them. But before this strange event occurred, no-one outside the amphoe had heard of him.

What happened was that a pilot of the Royal Thai Air Force was flying a plane - well, I don't know how high, but up in the clouds, anyway. And suddenly he noticed a monk outside his cabin sitting in meditation. Yes, he thought that was a bit strange and when he got back to Chiang Mai, he told people about it, but no-one knew who it could have been. He was so interested, so sure he hadn't imagined it, he got his maps out, looked where he'd been flying, and calculated he must have been somewhere over Doi Mae Bang when it happened. So he went back, talked to the villagers and they told him Luang Phu Waen was the person they most respected, so it must have been him. Besides, they knew Luang Bu Waen meditated a lot, and that was already enough to make him unusual.

So back in Chiang Mai, the pilot told people what he'd learned and somehow the story got in the papers and since then Luang Phu Waen's been famous all over Thailand. The King went to see him some time back, busloads of people go every day to pay respects, and you can buy posters and medallions with his image on them just about everywhere. The day we visited Doi Mae Bang - this trip I'm telling you about - two coaches were up there from Bangkok, and that was just an ordinary day for visitors, not even a holiday.

You have to understand you don't get to see Luang Phu Waen just like that, though, and on this particular day, the abbot of the temple, Luang Por Nu, was being particularly difficult.

That's partly understandable, of course. Luang Phu Waen is very old. He needs protection. 

But even we had trouble getting to see him. Luang Por Nu made it really difficult, saying Luang Phu Waen was tired, it wasn't convenient, why hadn't we come earlier in the day when he makes a brief appearance, and so on… Well, I can't go into all the details, but part of the problem was we'd come to give treatment and take photographs. We weren't buying anything, or making a big donation to the temple so, from the point of view of the abbot, why should we get to see his treasure…?

What? You don't believe me? But why not, I'm telling you exactly what happened. The abbot's well known for the way he holds on to Luang Phu Waen. If he doesn't think there's going to be a suitable contribution, you don't get to see him and that's that. There's even a joke he keeps the old man under lock and key. Just ask anybody…

Well, with a lot of difficulty we managed to persuade Luang Por Nu to let two of the doctors look Luang Phu Waen over in his room. Then afterwards, he was brought out supported by a couple of temple helpers, and sat down on the veranda of his kuti for the photographs.

That was the first time I'd seen him. I looked at him really closely, but to be truthful there wasn't anything special to see. For half an hour he sat while the photos were taken but didn't move at all, not even his eyes. Not even - how do you say it? - blinking. Completely still. I couldn't help wondering if he was really alive.

After a while, I and another of the party got bored, so we went to the special building - the sala - that was built about four months ago to put his waxwork image in. Yes, his waxwork image, from Madame Tussauds in London. What! You don't know about that either? But don't you read the papers?

It must have been about a year ago a doctor in Bangkok became ill. He visited Luang Phu Waen and asked for help. Luang Phu Waen gave him a bit of his robe to keep, and as a result he was cured. The doctor wanted to show his gratitude and tum bun (make merit) at the same time, and as he was rich he asked Madame Tussaud's to make a waxwork image of Luang Phu Waen. No, I don't know how they did it - from photographs, I suppose. And they must have sent all kinds of pictures and measurements. Anyway, according to the papers it cost a million baht (US$25,000 at that time) but Madame Tussaud's halved the price in exchange for a copy of the image for their London museum. So three months ago they finished the work and the image was flown out to Thailand, all kinds of miracles happening when it arrived, apparently…Like what? Oh, it was raining the day the plane arrived, but as soon as the image was taken out the rain stopped, the sun shone, everything became bright, sparkling…Well, it's all in the papers. You can look it up there.

Anyway, now the image is kept in the special sala in the grounds of the temple, life-size. 

And you know, when I saw it there, I felt it was Luang Phu Waen himself - it was smiling, so realistic. 

Even the white under the fingernails - what do you call that? A whitlow? Every detail was right, exactly as it should have been. And my companion felt the way I did. We laughed. Which was the real Luang Phu Waen?

Afterwards, the picture-taking over, we joined the others. Luang Phu Waen had been returned to his room, so we left the temple and drove back to Chiang Mai. I felt a little dissatisfied. I asked one of my colleagues who'd examined him - jokingly - if he thought Luang Phu Waen was really alive. He said he'd wondered himself, and while alone with him, to see if he really understood things, he'd asked - just for something to say - if he'd been afraid of tigers when he'd gone on tu dong as a younger man…You know what that is, tu dong? It's when monks who want to meditate wander off in the forest during the dry season, looking for the wildest places they can find to practise in, the more dangerous the better. And Luang Phu Waen, who knows this doctor, said in a very old, very quiet but sharp voice, "You've been a monk, and you can ask that?"

Which we agreed was a sign he was mentally - how do you say? - alive? - alert?

But even better than that…

The other doctor had always been curious about the Royal Thai Air Force pilot's story of the monk up in the clouds, and while he was examining Luang Phu Waen he asked if it had really been him floating up there.

Do you know what Luang Phu Waen said? It's really funny. He didn't move, or show any feeling, or even open his eyes to answer the question. Just a tiny flutter of the lips, and this old, very faint but sharp voice.

'How bor ben nok.' ('You think I'm a bird?')."

Translated by J.M. Cadet from a doctor's account of events

28 August 2023