Master Nun Tanom Asawai
Biography:
Reverend Maechee Tanom Asawai is the eighth child
among nine children of Mr. Reuy and Mrs. Thongkam Banyonk. She was born at Bhosa Sub-District, Mueang
District, Angthong Province, on Saturday, November 1900. When she was young, she was an unhealthy
child. When she was 19 year old, she
married Muean Sawad (Tob Asawai) who was 5 years older than Tanom. Tob was a doctor of the Ranger Unit who
provided security to His Majesty King Rama VI.
So, Tob had to follow the King to different places.
After Tanom’s father passed away, she followed her
husband. Later on, she became a retinue
of His Majesty the King’s paternal grandmother who was a royalty. So, Tanom had to move to live at Srapathum
Palace and also at the Wet-Nurse Dhat’s residence. Wet-Nurse Dhat was a Wet-Nurse of His Majesty
King Rama VI. Tanom lived with her
husband at Srapathum palace happily for 25 years, and they had 7 children.
Meet Luang Por:
Muean Sawad (Tob) loved to study Dhamma, and he was
very faithful upon Luang Por Wat Paknam (Phramongkolthepmuni), the past abbot
of Wat Paknam. Thus, he practiced
meditation according to Luang Por’s guidance.
Later on, he brought Tanom to Wat Paknam Temple in 1934. Tanom got
interested as she saw many people practicing meditation at the Dhamma hall of
Wat Paknam. She learned that Luang Por
taught meditation to people from all walks of life without no restriction on
gender, age, and education. Luang Por
wished them to practice righteously and attentively with good perseverance.
Meditation Attainment:
Thereafter, Tanom frequently visited Wat Paknam to
study kammathana or meditation with Luang Por Wat Paknam. When she returned home, she continued her
meditation practice.
Months after that, one day, when Tanom was meditating,
her mind calmed down and she could see the golden brilliant light of her inner
bodies. She also saw an exceptionally
beautiful crystal clear Buddha image in her abdomen. After she finished her meditation session,
she told her husband about her inner experience.
When she visited Wat Paknam again, Luang Por asked her
to further her meditation study with “Aunty Pook” or Reverend Maechee Pook
Muiprasert who was a virtuous and competent instructor of Dhammakaya
Meditation. On that very day, Tanom
attained the 18 bodies. Then, she
furthered to the step of ‘Superknowledge of Dhammakaya’ or ‘Vijja Dhammakaya’
with Luang Por.
Ordination:
Soon after, Muean Sawad also practiced meditation
until he attained Dhammakaya. The couple
always went to practice meditation with Luang Por Wat Paknam. Muean Sawad passed away in 1944, so Tanom
asked Luang Por Wat Paknam to grant her ordination as a Buddhist nun. By that time, she was almost 45 year
old. Luang Por assigned Reverend Maechee
Tanom to practice ‘advanced Vijja Dhammakaya’ at the meditation workshop. Reverend Tanom followed Luang Por’s guidance
and instruction strictly.
Advanced in Vijja Dhammakaya:
When practicing the advanced Vijja Dhammakaya at the
meditation workshop, Luang Por would supervise Vijja or koom Vijja whereas
Buddhist monks and novice monks meditated in front of Luang Por. On the other side of the room which was
partitioned by a wall that prevented meditators from the two sides to see each
other, but being able to hear the voice, there were Buddhist nuns who practiced
advanced meditation. There were four Buddhist
nuns who were supervisors. Each
supervisor would be assisted by three other Buddhist nuns who were experts in
Dhammakaya meditation.
When Luang Por gave instruction or Sung Vijja, each
member of the meditation workshop would do his or her own part at different
speeds or promptness. This solely
depended on the level of merit energy or perfections of each meditator which
enabled different levels of insight power.
The Buddhist nuns who practiced advanced Dhammakaya Meditation were
divided into shifts. Each shift took
four hours. So, the practice of advanced
Dhammakaya Meditation went on continuously 24 hours a day. Between each shift the advanced meditators
would pass on the knowledge and insight gained from the previous shift to the
next shift.
Becoming a Supervisor:
Not so soon after Reverend Maechee Tanom was allowed
to attend the advanced meditation sessions, she was appointed by Luang Por to
be one of the supervisors. As she
researched more and more with her insight, her knowledge widened
infinitely. She was able to see the
Primordial Buddha(s) or Ton Dhat Ton Dham, Nirvana or Nibbana, heaven and hell
realms, and the enlightened noble Buddhist disciples, as well as other
causalities which she witnessed by herself.
These were profound issues affirmed by Luang Por Wat Paknam.
Reverend Tanom was admired by other advanced Vijja
Dhammakaya meditators that she was one of the most advanced, progressive and
competent in Vijja Dhammakaya who studied meditation directly with Luang Por. However, no matter how outstanding she
became, Reverend Tanom was not reckless.
She always reminded her students and followers that “Don’t spoil
yourself in eating, sleeping, dressing, and clothing.” In addition, she taught them to “stop [the
mind] deeper and deeper” in order to purify oneself or dhatdham as a way
to clean both internally and externally.
Moreover, she told them not to be over possessive of Vijja.
The Beloved One:
Anyone who met Reverend Tanom would witness by
themselves that she was very strict in obeying Luang Por’s orders. She was a respectable, gentle, kind, and
compassionate person who understood the problems and solutions very well. For
example, she gave an opinion that all the Buddhist nuns who achieved advanced
Dhammakaya meditation should have necessary allowances, and Luang Por agreed
with her. So, Buddhist nuns who
practiced advanced Dhammakaya meditation have been given allowances since then
until the present.
Researching Dhammakaya Meditation:
Reverend Tanom was a senior Buddhist nun whom Luang
Por trusted and assigned her to research the ‘advanced Vijja Dhammakaya’
frequently. She would meditate at the meditation work shop
and did the research according to Luang Por’s instruction from 8 o’clock in the
morning until noon. In the afternoon,
she taught her students or did the errands according to Luang Por’s
orders. In the evening, she returned to
meditate at the workshop. She had
continued this practice for 15 years of her living at Wat Paknam in Bangkok,
when Luang Por was still alive.
When Luang Por Passed Away:
On 3 February 1959, Luang Por was seriously ill. All the students tried their best to meditate
in order to solve Luang Por’s illness.
Until noon, His Holiness Somdet Phra Ariyawongsakotyan (Poon Poonasiri
Mahathera) when he was in the ecclesiastical order of Phra Dhammavarodom (the
abbot of Wat Phrachetuphon) had arrived to visit Luang Por Wat Paknam. Reverend Tanom was meditating advanced
Dhammakaya Meditation at the workshop, and she was asked to see Luang Por who
was unconscious at Mongkolchandasara Building.
Reverend Tanom, then, investigated with her insight
and checked the process of Luang Por’s passing away. She found that everything was ready for his
afterlife. After the celestial things
were well prepared for Luang Por, he stopped panting. Once His Holiness noticed that, he asked Venerable
Phramaha Narong Thitayano about the Buddhist nun or Reverend Tanom as he was
curious about her. Thus, His Holiness
asked Reverend Tanom to meet and converse with him. Soon after, Luang Por passed away peacefully
whereas Reverend Tanom was investigating with her insight. What she saw with her insight made her feel
so much grateful and indebted to Luang Por Wat Paknam.
For one hundred days after Luang Por passed away,
Luang Por’s disciples organized a merit making memorial ceremony for him. After the ceremony, Reverend Tanom asked
Luang Por for permission to propagate Dhammakaya Meditation at her hometown in
Angthong Province where she led her students to establish a meditation
center.
Photo from http://group.wunjun.com/khunsamatha/topic/302078-8828
Translated
from the Thai version of Maechee Tanom’s biography
Biography,
Work and Sixty Three Sermons of Luang Por Wat Paknam
Released on
the occasion of Luang Por Wat Paknam’s Centennial Anniversary
Published by the
Buddhist Meditation and Vijja Dhammakaya Foundation,
Second
Edition, Year 1985, 1500 Copies
Wat Sraket,
Bangkok, Thailand
