Luang Phor Thuad

Luang Phor Thuad was born in BE 2125 Songkhla province in Southern Thailand. Both of  Luang Phor’s parents were farmers of Chinese descent. They called their son Puu (Por)– this means ‘crab’ in Thai. Both parents were devotees of Buddhism and were delighted that their son was having an interest in spirituality at an early age.

One of the earliest signs that show his parents that Luang Phor Thuad was special happened when he was just 6 months old. Both of his parents were working in the rice fields whereby they left Luang Phor Thuad lying on a blanket, under the shade of a tree. During noontime, his mother returned to find Luang Phor Thuad surrounded by a large reticulated python curled around him. At first she panicked, but then she noticed that her baby did not seem to be in any discomfort. She then recalled a story from her childhood of how the gods can sometimes come to Earth in the form of a snake. Instead of chasing the snake away, which would have been too dangerous. She found some flowers and put them in front of the python. Soon the python responded by moving away from Luang Phor Thuad. Before leaving, the python spit out a crystal ball and his mother then kept it with her. 

There is another legend related to the crystal ball that was left behind for Luang Phor Thuad’s family by the python. Soon a rich man heard of the story of how Luang Phor Thuad’s family had obtained such a precious item, he became envious. He forced Luang Phor Thuad’s mother to sell it to him. Initially, the rich man felt delighted as he could get such a precious item but then one by one his family member became ill. He sought help from a spirit doctor who told him that the crystal ball would bring bad luck to anyone except Luang Phor Thuad. The rich man knew he had no choice but to return it.

Ordaining as a Monk

Luang Por Thuad’s family ensured that he received substantial religious training as he grew up. By the age of 5, he would begin to attend lessons on Dharma from the local temple. The monks there were amazed at how quickly and deeply he could absorb the lessons. Within a couple of years he had mastered all the teachings that the local monks could offer him, and he started visiting temples far away from his home in order to learn more. It was hardly any surprise that he ordained as a monk at the age of 12. He then spent his early years as a monk living at Wat Pakok in Songkhla province.

Even though traveling around Thailand in those days was difficult, it was common for monks to visit temples in other parts of the country. One of the most famous stories about Luang Phor Thuad involves a trip that he decided to make to Ayutthaya – this was then the capital of Thailand. He needed to make the first part of this trip by boat. His ship was sailing up the coast in the Gulf of Thailand when they got caught in a storm. The weather became so severe that the crew began to panic. The storm lasted for days and they ended up getting lost at sea with no fresh water to drink. For some reason they began to suspect that the cause of their misfortune was Luang Phor Thuad. They talked about throwing him overboard until the Luang Phor Thuad performed two miracles – he caused the sea to become calm and he turned the seawater around the boat into fresh drinking water. After that, the thoughts of throwing him overboard were dismissed. 

Ayutthaya was the center of Thai Buddhism back in those days, and Luang Phor Thuad had high hopes of what he could learn there. He arrived at one of the large monasteries in the city but was turned away because he looked so disheveled. Luang Phor Thuad was required to look for a temple in Ayutthaya that was willing to admit him, but eventually he found an old rundown monastery that offered him a place to stay.

Legend has it that at this time there was a sense of rivalry between Thai and Sri Lankan Buddhists. The King of Sri Lanka offered to give Thailand’s leaders boats full of gold if they were able to solve a certain Buddhist puzzle. All the senior monks in Ayutthaya failed in this task, but eventually it was solved by Luang Phor Thuad.

Final Years of Luang Phor Thuad

Luang Phor Thuad returned back to Songkhla as a famous monk – he also had The King’s blessing to restore Pha Khoh temple which had fallen into ruin. He eventually became the abbot of Wat Chang Hai in Pattani. Luang Phor became renowned for his psychic powers, and many miracles are attributed to him. He passed on when he was at the age of 120.

Luang Phor Thuad Amulets

Even after Luang Phor Thuad passed on, he continued to help his devotees.Monks staying at Wat Chang Hai and elsewhere began to experience intense dreams where they would meet this spiritual teacher in other realms. They felt compelled to make amulets of him, and they found that these could bring protection to the wearer.

Luang Phor Thuad continues to be one of the most revered monks in Thailand. Any visitor to Thailand is sure to come across pictures, posters, drawings, and statues of him – he is usually depicted as an old man seated in meditation and hunched over – with brooding shoulders. His amulets frequently depict him in black, he was very dark, and the black also signifies an aura of mystery surrounding him. In Phang Nga on the road to Phuket, there is a very large statue of Luang Phor Thuad, Krabi has one, Ubon Ratchathani also has one.

Amulets of Luang Phor Thuad are popular in Thailand and other parts of Asia. You can hear many stories from people who feel certain that wearing a Luang Phor Thuad amulet has positively impacted their life. 

Luang Phor Thuad 誕生於大城皇朝時期佛曆 BE 2125年. 大師於出生在一戶貧困，但經常布施及捐獻廟宇的人家，單名為“補”；在嬰孩時期的某一日，他睡在家外吊床上，但忽然被發現讓一條巨大蟒蛇圍繞住，不讓任何人靠近他，附近看到的人，都想說他死定沒救了. 可是他的父母卻認為此巨蟒應該是從天降下的神，是為保護這小孩的，於是拿鮮花香燭來拜這條巨蟒，沒想到巨蟒即爬行離去. 隨後，大家趕緊去看這嬰孩，結果這嬰孩依然在熟睡中，但在嬰孩的心口，卻發現了一顆多彩的寶石，他的父母就將寶石收起來，從此，沒想到家中就日漸地發展了.

七歲時，他被父親帶至Wat Dee Luang就讀，Somparn Juang為師，寄居佛廟中，進修讀書.天資聰穎的他可以將所讀過的泰文跟經文完全融會貫通，15歲即出家為和尚，出家時，父母將他胸口發現的寶石交給他，從即常至不同寺廟學習；當初百姓稱呼他之名為“叫撒咪朗摸”或“叫撒咪朗”，他由納空喜踏馬蠟府學成開始，往大城府方向移動，經途中的聰彭府時，因風浪太大，船無法靠岸，故在船上停留七日船上所有的食物已經用盡，船上的人認為是因為他才會發生這種事，大家統一要這位和尚下船，當時他在船上，將雙腳放入海中，海中即發出光茫，他要大家多打一些水上船飲用，大家都很狐疑，後來喝了，沒想到竟然是可飲用的淡水，大家就請他不要離開船，拜他、並且非常信奉這位年紀輕輕的高僧. 隨後，到了大城府之後，首先是到Wat Ke及許多寺廟學習經文、古梵文，學業有成；於佛歷 BE 2149年至瓦蠟帢努襪修行.

那時候，斯裡蘭卡國王欲占領大城府為領土，但雙方國王都不願以戰爭方式，恐傷及無辜百姓之生命，於是雙方國王決定同意采以“鬥智”之方式為戰，由攻方先出題，斯裡蘭卡國王便請國內鑄造之師父，精鑄七位國內最高法師經文，將84000字之經文，鑄於像米粒一般的黃金上，打造完成之後，再將這些黃金米粒，交給這七位國內道行最高深的法師帶到大城府；面見國王，由當日起算七日內，將黃金米粒全文解答出來即算贏. 如果泰國沒辦法解出答案的話，大城府即成為斯裡蘭卡的領土，泰國還要將全大城府的金銀財寶全都奉送給斯裡蘭卡.

第一日起，國王便下令四處張貼公告，求國內智者能人來解答. 直到第六日，也無人可解出此題，全國百姓非常著急，第六天夜裡國王就寢時，夢見西方有只巨像走向大城府，被巨像巨聲腳步嚇醒，第七日的早晨，便將夢境告訴國師，國師喻此夢為勝戰之像也；隨後有人通報，有位大師由西方來，已經解答成功，國王感到驚訝，但也松了一口氣，於是便派人接這位大師進宮，在四處尋找之後，在瓦蠟帢努襪找到 Luang Phor Thuad. 

兵將跟Luang Phor Thuad 稟告說“您就是國王夢裡的神，一定可以救大城”，拜托大師將此災轉為福，後將將大師請到皇宮裡，坐在國王特喻，為神僧訂制的高僧座；當時斯裡蘭卡的七位大法師已在宮內等候，看到Luang Phor Tuad，以開玩笑輕視的言語說“哪裡抓來的這個小孩來解答？”他回答“小孩出生至長大，都是需要時間的，怎知道我無法解答？”然後這七位斯裡蘭卡法師，將全部的黃金經文米粒，交給 Luang Phor Thuad. 

Luang Phor Thuad 將全部的黃金經文米粒放進他的僧桶中，禪坐閉眼默念“請所有保佑泰國的神佛、父母、長者、教導過我的上師、所有的功德，請保佑我能解答，救國家”. 隨後即將桶反蓋，開始翻譯解答這些鑄在黃金米粒上的小小經文字，如有神助，且在過程發現缺了七個經字，於是念出來“sang wit ta bu ga ya ba”請法師將缺的黃金米粒拿出來，法師也只能乖乖的交出來，當天下午就成功地解答這個差點送國的難題.

之後，國王非常崇拜 Luang Phor Thuad，賜給他非常多東西，他完全不願收. 只回答國王說他不需要這些，國王跟他說，未來他若有任何需要請跟國王說，國王都會賜給他的. 

大城府在渡過此劫後，沒想到出現了一種怪病的瘟疫，無論怎麼治，怎麼拜拜作法，也無濟於事，國王只能眼睜睜看著瘟疫擴散漫延，束手無策之時，又想起了Luang Phor Thuad，於是令人再去請他進宮一次，Luang Phor Thuad 拿起自己的七彩寶石，在禪坐默念後，將他的寶石置於一大甕的水裡，請國王將水分給百姓飲用，結果喝過水的人病就好了起來，令國王更是贊賞他. 

過了好幾年，他進宮跟國王說，即將離開此處，回到故鄉去，國王非常地舍不得他，但也不能如何，只跟高僧說“請您不要丟下我們不管. ”隨後親自送Luang Phor Thuad 到大城府城門. 後常傳Luang Phor Thuad 從大城府離開返鄉的途中，依然不斷幫助百姓的故事. 

瓦帕他信班啪答啪扣（寺名）是他要修行之處，百姓無上歡迎他，尊稱他為崇迪啪扣，他看這間寺廟受到戰火之殃，非常殘破，很想為這間寺廟做點事情，沒想到這個訊息一傳到國王耳裡，國王即遣500人為此廟整修添香，三年內讓這間寺廟莊嚴華麗Luang Phor Thuad 在這間寺廟修行了好幾年. 時間不斷消逝，大師漸入老邁之年，便返回南北部家園，大師沿陸路步行返回家園，一路苦行弘揚佛法，普道眾生，所經之處，往往有奇蹟出現，受到善信崇奉膜拜。大師這次回到家鄉在Wat Pha Khoh 註錫，受到遠近民眾之崇敬，熱烈歡迎. 後來大師因重建佛廟，再到皇城籌措經費，這次受到皇帝之崇敬，恩准劃賜土地予重建佛廟，並將地界內的人民，也交由佛廟管轄.

一直到大師80歲的某一天，他拿著有三個彎的拐杖，到海邊散步的時候，遇上了海賊，海賊見他落單，即將他抓上了船，船在開出不久後，沒想到怎樣都動不了，就這樣停在海的中央，這些海賊不斷檢查、修船，經過了幾個月，他們所有的飲食都已用盡，海賊開始慌亂，大師看著他們痛苦之下，欲將腳放進海水裡，腳不夠長，於是念經，豈料大船竟然下降到大師的腳可泡到海水的高度，大師將腳拿開之後，叫海賊去取水喝, 海賊不信也沒辦法只好一試，沒想到海水竟然是淡水，海賊開始對他感到敬畏膜拜他，不斷向大師道歉，將大師送上岸，船就可行駛.

大師上岸後，先在兩棵大枯樹中休憩，之後這兩顆枯樹，像重新擁有了生命一樣，一直到現在，都還有人拜這兩棵樹呢！救助無數百姓的 Luang Phor Thuad 給這村子的，是美好的回憶.  後來大師又向其他的地區遷移.  

而我們現在所說的龍婆托的真正圓寂時間和地點，到現在仍然是一個迷，也一直在爭論著. 有人認為大師是在Wat Phra Khok修成正果升天的；也有人認為大師離開Wat Phra Khok後一直行西瓦裡苦行戒南下.