Biography of Luang Por Guay Chudtintaro, Wat Kositaram, Chainat.
Luang Por Guay was born on 2nd of November 2448 in the year of
the snake, in Soi 9, Ban Kae , Tambon Bang Khud, Sakburi,
Chainat. He was the son of Mr. Dtui Bpan Son, who originally
came from Wiset Chaichan, Ang Tong Province. His Mother was
named ‘Khun Mae Dtuan Daechma, from Ban Kae..
He had four Siblings; first came his three Brothers, Dtu, Khaad,
Cheun and then his Sister Nak, and last came the youngest, Guay.
All of the Brothers and Sisters, and Luang Por Guay himself have
passed away, and are no longer with us. Luang Por Guay was the
last born and the most loved of his Parents.
When he grew up a bit, they took him to stay with Luang Phu
Khuad at Wat Ban Kae (Wat Kositaram), to receive some schooling.
In those days, the area of Ban Kae was still far from
infrastructure and Civilization, and too difficult to reach a
real school. Luang Phu Khuad asked his Parents beforehand, what
Guays birthdate and Birth Year were, as well as questioning them
as to his skin complexion, manner of speech. T turned out that
the young Guay had the astrological alignments of a ‘Maha Burut’
(Great Person), who would be sure to end up in a high position.
Guays skin complexion was lighter than that of his parents, more
yellowish and light in complexion, which in Thailand is believed
to be the sign of a person with great wisdom and intelligence.
He was a child of little speech, but with eyes that reflected
daring and penetrating. He was a person with a grand aura of
power and strength, but whose manner and movement was gentle and
graceful.
He learned to read and write and to use mathematics with LP
Khuad, and at the young age of six or seven, he was already able
to read the Dhammapada and Pali Prayers. So Luang Phu Khuad then
continued to teach Luang Por Guay ‘Pasa Khom’ (Ancient Khmer
Sanskrit). Luang Phu continued to share as many Wicha as
possible with Luang Por Guay. He did this with the knowledge
that perhaps one day the young boy might Ordain into the Buddha
Sasana as a member of the Sangha, and then these teachings would
serve him to be able to become a Great master, in line with his
‘Duang Chadtaa’ (Horoscope reading) which LP Khuad had already
examined.
When Luang Phu Khuad passed away, the young Guay was taken from
the temple by his parents to continue studying Khom with Luang
Por Dam (sometimes spelled ‘Dum’), of Wat Hua Den, which was
quite close to Wat Ban Kae (Wat Kositaram).
Once he had mastered Khom, he went on to learn at Wat Praw
school in Don Gam. He had to travel there, but not too far. He
learned up to the level of Por Sorng, (about twelve years old)
and then became bored with learning because he was already far
ahead of most others in his age, and could even already read
Khom fluently. He turned to assisting his Parents in running the
farm at home. The whole time he spent helping his parents, he
could not get Luang Por Khuad and the temple out of his head. He
saw no purpose in spending ones life farming for harvest.
Older generation Thais tell that Luang Por Guay was not a
selfish or hedonistic child like many others of that time, but
when Luang Por Guay was asked about this, he said that he was a
very naughty boy, and that he used to like to make arrow shaped
projectiles and shoot them out of his gun with gunpowder.
When evening would come, whoever had left their windows open
would get a warning shot from the young Guay to warn them to
close their windows properly. As he was still a layman, he would
always say to his Parents that if he ordained as a Monk, then he
would ‘Buach Mai Seug’ (Ordain forever, and never disrobe).
He once explained this to his grandmother, and told that as he
was young, he once had a person who he held very dear to his
heart. He would climb up to the window of their room (Luang Por
did not say if this was something he did often or just a few
times, and also does not reveal who the person in question was).
One evening, he was longing to see the person he loved, and
climbed up to the window as arranged. But when he got there, the
full moon was shining so brightly, that he did not dare to
appear
He thus waited until the Moon fell, and it was late. The
darkness fell, and he dared to climb up to the window of his
loved one with no fear of her Father seeing him.
His lover was asleep already, tired of waiting, and the sight he
was greeted with made him stand frozen in surprise. She lay with
her hair all tangled, and her mouth open in an unmannerly
fashion. Spittle was dribbling from the side of her mouth, and
she lolled with the covers arranged as the sheets on a corpse.
It was not possible to find any beauty there at all in this
impression. In this moment, he released his attachments to such
matters completely, and fled. He never returned to look for his
lover again. Since then, he never had another affair with any
lover.
This shows that Luang Por Guay was already realized in the
renunciation of Sexual Sensory pleasures since before he
ordained as a Monk. When he came of age and was sent by his
Parents to Ordain, he asked to have a quiet Ceremony at the
temple and not to indulge in any of the social celebrations that
are traditionally performed and undertaken in Thai Buddhist
Culture, which were a simple waste of money in his view, and
nothing to do with the Buddha Sasana and the seriosity of the
renunciation of a Bhikkhu.
He was accustomed to say ‘The Preacher must know the right time
to preach, and the Faithful believer must know the limits of his
resources’ – this means that the Merit – Maker must donate or
arrange for a ceremony that is within their financial limits,
and not en-debt themselves just to follow the tradition. The
young Guay was brought to his Upachaya Pra Chainat Muni, who
shaved his head and Ordained him, along with Luang Por Bpa as
the Pra Gammawajarn, and Pra Ajarn Hring as the Anusawanajarn.
He was Ordained on the 5th of June 2467 at 15:17 pm. He was aged
20 years old. The Ordination Ceremony was held at the Uposadha
shrine room of Wat Po Ngam In Sakburi, Chainat. His Ordained
Name was ‘Chudtintaro’, meaning “This world is full of turmoil
of the ways of the world, burdened by defilement and desire,
which is greed anger and ignorance – He who cuts off the
defilement and craving, will reach the far shore of Nibbana”.
After his Ordination as a Bhikkhu, Luang Por Guay resided at Wat
Kae, where Luang Phu Ma was the Abbot at that time.
Pra Guay Chudtintaro began to practice recital of the Vessantara
Jataka (Life of Vessantara, a previous Incarnation of Lord
Buddha, and one of the ten last lifetimes leading up to his
Enlightenment).
He also studied other works such as the Khantakumara and the
Dhanakhanta. In that time, there was hardly any other student
who could equal his knowledge and Mastery of the topic. After
his Ordination, he resided at Wat ban Kae, where Luang Phu was
the abbot. He began practicing recital of the Vessantara Jataka,
and soon used it as a tool when people asked him to preach to
them.
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