Ya Kru Joon

In Wat Par Jao Sua, a lesser known buddhist temple in Northeast Thailand Ubon Ratchathani, there is a guru monk by the name of Ya Kru Joon or Ajarn Joon ( Please note that in Northeast Thailand, people address monk as Ya Kun but it has the same meaning as people address monk as Luang Phor or Ajarn in the central of Thailand).

It is known that Ya Kun Joon is a low key monk as he does not want to be famous. As such, he will refuse to have any photos taken by either devotees or newspapers and magazines reporters that visit the temple. However if one does want to take a photo of him, you could only take a photo of his back or his side.

Ya Kru Joon is a monk with a strong practice in meditation. During one of his meditation sessions, he saw Luang Phor Sangthaow Wat Kongchin, who is the uncle and teacher of Luang Phor Tim Wat Lahanrai and is also the one who passed Luang Phor Tim a book of Wicha and Akrom. It is later from this book of Wicha and Akrom that Luang Phor Tim founded the secret of making Phong Prai Guman.

From Luang Phor Sangthaow, Ya Kru Joon learnt the method of making Prai Kanya to consecrate amulets (Note: Prai Kanya refers to a girl's ashes).  Prai Kanya is not easy to find as the girl's ashes must be a female adult plus the day of birth and the day of passing must fall on the exact same day. The body must be registered and approved by the Buddhist Association before the temple can collect the “material” otherwise it will not be auspicious.

At that moment of time, Ya Kru Joon did not have access to Prai Kanya and had no clue where to look for the materials to consecrate this batch of amulets. However, an unexpected event happened and news reached Ya Kru Joon regarding a family that has recently lost their daughter due to a traffic accident. The daughter’s name was NID and she was born on 7th March (Saturday) and passed away on 7th March.

Her cremation was carried out three days later on a Tuesday (Note: Ya Kru Joon did not specify the girl’s age and personal details but people have speculated that Mae NID’s DOB in the Buddhist calendar is 7th March BE 2530 and passed away in the Buddhist calendar 7th March BE 2552). In fact Ya Kru Joon visited Mae NID’s family and asked them for permission to use her ashes to consecrate a batch of amulet. And her family agreed to the request of Ya Kru Jun.

In the  process, the Prai Kanya was mixed with  6 other powders, which include:

1.       Powders made by Ya Kru Joon himself such as Phong Prai (holy powder) from Luang Phor  Sangthaow.
2.       Phong Wat Rakhang (using chalks and writing Katha on the black board then collecting the chalk powders and repeated 7 times) from Somdej Toh Wat Rakhang.
3.       Phong Phra Maha Thera (holy powder) from Somdej Phrawannarat who is teacher of King Naresuan.
4.       Phong Samret That Kasin (holy powder) from Luang Phor Kob Wat Khao Salika, which Ya Kru Jun kept for 20 years.
5.       Prai Maha Phut Thongkham.
6.       Nok Yoong Thong from Luang Phor Mun’s method.

Others ingredients include

1.       Takrut Salika Jaturat Saraphat Gun created using Luang Phor Khee Hom’s method
2.       Luang Phor Suang bank notes
3.       Wahns, tree which die as a result of lightning strike

According to Ya Kru Joon, the secret of Prai Kanya consists of one part mystery and the other part is the creation of the Khun Paen itself. He explained that he has broken the exact code for Phra Khun Paen creation and that exact code is 7-3. This exact code and its special ingredients allow the special creation of Khun Paen Prai Kanya. This creation is based upon the alignment of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars at a specific time frame and this time frame occurred on Monday 5th April BE 2557. This also is the main and only reason why Ya Kru Joon refuses to participate in blessing or consecrate any other Prai Kanya batches.

All Khun Paen Prai Kanya are consecrated using the traditional method of hand pressing and from only one mould. As a result, each Khun Paen produced had its own uniqueness such as different thickness, different amount of powders, the position of the temple stamps and its takrut.

After the Khun Paen Prai Kanya was consecrated, these were distributed out to devotees that donated to the temple regardless of the amount of donation. Within a short period of time, news spread among rural Thailand that Khun Paen Prai Kanya consistently made the wearers feel good and have smooth daily lives. Those with businesses see their business booming and those who are sellers sell more than ever.

After a period of time, other temples seeked Ya Kru Joon for the powders and continued with the making of Khun Paen Prai Kanya. This was to spread merit and at the same time raise funds for the temples. In less than two months, a total of 4,700 Khun Paen Prai Kanya were consecrated.

There are 3 blessing ceremonies associated with the Khun Paen Prai Kanya, with all 3 days falling on Buddha Day which is considered auspicious:

1.       30th March BE 2557 @ 1239h (subsequently placed in a large hall for blessing)
2.       5th April BE 2557 @ 1449h (subsequently placed in a large hall for blessing)
3.       19th April BE 2557 @ 1509h (completed after three opening, placed in the temple)

The following is the distribution of the version of Khun Paen Prai Kanya by Ya Kru Joon :

1.       The fire and water compatible meat / YAMOK PA TI HAN (a total of 17 produced)
2.       KAW NOP PA RAD (crystal white and have gems and limited to a total of 20 produced)
3.       SI FA SUP WAR JUN NON ROISA (turquoise colour and limited to 30)
4.       SI NAK (rose coloured and limited to 36)
5.       Angels descend (paradise) meat / TEAWADA LONG SAWAN (a total of 38 produced)
6.       PINK GOLDIT TRATAD IT PRAUBOSOT (rose coloured and limited to 40)
7.       SI YA NAD (limited to 50)
8.       LONG PIM (varieties of colours and limited to 53)
9.       PHROM LOK (a total of 58 produced)
10.   KUN KHUK (brown coloured and limited to 3,000)
11.   WE CHE MAK (limited to 61)
12.   THO (green in colour and limited to 47). YKJ made these for committee members. 
    

A total of 4,700 pieces were mading by Ya Kru Joon. However, there are 1,250 extra pieces of which the colours and materials are not confirmed pending upon the official announcement.

There are also Loop Om and Takruts for a total of 2,000 pieces.

When Khun Paen Prai Kanya was first distributed in May BE 2557, there was no pricing recorded for Special Pim but the renting of Normal Pim was between 2,000-2,500 THB. After 3 months and with many miracles being reported, the price of Normal Pim was pushed upwards to 3,000-3,500 THB about mid-September to early October period. With the official announcement of book release detailing the amulets in late December, a further increase was seen in the price of the Normal Pim that went up to 15,000-18,000THB. Once the amulet book of Khun Paen Prai Kanya was released,there was speculation about the renting price for Normal Pim edition to remain high and the Special Pim to go for between 25,000-200,000THB.

Due to the expected success in such a short time frame, the students of Ya Kru Joon followed Ya Kru Joon in releasing a second batch of Khun Paen Prai Kanya amulets (total of five colours, each colour is limited to 999 pieces, and Normal Pim, a total of 9,990). Luksit of Ya Kru Joon even asked Ya Kru Joon if he could bless the amulets as well but because Ya Kru Joon is a low-key monk so he refused to bless it. Hence, as of to-date only one official batch of Khun Paen Prai Kanya has been released by Wat Pa Chao Sua. However, the powder of Prai Kanya was offered to other temples.