Phra Khruba Boonchum
Phra Khuva Boonchum | |
|---|---|
Ñāṇasaṁvara | |
.jpg) | |
| Title | Khruba |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 5 January 1965 (age 61) |
| Other name | Ñāṇasaṁvara |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Theravada |
| Lineage | Thai Forest Tradition |
| Senior posting | |
| Teacher | Khruba Siwichai |
| Based in | Wat Phra That Don Ruang |
Students | |
Venerable Ñāṇasaṁvara (Thai: ญาณสํวโร; Burmese: ဉာဏသံဝရ; born 5 January 1964), also known as Khruba Boonchum (ครูบาบุญชุ่ม) in Thailand and as the Mine Hpone Sayadaw (မိုင်းဖုန်းဆရာတော်) in Myanmar, is a prominent Shan Theravāda Buddhist monk of the Northern Thai Forest Tradition established by Khruba Siwichai.[2] He is widely respected in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos for his solitary meditation retreats in remote forests, mountains, and caves, earning him the nickname "the monk of the three nations".[3]
Early life
Ñāṇasaṁvara was born on 5 January 1964 in Mae Kham, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, to Po Kham Hla and Nang Saeng La, a Shan-speaking family originally from Mong Yong near Kengtung, Shan State, Burma.[4][5] His birth name was Sai Wun Sum. His grandparents later migrated to Chiang Saen, Thailand.[4]
Ordination
He first ordained as a novice at the age of 11, receiving the title Shin Nya Tham Wora. He was ordained as a bhikkhu on 29 May 1985 at 09:39 am by senior monks including Sai Nom (Paw Kyit), Daw Nan Sam Saeng, Mong Phone Pandaka U Nang Shwe, and Daw Nan Thit.[6] Burma News International, citing the Shan Herald News Agency, instead dates his higher ordination to 9 May 1986 at Wat Suan Dok in Chiang Mai, at the age of 21.[5] In the third year after his ordination, he built a stupa on the 49th mountain of Khyen Loi Win Kyauk (Khyen Taw Taung) in Wan Lai village. He also travelled to Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka and India.
Later life
Ñāṇasaṁvara serves as the abbot of Wat Phra That Don Ruang in Tachileik, Shan State, Myanmar.[7] He has been invited to royal palaces in Bhutan and Thailand.[8]
Ñāṇasaṁvara is known for his ascetic practice: he is a lifelong vegetarian, walks barefoot in all weather, and observes complete silence during his solitary cave retreats.[9] These retreats have taken place not only in Thailand and Shan State but also in Bhutan.[9]
His followers include senior Burmese officials, military generals, and Shan ethnic armed leaders such as Khin Nyunt and Yawd Serk. Before Khin Nyunt's fall from power, he donated large sums to the Sayadaw. In 2004 the military government accused him of assisting Shan leaders seeking secession from the Union and sought to arrest him, and his monastery in Tachileik was closed; at the request of his followers he remained in Thailand until 2013, when he was permitted to return under President Thein Sein.[9][8] After the Saffron Revolution, he was named among patrons of the International Sangha Organization led by the exiled Penang Sayadaw.[8]
In 2016, at the invitation of Aung San Suu Kyi, he visited Nay Pyi Taw and also met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.[8] In 2018, he visited ailing former Senior General Maung Aye.[9]
He gained international media attention during the Tham Luang cave rescue, when he predicted the exact day the trapped boys and their coach would be found alive.[10] The King of Thailand later offered him robes in recognition.[11]
Ñāṇasaṁvara has also mediated peace and reconciliation ceremonies with ethnic minority groups in Myanmar.[12]
Meditation retreats
In 2010, he began a retreat in Rajagriha Cave in Ngao district, Lampang province, Thailand, where visitors were barred and communication was restricted to written messages. It ended on 20 July 2013 after three years, three months, and three days; he then met followers for three days before beginning a further three-month retreat.[13][5]
From April 2019 to August 2022, he undertook another retreat of the same duration in Mong Kyat Cave, Shan State.[5]
Health
After completing the 2019–2022 retreat, he became seriously ill with cerebral malaria in August 2022. He was treated at Bangkok Hospital at the expense of King Vajiralongkorn, and later recovered.[14]
Awards
- Saddhammajotikadhaja Medal (1996)
- Agga Maha Kammatthana Sariya Degree (2018)[15]
References
- ↑ เส้นทางธุดงควัตร "ครูบาน้อย" เกจิดังเมืองน่าน [The thudong path of "Khruba Noi", a renowned monk of Nan]. Thai PBS (in Thai). 2023-09-02. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
- ↑ "Khruba Bonchum: A symbol of peace". Burma News International. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ↑ "A mystical take on the Tham Luang cave rescue". Bangkok Post. 4 July 2018.
- 1 2 "Khuva Boonchum - Dhamma Wiki". dhammawiki.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- 1 2 3 4 Wansai, Sai (2022-08-01). "PEACEMAKER: Phra Khuva Boonchum ends more than three years of solitude meditation retreat". Shan Herald News Agency. Retrieved 2026-07-25 – via Burma News International.
- ↑ "ເມີນານຫຼານສານສານສານສານສານສານ". kanbawzatainews. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ↑ "หากันให้วุ่น! "เหรียญครูบาบุญชุ่ม" เกลี้ยงแผง ล่าสุดทะลุเกินแสนแล้ว!! (คลิป)". ข่าวสด (in Thai). 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- 1 2 3 4 "ထိုင်းဂူရှေ့ ဆုတောင်းခဲ့တဲ့ မိုင်းဖုန်းဆရာတော်". BBC News မြန်မာ (in Burmese). 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- 1 2 3 4 "Monk Who Predicted Thai Cave Rescue Hailed for 'Intervention'". The Irrawaddy. 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ↑ "Thai King Offers Robes to Monk Who Predicted Team Trapped in Cave Would Be Found". The Irrawaddy. 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ↑ "Thai King Offers Robes to Monk Who Predicted Team Trapped in Cave Would Be Found". The Irrawaddy. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ↑ "Ming Phone Sayadaw's peace and reconciliation ceremonies with ethnic minorities". myanmardigitalnews. 25 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ↑ Jirattikorn, Amporn (2016-07-30). "Buddhist Holy Man Khruba Bunchum: The Shift in a Millenarian Movement at the Thailand–Myanmar Border". SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. 31 (2): 377–412. doi:10.1355/sj31-2a.
- ↑ "ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံ ဘန်ကောက်တွင် ဆေးကုသမှုခံယူနေသည့် မိုင်းဖုန်းဆရာတော်၏ ကျန်းမာရေး ရာခိုင်နှုန်း ၈၀ ခန့်ပြန်လည် ကောင်းမွန်လာ". Eleven Media Group (in Burmese). 15 August 2022.
- ↑ "President presents Agga Maha Kammatthana Sariya Degree to Monk My Phone Sayadaw". tachileiknewsagency. 5 January 2018. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.