อ.หนู กันภัย (English)


THAI TATTOOS

History and Origins of Tattoo

Tattoo is an ancient science but no one can state its origins or beginning.  People assume the history of tattooing goes back to the ancient Egyptian Era – when tattooing was only for body decoration.  Some people believe that its origins go back to the European Primitives. Others say the decorations were found before the Christian Era.

                The most beautiful ancient tattoos are Polynesian designs.  This ethnic group lives on Polynesia, the Islands in the Pacific Ocean and on the Philippines Islands.

There are two styles of decoration on human skin. First is the tattoo which is trendy among Europeans.  They wear tattoos for decoration.  Each picture tells a story and  has a  clear meaning.  The second is 

Thai tattoos.

Thai Tattoos represent the myths of Himmaphan. The unique designs show images of gods – Siva, Brahma,  Rahoon, Rama, Lak, Ramayana, Hanuman.  Thais believe they are celestial beings.  Having them inscribed on one’s body brings good luck.   These tattoos are inscribed by writing numbers of yantra and existing magic.  Over many years, masters learn such magical science from their gurus. 

 

Thai tattoos are a very unique style.  All tell us truths, or traditional beliefs. It is known that the magical knowledge are resources of Thai masters.

 

The word “magic” brings foreigners to study and try the science here.  Such beliefs in miracles may draw people of the world to have it happen to themselves.  In other words, they really want to be able to testify personally about the mysterious rumors. Some who have experienced the magic already want to try more.  Thus people from all corners of the world come to Thailand to see for themselves.  Some foreigners have body artworks just for their beauty while some want to benefit from the possible virtues.

 

Thai tattooing relates to ancient beliefs – each piercing Khmer alphabets on body sticks with the power and sacred design. Having a letter, together with the particular features, will make the devotee receive miraculous experiences.

 

There is only an exemption for fashionably sporting tattoos.  Artists just write on the skin with a modern ink stick for beautiful purpose.  However, any products of the trendy art can not compare with having magical needles with the powerful letters.

 

Ancient yantra tattoos are made up of 2 kinds of staining magical alphabets and powers: oil tattooing, and ink tattooing.

Oil Tattooing

 

In the past, masters mostly used the sandalwood, steeped in herbs or white sesame oil.  Oil extracted from wild animals, such as elephants in must, and tigers, is also useable.  Nowadays people prefer oil tattooing as it is invisible when dried blood has gone. The purpose of this staining serves only strength of power. 

Ink Tattooing

The ancient art supplies include Chinese ink rubbing with holy water.  In old times, masters had sought galls of tiger, bear and cobra for a kind of mixture.  For having needle on body, the master let his assistant pulled the certain point of skin, and then started piercing while reciting mystic formulas through this step. 

The recitation helped passing magic spell on yantra tattoo.  The period of time required for the full process depends upon how small or large the design is.

After being tattooed by Master Noo Kanpai, his followers should strictly follow his rules of behavior.  Not having sexual misconduct, and not cursing parents – these are  the most serious rules.  If anyone breaks a rule, he will immediately loose the powerful spells.  Even the invulnerable men are no exception, they can not maintain the power.  In addition, their moral strength will decline suddenly.  Other than that they deserve to be punished sacredly.   As a result, the ones wearing ancient tattoo should observe them seriously to prevent their devaluation.  Moreover, they need to perform good deeds, as of old saying “Good person, holy matters, spiritual protection will protect the devotees from harm.”  This teaching is a caution that let us realize results of good and bad deeds

Numbers and tattoo designs

Tattooing with numbers represents the following virtues:

1 means virtue of nirvana (or enlightenment),  3 represents virtue of the three gems (Phra Rattanatrai); the Tripitaka,  4 the four Mak and its results; the four keepers of the world; the four Phromviharn,   The old pilgrim Kassapa,   5 the five precepts,   6 fire; the sun,  7 the wind or Phra Pai,  8 meditation; the eight precepts, the Mar,  9 the four Mak and its results;  nirvana; Phra Kattu,  10 the master; the air; the ten precepts; The planet Saturn 30 Tass,  12 virtue of mother; Khongka(river); Rahuu,  14 Sankha,  15 the Moon,  17 Praises of Bhudda,  19 Phra Paruhassabody,  20 the second power of the Saturn,   21 virtue of Father,  the Mother Earth; the planet Venus,  33 the alphabets,  38 the Dhamma,  39 the Mother Rice or Kwankaow,  41 the alphabets,  56 the Bhuddha,  227 the 227 precepts. 

Applying Khmer alphabetical lettering to the tattooing is very popular.  The action is called “ Khoam to Pali Tattoo.”  The tattoo can also be done for some other languages.

 

Either tattooing the various sacred designs or the yantra with alphabets has been a cultural practice over many successive generations. The powerful art is worth further research otherwise the culture will vanish from our country, Thailand.

 

Tattooing on skin, so called “Saklai or Sakyantra,” is Thai tradition but the ancient form of body art has nearly vanished.  Most tattooing nowadays is only for beauty.

 

Above all, the stories behind Thai-style tattoo as mentioned above are worth studying.  However, it seems that nobody loves to do it while the culture  has faded out from society.

 

Method of Tattooing

 

Tattooing uses sharp pointed sticks as the main tools.  Masters, monks and laymen, douse the metal needles in ink or herbal oils and then pierce the skin to produce the particular design or powerful alphabet tattoos.   Tattoos made using ink are called “Ink Tattoo”  and with oils, “oil tattoo.”  Staining the designs on chest or back of devotee’s body is trendy.

 

It is widely known that no one could prove eventually when ink tattooing began. Regardless of when it started, there are 5 reasons for having this type of tattoo.

1. Identifying official position.  Young men had “ Saklaek” to show they were registered soldiers and identifying with their particular departments.  Those wearing no tattoo were called “White handed men.” They had no commander or subordinates.

2. Showing evidence of punishment.  The mark on shoulder  meant being punished not as badly as if it was on the face.  The tattoo spot on face not only proclaimed him a very bad prisoner and also prohibited him from ordination as a monk.

3. Showing beauty, such as flower designs or pictures of animals.  Some tribes believe that wearing tattoo with animals transfers the animal’s beauty to them.  Ancient Lao people  preferred piercing tattoos on legs.  This value was essential to them all.  As one of their poems says, “A woman without any tattoo on top of her thighs did not have any sex appeal and could not attract any man.  Another poem says, “Covering with ten or twenty blankets does not seem as warm as having your tattooed legs across my body.”

4. Identifying tribes.  Thai Aai Lao tribe traditionally let the group wear body tattoos of dragons or snakes.  Some Laotians had them on belly, then the group was called “Lao Poong Dum, or a Laotians with black bellies.”  The others

without any tattoo on that spot were called “Lao Poong Kaow or a Laotian with white bellies.”

5. Being invulnerable.  A great work of Thai literature “Khunchang Khunphan,”        tells that Treepetkla, the Burmese commander wore magical tattoos all over his body to protect himself in wars.

Educators on the tradition should obtain records of the typical designs, processes and rituals.  They should also compare the different artwork of each tribe and cultural  changes and the group’s values as well.  The science is also worth further study.  There are two kinds – the ancient style, the belief base.  Each one has evolved specifically and reflects traditions and customs in Thai history.  Prince Damrong Rajanupab understood that Bhuddist followers practice Tantra Niguy (means Neo-Hindu ideology, belief in rites to worship Siva and his Sakti.   The word  “Sakti” means one of 3 main Hindu Niguys – Visanop, Saiva, and Sakti.)  Nowadays people in Tibet widely believe in the Tantra.  Later the civilization flowed into Burma and Thailand. (Civilization is peace, based on society or morality and law)   A considerable matter is that the yantra of Tantra Niguy belong to “Kritiya” (means magic, charm and spells).  When this Hinnayan great monks in Srilanka moved to Thailand, then yantra tattoo, as of Hinnayan ideology, became “the heart of Dhamma.”

 

Presently, tattooing for invulnerable benefit is scarce and fading.  Considering  customs in the period “Mala Num Thai” of  General Phiboonsongkram’s administration, while the government strongly encouraged Thais to wear hats and to chew areca nuts they disliked and discouraged yantra tattooing.  Wearing tattoos was prohibited. A tattooed person could not become an official.  Anyone who covered his body with magic tattoos  was treated as a rough man and had a hard time making a living.

 

In olden days, Thai soldiers tried to make themselves braver in battle with potent magic such as various small holy stuff and by wearing images of Bhuddha in different forms.  Magical tattooing was widely applied to achieve for being invulnerability so helping to defeat enemies for the sake of Thai independence and stopping Thailand becoming a colony of any country in the world.

 

Both monks and  laymen can handle the magic art, but there are a few masters sustaining the science.  To become a follower a person should have faith in his master and the belief.

 

Ajan Noo Kanpai is best known as the leading tattoo master of Thailand who instructs a lot of devotees and who owns the unique tattoo of  Hanuman Tua Kaow at  Brahma class of celestial beings. Does anyone known about his personal life and the obstacles he had to overcome to achieve today’s success?  The following tells us about his biography.

 

Ajan Noo Kanpai was born on a Saturday, the eight day of the ninth waning moon at Bangbuathong District in Nonthaburi.  He is the second son of Mr. Kun and Mrs. Sawang Kanpai. He has other four brothers.  He was a bold child and mature for his age because he hardly ever listened to his parents’ warnings. They both warned him not to  leave home as they were afraid that he might came to harm.

 

He was  not a bad boy even though he left home sometimes.  His family did not face a bit of trouble with him.  Instead the boy stayed overnights with Luangta at a neighborhood temple.  He practiced praying with the senior monk in the late evenings and helped carrying “Pinto”or tiffin carriers when Luangta went about to receive food from villagers at dawn.  Indeed, he went to school everyday.  After school he earned money for himself  by cleaning boats and selling ice cream with woodsticks. He carried a big box of icecreams over his shoulder and sold them along the way.  He had been taking small jobs and gave his mother  the income.

 

His family received regular income from rental house payments that supported their livings.  Despite his jobs, he never skipped studying as it was very important to him.   His diligent experience hardworking tells us the truth – hard workers deserve the valuable rewards more than those who earn piles of money and gold by chance.

 

After finishing Grade 4, he kept reading his father’s old books on magic science.  The books made him deeply respect and adore the subjects.  He also  studied  and practiced on ancient Khmer spells – the magical verses in the book which were widely used by “Tigers,” the typical tough men of his grandparents’ generation.

 

When he was 13 years old, he gained enough experience to be able to read and write Khmer letters fluently. He tried applying the magic to some neighbors. People in Bangbuathong and other districts named him “Noo (Jom Sab).”  They knew he was a tough boy as he did not bow down to others and headed a gang of other youngsters.  Daring actions strengthened his spirit and boldness.  Therefore he had more confidence in his ability and believed he was second to none.  One day he asked his friend to shoot at him.   He did not know why he could make this challenge.  From a young boy to a teenager, he was far and away a tougher boy than the young nowadays.  Neighbors walked away from him because of his cruel behavior.  To test his magic, he did fighting and attacking enemies with weapons every day.  He and his gangster never ran away and faced all attacks – hitting, cutting, stabbing, and shooting. Therefore people in Bangbuathong recognized and were wary of  Noo.        

                                                                                                                                                                                He took a job as a fare-taker on buses in Nonthaburi.  He always spelled magic words before the buses started.  At the station and nearby market there was a very annoying gangster.   One day, after helping park a bus, Mr.Noo saw the gangster raising a great hue and cry against neighbors along the street.  Both Noo and the bad guy stared at each other and started a big fight.  Suddenly one of them picked up a knife and stabbed into the stomach and some other spots on Noo’s body.  Fortunately, they ran away when a policeman saw the violence.  The police turned to look at Noo’s body and found  his clothes torn up but no wound.   It was an unbelievable sight that he alone was struck severely but was not hurt though the enemies seemed worse. Thus the police asked him what magic thing he had for self-protection.

 

The same day Sinsaa, a Chinese fortune teller, walked past Mr.Noo’s house. No one knew where he came from.  He warned Noo’s mother to keep an eye on her son as he was very tough.  If he survived the next three days he would become a famous master.  Sinsaa’s words made her wait anxiously for Noo in front of their house.

 

When Noo arrived home she immediately told him, “You should enter the monkhood to avoid any trouble in the near future.”  He replied at once, “It’s up to you, I will do it as you desire.  Please confirm the date and month to ordain.”    She told him, “Within 3 days.”   Actually he was stunned but did not  argue against her.  He committed himself and said “ Alright, I can do it.”

 

The Planet Gods really helped him. Very bad news spread from the police station – Noo and his guys were wanted men. Police expected they would have to catch  him dead. The only way out when police wanted to wipe out criminal activities was to escape. Having heard the rumors, Mother Sawang brought Noo to meet with the police and  promised to let  him be ordained with Luangta at Wat Rahan in Bangbuathong.

 

The Kanpai family had close relations with Luangta. The senior monk suggested that entering the monkhood was the best way to improve Noo’s manners.  He mentioned Noo was not a bad boy, ultimately he would be a kind master in the future.  For that reason, he became a novice the following day.        

 

The novice had gained enough magical expertise.  His friends asked for magic things to protect themselves just like the power which had helped Noo survive his last fight. The very young monk told them he had nothing.  Eventually he consented to their requests because they insisted witnesses at the market had seen his invulnerability in action.  His three friends needed him to tattoo their bodies.  Thus he sharpened sticks of coconut tree, wetted Chinese ink and did the tattooing.  After they left the temple, they drank alcohol at a restaurant and had a quarrel with a gangster at the next table.  The tattooed men were stabbed but knives could not pierce into their skin.  Neighbors heard about the violence then went to visit the novice to get magic things.    A lot of people have sought tattoos since then.

 

The polices had been eradicating crimes along with Noo’s gangster and his enemies.  Leading ones were caught dead.  He was very concerned for his friends who were arrested.  By the  way his mother and Luangta’s words reminded him to stay away from them.  He decided not to relate to bad deeds and so continued studying magic and practicing meditation seriously.  After going about for food in the mornings he would start the routine again.  When Noo reached the age for entering the priesthood, Luangta Dee kindly performed the ordination ceremony.  Novice Noo became a mature monk named “Thammavaro.”  Afterwards he heard of the fame of a Khmer monk in Rayong Province who had mastered magic. He therefore asked permission to “Tudong” or make merit by trekking there to study with the monk.

 

He found trekking to be troublesome.  He stayed alone beside rivers in the shade of trees or in house yards.  He was ashamed to have to hitchhike to get where he was going.  He observed religious precepts and meditation along the way. The purpose was to develop peace of mind and to strengthen his powers through his sufferings on the trek.

 

He took about 30 rice-balls or “Kaotu” in his bag for a month.  He had one meal a day to survive.  He did not rely on eating and wellbeing and ignored the environment.  Such manners hurt his body  but enhanced the strong peaceful practices. 

 

He did “Tudong” journeys for years, visiting temples where masters lived and studying the mysterious sciences with them.  Such powerful subjects were not suitable for the people with undeveloped minds.  The learner needed much effort to learn the practice successfully.  Fortunately Phra Noo had developed his mind appropriately since he was young.    The great monks, like Luangpoo Iam at Wat Saphansoong, owned the best magic spells of Pudtameun, Yantra Sorodmonkol  and Yantra Tuakudsamathikaotaw.

 

He suffered himself in Rayong as food was scarce. There were temples in Rayong but they did not allow him to stay overnights.  Some laymen forced him to leave their temples.  These terrible experiences discouraged him but  he kept trekking to achieve his goals.

 

Phra Noo pitched “Klod,” a tent for monk,  in the middle of forests, fields and under shady trees.  Sometimes villagers asked him to tell lucky numbers to bet on in illegal lotteries.  He positively refused telling them he was a new monk on a “Tudong” trek.  This reason made them walk away so he could realize his intention.

 

Many monks came to Wat Rahanrai to practice “Parivassakham” individually. They were correcting improper manners they had done during the Bhuddist Lent. Phra Noo  would like to gain knowledge from Luangpoo Tim.  Another great

 

master at Wat Pluagdang is Luanta Khamen.  His colleagues named him Luangta Khamen as he was of dark complexion like Khmer people.  A monk showed Phra Noo a piece of yantra cloth by Luangpoo Tim and wrote it down on paper.

 

Eventually he met Luangpoo Tim next morning. He looked unhealthy. Phra Noo showed Luangpoo the written spell from the cloth and eagerly asked the old monk to correct it.    Luangpoo read it and gave a nod, then asked him, “How did you learn reading and writing Khmer characters.”  He replied, “ I had studied my father’s ancient books and took notes of powerful subjects from gurus.  I really like magic.”

               

The very kind master spent time talking and teaching Phra Noo and wrote him 6 magical verses.  He understood the holy words and recited them happily.   A month later, on October 16,1975 he heard the sad news of Luangpoo Tim’s death.

 

At Wat Pluangdang in Rayong where the “Parivassakham” ceremony took place. He met Luangta Khamen – his real name “Poot.”  The old priest yelled at him.  The shouting frightened Phra Noo.  He wondered why the keen monk on “Vipassana,” a level of meditation, had a fierce look.  At once Luangta replied that shouting was his manner.  Thus Phra Noo did not show his interests and went back to make himself all set to meet Luangta Poot later.

               

Phra Noo  had  talked and looked after Luangta Poot for a month and asked to learn  spells for self protection.  Luangta Poot mentioned, “You have many spells already, why do you want more from me?”  The monk handed a tin box of tobacco to Noo and let him smoke.  He opened the tin and was frightened by the many centipedes and scorpions inside. He thought Luangta Poot tested his mind.  Finally Luangta Poot decided to teach him all incant lessons and meditation.  He thought it was easy by sitting still but found out it was difficult.

 

 “To practice Samadhi, we must leave everything behind,”  Luangta Poot taught him  to reach mindfulness by setting ourselves clear goals.  We remember that our forms and appearances do not belong to us. The mind should control breaths slowly and finely by praying two words – to inhale deeply into stomach “Bhud,” and to exhale to the end of nose “Dho.”  Next is to keep the mind focusing carefully with a tranquil environment and not to prevent thoughts.  Unwholesome thoughts and prejudice flow in to your mind at this stage.  If the meditator has not considered the factors, as well as two sets of obstacles, the practice will not move forward.  The first set of five obstacles are – love and fondness, revenge, sleepiness, fanciful ideas and hesitation.  The second set, in Pali words, are “Kesa, Lama, Nakha, Thanta and Tajo.”  These words mean hairs on head, hairs on body, nails, teeth and skin.  Employing endurance and intention can help us overcome the obstacles. 

 

Having been practicing with Luangta Poot for one year and a few months, Phra Noo succeeded in achieving the required level of concentration and mindfulness.  He learnt what he should ignore or consider thoroughly.

 

Praying sermons every morning and evening would support mind development. The task would gain high merit at the same time.  The ones who studied with books must exercise caution. They could not know the heart of meditation like as master.  To enjoy practicing was very beneficial to hold their emotion and find certain impacts to reach thoughtfulness.  The impacts are no hearing means the mind can not hear anything,  no eyes and no body respectively.  However the practices could not bring one to “Khammathan.”

 

 

When practicing meditation, Phra Thammavaro was also studying magic.  He learnt many spells including the spell for divine prescriptions.  He read and wrote both Pali and Khmer languages fluently. He tested the sacred and magic as well.

 

After the complete practice, he left the temple.  He wandered off  places to practice individually by himself.   Everywhere he stayed, monks and neighbors wanted him make tattoos for them. (This is the beginning of his tattooing.)

 

One day Sue Yen  who lived in Nonthaburi, met with Phra Noo.  The monk was doing “Khammathan” in his monastery.  Sua Yen told Phra Noo that he needed a tattoo for self-protection.  Actually the master knew about his unique personality and his collection of sacred things and magic. Accordingly the master dealt with Sue Yen to exchange experiences and knowledge.

 

Phra Thammavaro made pilgrimages for years.  Later he went back to stay at Wat Taladneau, Kayaeng Village, Pathumthani City. This temple did not prosper at that time.  Its neighborhood was crowded with gangsters and robbers. Workers in factories nearby were always fighting violently. Some workers came to have tattoos with Phra Noo so he took the chance to teach them about morality.  Becoming disciples of the same master, they should love like brothers among themselves. Quarrels among followers were strictly prohibited.  Later there has not been any violence between these two factories anymore.

 

Phra Thammavaro stayed at  Wat Taladneau for a period of time.  Later the Abbot of the temple left his monkhood for an unknown reason. The Head of the Monk’s Committee of Pathumthani named Phra Thammavaro to be acting Abbot until a new senior monk could take up the position.   He had not known about this promotion at all but he thought that taking up the duties of abbot would prevent him doing the tasks he was very fond of.  The high position was to direct and deal with monks while tattooing was not really meant to be the monk’s activity.  He still loved to do tattooing and was concerned about his devotees.  He thought over the improper aspects of having the magical lessons when he was the monk and the temple’s activities could not go with his character.

 

He finally left his monkhood.  Ajan Noo Kanpai was gradually becoming well known.  Lines of disciples knew about his tattooing place or samnak behind  Wat Taladneau.  At that time, there were a few, or somedays only one, taking tattoos with him.

 

Ajan Noo’s place was a small one-storied house with a corrugated iron roof and wooden floor.  He lived alone with settled Buddha images for worship.  Closed disciples usually came to take tattoos and chatted with him.  He wore white clothes with another piece of white cloth wrapped his shoulder crossing his body.  He said that the behavior was suitable practice for doing penance and meditations (Vipassana, Samathi and Khammathan).

 

I, as the author, had a chance of visiting Ajan Noo at that time about twenty  years ago.  I asked Ajan Noo why he stayed and handled the magical tattooing at the little home where there was not many visitors.  He answered that it was quiet, and peaceful for his practices.

 

After that I went there frequently.  I was close to Ajan Noo and knew more about his life. He did not live alone.  He had his mother and close relatives.  His family was not poor. His mother had 10 rowhouses and received the rentals.  She also earned more by selling things at her  home.  His close relatives had their own jobs.

 

Ajan Noo paid attention only to the magical sciences and was not concerned about  his family.  He stayed alone quietly, wearing a long disheveled beard, with a fearsome appearance.  His house was called “samnak” which means an institute.

 

I stood at the front of his house and sighted an abandoned graveyard.  The frightening environment made me wonder why the master treated himself  like that.  I felt it was so strange that anyone could torment himself as seriously as he did.

 

Everyday, any followers who were in cruel fights came into samnak for taking Ajan Noo’s tattoos and incantation on their heads.

 

Ajan told them in case they were attacked first they could take revenge on their enemies. He would wait there to hear the magical result.  However, the followers must kept their words, not to bully anyone weaker. 

                                               

Such scenes and talks  between the master and his followers happened there everyday.

 

Later on Ajan Noo became widely known in Nonthaburi, Ayuthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Singburi, Samut Prakarn and Bangkok.  These provinces were all near to Prathumthani.  People started to mention to others that Ajan Noo had such powerful materials.  Most new comers really wanted to take them for self – protection.

 

In 1984,  Ajan Noo remarked that he had completed sacred alphabet (i), and was reaching the letter (ti) soon. The progress would make him able to help more of his visitors to protect themselves more safely.

 

Many able-bodied men who had heard about his success visited samnak each day.  Now most visitors are far different from the original ones. Things have definitely changed.

 

Young men and women, as well as the elders, asked Ajan Noo to make incantations and to place the virtue of kindness over their heads and bodies.  The power is believed to provide them with prosperous businesses and good works.

 

Having talked to those who came from far provinces as to why they made the journey, I found that they knew about Ajan Noo’s abilities from his followers’ words.  Since then, increasing numbers of believers came from all the corners of Thailand. However, no-one knew who could turn the above news into a current affairs item.  The number of visitors eventually resulted in a need to develop a bigger samnak. 

 

So far the master had not accepted anyone to be his main disciples.  Until the year 1994, Ajan Noo recruited some assistants as a large number of new devotees come into his place.  Nai Lek and Nai Kai were his first trainees.  He had been training both of them hard for almost a year.  Nai Jame and Nai Jon are the second pair.  The latter was his younger blood brother.  He has also taught Tid Mhan for another tattoo maker.  It took about 10 years training them all.

 

Ajan Noo said that it was quite tough screening the potential trainees as he had to consider their behavior. Strength is important because the trainees need to work very hard at tattooing to be really successful.   Till now no one could gain all the powerful skills.  For example, Ajan Lek at Wat Bang Phang established his own samnak but the devotees taking tattoos there still needed incantations  from Ajan Noo.

 

Kru Kai and Kru Nid are the only two new masters who can tattoo powerful alphabets.  However, neither one could handle incantation on yantra as it is very difficult.  It is also believed that success depended upon the good and the bad they had done in  their past lives. 

 

Actually, ink tattooing by Ajan Noo realizes Bhuddist virtues.  Instruments,  needles and inks, usually go with his incantation many times.  He himself also practices incantations every night before bedtime. 

                     

About early 1985, Ajan Noo thought he should rebuild his house to make more space for receiving the increasing numbers of visitors.  In the middle of the year his little house was demolished and builders and his devotees helped with the rebuilding.  They completed construction of a new 2 storey – house within a month. There were so many changes in the new house and samnak where Ajan Noo could welcome more people.

 

Some miracles happened to Ajan Noo at samnak – he was invincible and survived from accident and being shot and stabbed.  These experiences told us why this samnak interested newcomers.  They made the journey there to witness such magical truths with their own eyes.   Some people saw what they thought were miracles and accepted the powers as being magical and mysterious. However, we should not insult them as the believers could gain good virtues while unbelievers would possibly face bad effects. 

 

A little while ago Ake or Ling Jiek was an experienced driver who was driving a 6 wheel lorry along an expressway going from a movie film location in the country. Near a crossroad he felt Takrud, a magical material which Ajan Noo had put onto the skin of his arm, start beating for no known reason.  He stopped the vehicle and raised his hands in a “wai” to pay respect to all his masters. Then he drove on.  Shortly he came across a serious accident at the crossroads – a car had crashed into a 6 wheel lorry.  The car driver had injured his head.  Ake thought that it would have been him in the accident if there had not been any magical sign just a little earlier.”

 

Ajan Noo mentioned that the Bhuddist praises or sacred virtues, with his incantation, were the highest values.  The certain benefits helped his followers win their confidence, good luck and to be safe from all dangers.

 

At present, the master receives visitors till dusk. He still spends time meditating before bedtime.  He has recited a series of magical verbals for 20 years and really wants all his devotees to keep on with their meditations. They should do that consistently as meditators would gain merit and highest virtues.

 

Mass Media have published Ajan Noo’s Story.

 

On May 271996, the Thai newspaper  “The Nation” became the first newspaper to feature Ajan Noo’s Tattoo Story on its front page.  The report and his glory, as well as Thai Tattoos, became widely known to foreigners in Asia and western countries.  

 

Soon after the above news story, Angelina Jolie, leading actress of the movie “Tomb Raider” contacted Samnak, via her interpreter. It was by an international call from Los Angeles, USA, asking if the superstar could wear tattoo. Since then she had not made an appointment, no further contact at all.

 

More visitors continued to come from all corners of Thailand. The place became very crowded again.  The amount of new followers did not seem to decrease and the size of the crowd made the place very stifling.   

                              

Momchao Chatri Chalermyukol, a film producer, asked Ajan Noo to do tattoo designs for a new movie “Suriyothai.”

 

On October 261999 Momchao Chatri  Chalermyukol, or Than Mui, of Prommit Production Limited, wrote to Ajan Noo requesting him to do the body decorations for all the characters of this big budget film.  The alphabets on all actors’ skin needed to look real and correct.  Accordingly the master accepted this important job.

 

In order to fit appropriately with the subject matter of the great motion picture the master sculptured a model with  powerful tattoo designs including sets of alphabets.

 

The special tasks  of 100 designs directly affected his works at Samnak as he could  not have time available for any other tattooing.  By the way, the time-consuming work was all worthwhile because the movie succeeded in the becoming Thailand’s No 1 highest income film.  All characters and scenes were admired by fans in Thailand. Apart from tattoo designs, the cutting and mixing process of this film was perfect so overseas companies bought it to show abroad.

 

The fame of the picture went well for the tattoo guru of Thailand.  His followers recognized his talent and accepted he was second to none for unique tattooing in Thailand.

               

During 2000 and 2001, many priests met with Ajan Noo at Samnak.  Phrakru Vinaithornjittipong Kittijitto (Luangpi Namfon) was vice-abbot of Wat Pailom.  He asked to have yantras on his body skin. The powerful yantras included Takhaipeth, meant for diamond catcher, and Phra Sutra, a piece of holy writing.  Those tattoos satisfied the monk so he suggested his subordinates wore Ajan Noo’s magical alphabets as well.  Luangpi Namfon associated closely with Ajan Noo for years thereafter enjoying good relations with him. As part of holy ceremonies at Wat Pailom for creating miniature Buddha figures, Ajan Noo was invited to jointly participate in the sanctification. Through this the public became aware of various yantra, icons and other materials associated with Ajan Noo.

 

Phra Ajan Chamnan (Luangpao Uttamapanyo) was abbot of Wat Bangkudeethong, in Prathumthani.  He had visited samnak from when he was a novice right up to when he became senior monk. He was fond of powerful magic so he was always asking Ajan Noo for some tattoos.

 

Another one  was Luangpao Thienkai Supatto, abbot of Wat Maetrakhrai. This temple is under the royal patronage of the Queen. Besides the same as above activities, Ajan Noo was pleased to donate some money earned from his devotees to support building a new monastery for the temple. He also bought mortuaries for dead person who had no relatives to host their funerals.  So far the building is nearly completed. The temple also became common place handling non-relative funerals. Luangpao Thienkai enjoyed helping Ajan Noo to handle religious rites at Samnak.

               

Phra Kru Vinaitharamanit Manavo (Luangpi Uan),who took charge of the funeral foundation at Wat Sikan, was the master’s close companion over 10 years and always visited Samnak.  Ajan Noo trusted Phra Uan, especially on rites and religious events there.

 

Angelina Jolie’s  first tattoo by Ajan Noo.

 

On April 232003 Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood superstar received her first tattoo at Ajan Noo’s samnak.  Ms.Jolie, together with 3 giant bodyguards and an interpreter, arrived there when many devotees were awaiting him for the same purpose. The actress decided to drive him to her guesthouse in Bangkok to make the tattoo.

               

At the guesthouse, Angelina Jolie begged the master to suggest a design.  Ajan Noo examined her fortune and occupation and sketched a decoration of five rows of yantra with magic alphabets.  It was a pleasant surprise for her when she saw the design.

 

The great film star asked Ajan Noo about the meaning.  He replied “It is the ancient belief that yantra represents a spell on each row.  The first row provides charms, the second brings good fortune, the third provides successful job and business, the fourth means her sign of zodiac, the fifth is to gain charisma.”  The tattoo would be crafted  on her left shoulder. It took about 15 minutes. 

 

Ajan Noo wrapped up that it was a powerful tattoo.  The ancient characters related to Phra Sutra.  A series of holy writing formed sacred virtues.  Devotees would be attractive to those of opposite sex and successful in business.  Even enemies would turn to be friends with the tattoo wearer.   Angelina Jolie  came back again as she had gained all of the benefits from her first tattoo.

                        

Each alphabet on the five rows yantra tells us about the arcs of city fortune, stars and signs of zodiac of the seven days of a week.  It can also tell us about ill-fate when the characters means “Phra Rahoo” or a giant’s commander.  Some of  the Demon Planets are virtues of Phra Arthit or 6, Phra Chan 15, Phra Ankarn 18,  Phra Phud 17, Phra Prasruehassabodi 19,  Phra Sook 21, virtue of Phra Sao 10, Tassa Phra Jakrapad 14, Phra Kate 9, Phra Rahoo 12.   The angles of the letters to the five vertical lines represents virtue of the Earth or “Doan Phra Thoranee.”  

 

By the way everywhere in the world has elements of ancient belief – Pataphee is for stiffness and softness, Earth (arpo) means full of contentment, Water (wayo) means flowing status, Air (techo) means heat, Fire and Lokutaradhamma means Dhamma or highest status above this Earth Planet.

 

There are so many elements in the world.  Nipphan Thad, or nirvana element, is a power that can indicate whether Bhuddism will survive or vanish from the world.  It is believed that the element is much available in Thailand.  Even human beings or gods can appreciate it by earning virtues.  Lord of Bhuddha, his saints, and his principles had collected praises – Thanbarami, Silbarami, Nekkhammabarami, Mettabarami, Ubekkhabarami, Kantibarami, Sajjabarami, Athittanbarami, Panyabarami, Viriyabarami.    The virtues must be supported by Potipakkiyatham 37 – comprised of Mak 8, Itthibad 4, Satipadthan 4, Sammapathan 4, Incee 5, Pala 5, Sampochong 7.  Those with praises or Barami will succeed in controlling their minds, and reaching Ariya-sacca, or the four noble truths.  They can hold the element by keep doing polite manners with consciousness.  The easiest way to earn each virtue is by practicing Anapanasati and Satipatathan while eating walking, sitting and sleeping.

 

Anapanasati is a method of collecting Barami, or controlling the mind. Ones who have barami from past lives should review and motivate their sub-consciousness to practice virtue.  The effort will reward the practitioners to earn Nipphan Thad to  meet closely with Lord of Bhuddha in mind.

 

The highest element are not available on earth, Human beings live on difficulties – Kamthanha, Pawatanha, Vipawatanha. They are fire elements called Filoap, Fikrot, Filhong. It was the fire from mind and soul which cause emotion.

 

What we should do properly is to develop our own Barami continually in order to earn Nipphan Thad.  At Nipphan stage, it is believed that we can share happiness and peace with others. Parents deserve the merits by their children’ s conduct. Unfortunately, many people hardly accept the belief that we can do the favors to our parents.

 

The word “Lokudtaradhamma” means Dhamma beyond the Earth Planet.  It is indeed the heart of ones who comply with the highest teaching that can pass through their minds. In case the heart could not touch Lokudtaradhamma, they should keep  practicing meditation patiently.

 

When the mind can accept such a level of Dhamma then they will achieve a powerful joining together of mind and Dhamma.  For example, Ajan Mun’s parents  said, “Our brain can perceive the physical things like earth, oceans and the sky but our mind can to further to touch and receive the wisdom of Dhamma.”  Apart from Lord of Bhuddha,  Phra Sareebutra or a man succeeded in Jatupatisampithayan would gain highest wisdom.  They can gain the knowledge at different stages upon visions of their minds.

 

Besides the practices, incantation is also a key factor supporting Ajan Noo’s tattooing.  Incantation is praying for virtues of Bhuddha at his birth, enlightenment, state of complete bliss attained after his death, including Nirodsamabat, or death to the world. Such praying will give the most power to tattoo spells.

 

For the five rows of alphabetical tattoo, Ajan Noo set up  letters from his touching insight. Actually he had tattooed this design for a large number of businessmen in countries before Angelina Jolie.  The power provided success in business and their lives.  Consequently Ajan Noo was able to assure the wearers of  benefits — good living and high  achievement at work. 

  

This fortune tattoo has been reproduced but no one can complete sacred parts of Ajan Noo’s yantra writing. The copies look alike the original but are not made to be exactly the same.  Ajan Noo has not taught anyone how to inscribe and incant on the yantra. A guru must have mastery over the spell casting over the devotee’s body and placing the alphabets on each row or Phra Sutra.  Meditating on the steps is the key tool for the unique tattoo.

 

The following is a further story about Angelina Jolie.

 

After having the first tattoo, Angelina Jolie flew back to Los Angeles immediately that night.  She rushed for her performance of  the film “ The Beach.”

 

On April 252003 leading newspapers in Thailand - The Nation, Komchadluek and Thairat – led their morning news with the story that Angelina Jolie had been tattooed in Thailand again by Mr.Sompong or Ajan Noo Kanpai, the tattoo guru of the country.

 

A crowd of reporters gathered at Ajan Noo’s samnak to find out how the world-famous actress approached him.  Besides being a movie star she was also a UN Peace Ambassador.  Therefore her unexpected visit to get body decoration here was a great shock to the Thai people. Ajan Noo became a part of Thailand’s recorded history accordingly.  It meant his overnight success as a world-famous tattoo master and drew a number of media representatives from various countries – Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Canada, German, Sweden – to his samnak.

 

Now people at many places know the master by his skills.  He has gained celebrity increasingly and television and newspaper stories are key tools to sustain his fame.

 

Film Maker of “Maha Uttama” approached Ajan Noo to help on tattoo designs.”

 

On May 292003 Pang Brother Co. Ltd. produced the film “Maha Uttama.”  The leading actor was Chatchai Ngam-san.  Ajan Noo supported the production with information on designs and processes of yantra tattoos including magical features.

 

This entertainment activity increased people’s reliance upon his talent.  The cinema made teenagers crazy about Kao Yod yantra.  They raced to his samnak.  However, Ajan Noo disappointed the young under 20 years old as they were not allowed to get his tattooing.  The immature attitude to power might influence their misbehaviors and cause unexpected danger.

 

Ajan Noo erected a notice board in front of the samnak telling visitors  that students and youngsters under 20 years old were not allowed to receive body tattoos from him. However they still tried to observe his tattooing there.  Ajan Noo strictly prevented them getting up to his samnak because seeing how the magical staining was done might cause people to try to copy the procedure but with mistakes.

 

The Film “Jom Khamangvet” have all yantra styles by Ajan Noo.

 

On July 32003 Mr. Kriengkrai and Mr. Surachai Chetchotisak, Executive Director and Producer of Arvong Company, wrote a letter requesting Ajan Noo to support their new film. The company was a subsidiary of RS Promotion Co. Ltd.  Giving advices on yantra tattoo designs and magical science on scenes were to be his responsibilities.  He accepted the job accordingly.

 

Afterwards Mr.Piyaphan Chupetch, Acting Director and his team contacted him continuously to get certain information for actors.

               

Angelina Jolie came to wear the second tattoo “Phaya Suakrong,”

 

On July 82004 Angelina Jolie flew to take her second tattoo “Phaya Suakrong,” or King of Tigers, on  the small of her back.  It was one foot in length.  She asked Ajan Noo to do it over the existing spot.  The master stained Phra Sutra with characters of  Great Power Heart. The design represented a well-known leader who had many followers. The wearer would have commanding and attractive speech. A set of powerful alphabets were full with sacred virtue. The skin decoration impressed her most.  She was also pleasantly surprised to be able to be tattooed right away instead of having to wait 10 days to meet the master like last time.

The King of Tigers was a creative and graceful design.  The master tattooed it in line form, not using any pattern on her body skin before piercing.  She was proud of wearing such unique decoration. Above all, she realized his excellent skill as  the leading tattoo master of Thailand.

 

Ajan Noo said that the tattoo was the tiger looking backwards.  It was  helpful for kindness and good fortune.  It took about 2 hours doing the fresh design.  While staining it he cast a spell over the spot calling for its form and name.  When finished, he did the incantation again.  It is visible that the tiger was surrounded  by Khmer alphabets.  The letters means holy virtues of a millionaire’s heart and best of luck and good fortune.  Great power and authority, success and protection from accidents were also other benefits.

Angelina Jolie and her team returned home  the same day after taking the tattoo. On July 92004 most media, newspapers and TVs  publicized the hot news about her as well as the tattoo mastery of Ajan Noo.  People were curious to know why the famous actress came back to get tattoo with him.  Her appearance at samnak again proved that the first tattoo  benefited  her greatly.

 

Stories about the expertise of Ajan Noo became an eye-catching report among local media.  Affiliates of The Nation Group kept on scooping about the movements of Ajan Noo Kanpai.  The reports brought crowds to samnak. In this situation the house was too small and it became disorderly.  Ajan Noo said he should move to a new place to get rid of his devotee’s troubles.

                                                             

The crowds prevented Ajan Noo’s closer devotees chatting with the master.  They  waited around to meet him with some killing time by sitting and walking around at ground floor for afternoon queues. Ajan Noo realized that they played a part in spreading his success. More people wanted to engage the master and to be his devotees. 

 

Even though devotees grumbled that it was time to move to a new place, Ajan replied smilingly that they should be patient. It was tough due to lack of any budget and their existing good location.

A month later Mr. Songpon, editor of Saksit magazine, brought him a Phra Luangpu Tuad image.  The religious icon was six inches in width and had been given to Mr.Songpon by a monk he had met recently.  The monk wanted him to bring the icon for Ajan Noo and asked for a payment of 8,000 baht for the temple’s income.  Ajan Noo exclaimed  “This is  Luangpu who will visit samnak, won’t he?”  He placed the Luangpu image on a new shelf.  He paid respect to Luangpu by lightning joss-sticks and asked for help saying, “My house is narrow, uncomfortable and inconvenient for visitors.  Please help me find the best location for building a new samnak for Luangpu.” 

 

Ajan was very happy to own the valuable image.  He told devotees that we would have a new house very soon. He let  them prepare  to move.  His close disciples were  confused by his confidence as he could not find a good location.  They thought it was impossible but they kept quiet.

 

One day Ajan Noo made a mention of the high level of inconvenience there.  He asked Mr.Pisan to find a piece of land.  Hia Pisan has been to samnak for 20 years and became a very close follower. He usually visited Ajan two or three times a month.  Hia Pisan’s suggestion was very much to the point, “Would you like my sister’s land of 100 square wah.  It was in the opposite lane at Poonsri Village.  It was a quiet area and not far from the present samnak”.  Ajan Noo was very interested in the generous offer.            

 

Hia Pisan, his elder sister and his mother discussed about the land.  Mother let them make their own decision.  Hia Pisan told them he was going to live at the new samnak too.  Then he told Ajan his family would sell him the land and not to worry about the price.  Chang Pong, a builder and a close follower, finished the design within a month and the building was completed in one year.

 

Ajan Noo and his untiring devotees spent their nighttimes  moving to the new place. They kept doing tattoo activities during the daytime.

 

The new samnak of Mr.Sompong or Ajan Noo Kanpai was a two-storey concrete house.  Its address was 95/5 Moo 1, Poonsri Village, Inner Prathumthani Road, Bangkayang Sub-district, Muang District, Prathumthani.

 

The first priority was to bring the Luangpu Tuad image into the new samnak.  Ajan Noo installed the image up in the gable of samnak.  A hundred holy figures, including Poo Kai or Great Father and Kumanthong or Golden Child were placed on the second floor. Ajan Noo set them up them  over 3 days by himself.


A miracle happened after the roof tiles were put in place.  Ajan Noo discussed with Chang Pong if he could fix up the plan of the top part to install the Luangpu Tuad icon up in the top of the gable.  They concluded  that they would not be able to do it due to the  high cost.  That night Chang Pong had a strange dream about Luangpu Tuad. The revered monk’s spirit commanded him to place his image in the top part of the gable.  Chang Pong told Ajan Noo about his dream and they decided to do the necessary construction work next week. 

 

Another story happened to a worker who was setting up mirrors in front of the Bhuddha images at samnak.  His bottom was swollen and could not evacuate his  bowels. He went to a hospital and took a rest for 2-3 days.  On the fourth day at work his chief asked his team questions and discovered the real cause of the illness.  The worker had to climb up a ladder to install mirrors in the area.  While doing this he had made this naughty actions over the icons.  Ajan Noo concluded that the worker deserved the punishment and suggested they all pay respect and apologize to the holy spirits there.  They should give their words not to do any improper actions again. Surprisingly, after this the worker completely recovered from his sickness.

 

The Power of Hanuman Tua Kaow 

 

Miracles happened there sometimes. Creating the statue “Hanuman 9” was such a story.  The White Monkey God was erected at the front ground.  The master would like visitors and disciples to pay respect to the image.  It would bring them prosperity and safety from harm.

 

Mr.Polkrit Radtacheevee, a leading sculptor, was assigned to start shaping the statue of the god Hanuman on July 12004.  A holy rite took place at 09.09 hrs by hammering pegs at the base of the statue. 

 

Ajan Noo put magical materials into the bodies of  Hanuman and Radchasee.  They included ores from Lan Island, Mount Keaw, Phetnatam, ores of Sakeddao, Leklai, Dummakgrid and 5 Takruds in Hanuman’s heart. Powerful alphabets were inscribed on all 4 legs of Radchasee and on the chest, stomach, forehead, head and the 4 hands of Hanuman.  Phra Khan, the god’s weapon, also had holy alphabets.

 

Some miracles occurred when Chang Manit worked on the cement sculpture. One day he went home after work on shaping Hanuman.  When he arrived home and opened the door, he was astonished to see 16 little grey monkeys.  They sat around but were not playful like normal.  The animals stared at him carefully even he came very close to them.  The situation lasted more than an hour and then the scene vanished.  It seemed that there was no strange happening like this previously.  However he insisted it was not a dream.

 

Actually he thought all the spirits followed the sculptured monkey god from samnak.  He himself had experienced the appearance on Thaow Vechsuwan while sculpturing at Wat Saothonghin, Nonthaburi.  

 

Next day at noon, Chang Manit took a nap in his pick-up truck.  He was woken up by 9 monkeys shaking the vehicle.  He thought they were the same ones who were at his home yesterday.  He decided to say, “It’s good to have you all here for good purposes.  Please do not hurt anyone or cause damage.”   They gathered on the truck for 10 – 15 minutes and then vanished.      He told his workers about the mystery but they laughed about it.

 

A builder had his strange story. A very loud noise woke him at the middle of the night. He found a plate of magical or powerful things which Ajan Noo had made incantations over before going abroad had fallen down.  The things were scattered on the floor. The ceiling was pried open.  He thought someone had done the damage or things described. The room was behind the Hanuman sculpture.  The sight startled him as there was no one else in the room with him.  Next morning the foreman smiled when he listened to the builder’s story about the previous night.   Another worker told us he had seen a  big white monkey in his dream. It was stepping on his left shoulder.  It looked like the Hanuman sculpture he was creating.  Afterwards Chang Manit and  his workers prayed to Hanuman there.  He apologized for any insult his team had done while working on the powerful sculpture. 

 

The above stories were reported to Ajan Noo as soon as he came back from overseas. He supposed the happenings brought them prosperity.  One night he had set element into the body of sculpture but had not yet placed any magical object.   Startlingly he felt a strong wind coming from the Hanuman’s body.  It blew many things crashing against the walls in that room.  Actually Ajan Noo did not expect to rely on miracles this way.   The Hanuman sculpture was created so that visitors would gain spiritual support to live their lives confidently.  Meanwhile he always taught his devotees to keep doing good deeds and to be men of religious principle in order to earn worthy rewards in the future.

 

At the same time the fame of his mastery in tattooing was increasing, especially in the eyes of media in Thailand and other countries.   Mr.Metha Sareethanavong, an instructor of post-graduate students in Mass Communications, Chulalongkorn University, wrote to him requesting Ajan Noo to produce a TV documentary.  It was to be a part of the advanced TV production course which would highlight  the  beliefs and scientific reasons of powerful tattooing.

 

Ajan Noo created the coin “Ganesh Takuaphanpee”

 

One day Ajan Noo mentioned that he would like to create a superb miniature of the Ganesh Coin. Ganesh is the elephant god for success.  Nowadays the collectors hardly accepted very new miniatures. However they wanted to keep only the superb ones.   The coins which Ajan Noo made of “takuaphanpee” or one thousand year lead metal, had a beautiful design. The leaden ingredient was rare and valuable due to its aging.    Therefore the coins became popular among actors, merchants, businessmen and public.

 

Mr.Samua Ngew-ngam, who was known by name “Pong Suphan,” discussed the project with the master.  Pong owned some very old lead as the ingredient for  the coin. The thousand year metal was found at the front of a cave in Suphanburi province.  He had kept it for years and intended to use it to develop the high virtue object.  It would provide success in  business, kindness, safety from dangers and invulnerability.

 

The front side of the coin showed the figure of Ganesh sitting on a lotus tray. The left hand held string and a conch shell.  The right hand held some ivory and a kris (a Malay dagger with scalloped edges).  The other side showed yantra as the heart of the god.  A set of power alphabets around “Om”  was “Omnamakane Thevamakanesaya.”    The outer round was inscribed “Bhuddhathanglapa Patilaphong Puchakolapa Tepuchang Vantako Pativantanang Phrabhudthang”.  The prayer was to request good luck.

 

Ajan Anant Sawadsaowanee, a keen artist of The Fine Arts Department, was the designer.  He suggested the coin size should not too big or tiny.  Each side should cover clear typical lines and features of Thai art.

 

Soon after Pong brought Ajan Noo the blueprint.  Ajan Noo decided to create the coins – 10 gold, 21 navaloha (an alloy that consists of 9 different metals), and 6,000 lead ones.  Ajan Noo made incantations by himself for all of 7 days and 7 nights.  He confirmed the complete Bhuddist virtues to serve collectors.

 

The reputation of valuable coins was high and well known among amulet collectors.  The leaden color was excellent.  The ingredient goes with the wearers’ skin especially as when they perspired the object would show its natural color quickly.

 

The coins drew more interested people to samnak.  Some collectors preferred to get it at high price. 

 

Ajan Noo created the best Takrud “Soros Mongkol,” incanted with yantra Kucheevit. 

 

A month later Ajan Noo announced that he would develop another project to celebrate moving into the new house.    Samnak was well known on its best “takrud” (a charm of rolled precious metal strips strung around the waist or the wrist) in Thailand and the world.

 

One early morning, a devotee who was a gold master, accepted to work for samnak.  He brought the leftover one thousand year lead from the last project.  A month later he came back with 250 pieces of 6 x 6 cm leaden plates.  Ajan Noo started writing yantra on takrud.  The writing differed from other masters’ style.  They did decoration on only one side of the coins while he wrote on both sides.  The front shows Takrud Soros, the back  Takrud Kucheevit.

 

At present, tattooing of number yantras interests quite a lot of people.  However, they don’t know much about its meaning. The following gives us some background  knowledge.

 

Great yantra is written on Takrud Sorodmongkol.  The purpose is to protect wearers from harm and to bring good luck.  The design of straight lines crossing the surface of the object represents the placenta of Bhuddha, a circle represents the face of Bhuddha.  A square yantra represents the four elements, a triangular one – the three worlds of Siva, Narayana, and Brahma.  In Bhuddism the 3 gods mean “Three Gems,” namely Bhuddha, His Teachings and the Bhuddist Clergy.  Other designs include establishing bodies of gods, half moon with “o,” the sun with “unalom.” The Bhuddha image is also a clear feature of the design.

 

                Half moon with “o” indicates the influences of the sun and the moon over human beings.  The stars give prosperity to the believers on earth.  Yantras  have some other designs.  An arrow means the weapon of god to save the collector from harm.  Unalom or letter “u” means Phra Orahan, a Bhuddist saint.   Thesaints can control their lust.  The moral precept is a norm that make them far different from laymen.   On takrud the master set yantra right on the head of Buddha figure.  The lines are straight forward as of unalom.

 

            As the result, the complete processes of yantra writings contain holy power.  Technically, Ajan Noo shortens all magical numbers on the limited space of the takrud sheets.  A set of shortened numbers is Phra Kathanevahorakun.  It provides 5  Bhuddha’s virtues by writing number nine with related element standing for “aa sang vi su ro pu sa phu pha.”  The typical formulas of number yantra were developed these ways.

 

            1 or “mi” means gold of precept,  2 or “bhuddo” is heart of Bhuddha, 3 or “ma aa u” is eyes of Bhuddha.  4 or “na ma pha ta” is four elements of earth, water, wind, fire. 5 or “na mo bhudda tha ya” means five features of Bhuddha.  6 or “i sa va  su  su sa va i” means heart of  Itipiso.  7 or “sang vi ta pu ka ya  pa” means seven treatises about Earth.  8 or “ta ma na u ka sa na tu” means heart of Phahung.  9 or  “aa sang vi ro pu sa pu pa” means Navahorakun.  10 or “te sa su ne na pu cha na vi ve” means ten lives of Bhuddha.  11-16 means heart of gods – Indra, Yom, Brahma, kala.  Each numbers relate to a god’s characteristic.  Even the celestial beings are believed to come down to receive the holy writings.  The formulas are complete collection of yantras of 16 heavens.  For yantras of takrud kucheevit, they should rely on the zodiac of  the individual collector by writing “aa si sun ti.”

 

            The writing will support the wearers’ livings.  They will not in reduced circumstances and prevent them from harm.  Luang Por Ngean, Wat Bangklan, wrote a powerful mantra, “I ti pa ra mi ta ting sa i ti sup  phanyu ma ka ta i ti pho thi ma nud pad to i ti pi so ja te na mo,”  the prestige of  30 tassana to help us avoid dangers from all directions.  Na ma na aa nor kor na ka kor oa nor na aa ka ang means sixteen Bhuddha lives, the heart of Phra Orahan.  The virtues provide great power, good fortune and help to resolve distress and to cast off black magic.

 

            Ajan Noo intended to let his devotees have both compact yantras in powerful takrud. The takrud serves as an invincible object for travelers and businessmen.  The holder will become a beloved person and be safe from attacks. The high virtue was gained as a result of Ajan Noo’s  incantations  for 9 nights and at annual rites for samnak.

 

Later in February 2004, Mr.Piyaphan Chuphet, nickname Tom, the director of the movie “Necromancer” or “Jomkamangvet” contacted Ajan Noo to record praying voices

for the closing part of the production.  Ajan Noo also helped by tattooing designs and inscribing number yantras on the prison’s walls.  The scene where Brahma was praying while Chatchai, the lead actor, went in and out of the cell  was a most interesting one.

 

 

            Jomkamangvet was an action movie with Chatchai Plengbhanich and Phuttichai Amatayakul as lead actors.  The story gives us an insight about Thai magical power.  Fighting and vicious attacks among the believers reflected the reality of black magic.   Director Tom believes in magic personally.

 

            Ajan Noo mentioned that magic and supernatural power were very normal subjects in ancient times. However in this modern Information Technology era, people think they are impossible.  The movie teaches us to maintain good deeds and not to  think of betraying others.  If someone who has magic spends their time feuding with his enemy they will face a bad turn of their own one day.

 

            At present, people believe in mystery, even though they have not seen a ghost. Their clear minds can help clarify the beliefs and fears.  Actually both magic and mind can be interpreted as mystery.  In case someone think badly about you and make you fear an enemy you can overcome your enemy by using magic as a weapon.

 

            Dealing with magic differs from practicing  good or bad deeds. We should consider magic as a tool while doing good or bad deeds is up to the individual’s  motive.  By the way, there are good and wicked men, comparing to the Chinese symbol for yin-yang, to form the world.

 

            The master’s thought has drawn a group of people including government officials, actors and actresses to samnak.  Some famous comedians who are Ajan Noo’s followers are Cheawchan Klinphayom (Tai), Phachata Klinphayom (Tao), Somsak Yupuang (Pongneng), Chukiet Eimsook (Nui), Siriporn Yuyod (Tak), Karok, Tuarae, Deau Doksadao, Sayan Doksadao, Pu and Yong Lookyee.  About fifty persons visit Ajan Noo daily.  He is delighted with the response to much demand for his tattooing.  Ajan Noo has always enjoyed the surest route to success as yantra tattooings are his keen interests.

 

            It took twenty five years for Ajan Noo Kanpai to overcome his difficulties.  A great deal of his effort had gone into studying the history of tattooing.  He was known everywhere in Thailand as Ajan Noo who has spent his life handling ancient tattoos with original needles.  The detailed account of his life led to this consequent  biography.   

 

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             THAI TATTOO AJAN NOO KANPAI

A Cautattoos about Tattoos    

Nowadays tattooing can also be applied by various gangsters.  The gangs are only concerned with doing things for their own advantage and have established schools or tattooing houses to that end.  They call themselves skilful tattoo masters.  However, it is easily proved that anyone who has hardly any experience in power sciences cannot apply the spelling process on Phra Katha or powerful words fruitfully.  They can only show pictures and alphabetical letters physically but cannot create any virtue with their tattoos at all.

“Akkhara” or the use of ancient alphabets is an important part of tattooing.  Ajan Noo, a great tattoo master, always finds mistakes in tattoos done by the aforementioned false masters.  The alphabetical writings in such tattoos are unreadable and do not possess any meaning.  Some sets of writing even contain incomplete prayers.  In conclusion, the false tattoo makers show that they have hardly any learning about the ancient letters.  As a consequence they use incoherent alphabetical spelling and use syllables wrongly and recklessly.  Sometimes Ajan Noo has found some of these improper writings and wordings which may actually result in bad luck for the wearers.           

The lives of persons with such false tattoos cannot be prosperous as their luck is fixed by the mistakes in the tattooing.  Mercifully, Ajan Noo has frequently been able to help resolve some of these problems.  In the meantime he has warned his devotees not to have tattoos made just for fun as it is not sensible to offer our good skin to the deceivers who lack any proper knowledge of the magical science at all.           

Persons wanting a tattoo should therefore consider very carefully their reasons for doing so before getting a piercing tattoo made.  Should they only want a tattoo for fun then it is better for them to wear body decorations of beautiful art pictures.  

            Prohibitions for Tattoo Wearers:        

            Key Practices for Men:           

1. Don’t hit, curse or abuse their parents or physically hurt them in any way (even bruises or very small wounds are not acceptable).  Men should not disappoint their parents with any bad or rude words.               

2. Don’t have affairs with married women. This prohibition means avoiding any sexual misconduct with women who are known for sure to have a husband.  An exception can be made if the man did not learn beforehand that the woman had a husband or if she happened to be divorced.

3.  Don’t ever underestimate the instructor’s abilities.  In this connection the instructor means the person who teaches and transfers knowledge to a devotee.  Ajan Noo warns people not to disparage their master’s ability in any way, especially not in public. 

 

Key Practices for Women :     

            A woman who has a tattoo needs only to be aware of the first prohibition with respect to behavior towards her parents.           

            Ajan Noo Kanpai        

It is widely accepted in Thailand’s tattoo society that Master Noo is second to none for his knowledge and skill with ancient tattooing.  Devotees recognize his fame and reputation.  A prime example of Ajan Noo’s success is with the tattoo he made in April 2005 AD upon Angelina Jolie.  She is now a Hollywood superstar.  Since then stories about the master’s talents have spread most quickly among those interested in ancient tattooing.   

Ajan Noo’s reputation has drawn the attention of youngsters both male and female who come to his house or Samnak regularly.  They seem just like bees swarming around a honey pot. 

Ajan Noo’s Samnak has been completely changed as now not only the young come here but adults of all ages, social classes and careers who request Ajan Noo himself to stain tattoos for them.  To help him carry out this task he has trained four potential assistants or “Muae Sak”.  Their skills  have now increased to the level of “Kru Sak” or  “Master”.  Their improved capabilities have actually assisted with Ajan Noo’s workload.  They help him to set yantra patterns to suit the wearer’s needs.     

Kru Nid  is Ajan Noo’s younger blood brother.  He regulates the flow of visitors by having them queue, collects fees and generally manages finances.  Kru Kai handles the ancient Kmer alphabet stainings.  This master has gained magical knowledge increasingly, day by day.  Kru Yai supervises general in-house works.  Ajan Noo saw his potential to give full attention and his very great diligence.  Consequently he taught him the powerful skills for drawing lines on the body.  Kru Yai is recognized for keeping the Samnak in order.   

Kru James is familiar to old devotees (ie old in terms of acquaintanceship, not in years of age). He disappears sometimes to follow his own occupation.  Only at weekends does he turn up to serve.           It is accepted that the above masters have become a good team now.  Those assistants have lightened Ajan Noo’s burden considerably.  However, he keeps mentoring their work and carries out the final process for each tattoo by blessing each devotee’s head with powerful virtues.     For his main function, Ajan Noo handles a typical oil tattoo “Namman Vanmongkol 108”.  He also does ink tattoing when a lot of people visit Samnak.  

            Equipment and Materials for tattooing

The following provide clues to a tattoo master’s knowledge-the ink, the needle, the method of producing the oil for staining of body skin and the ways of ensuring safety in using the needles.          For a century, putting ink on art lines harmoniously is a passion with followers.    Many think that an “ink bar” is a meaningless item but actually such a tool is very important.  It is understood that the process of making an ink bar starts from melting ink and letting it solidify into a block.  When an artist passionately creates a Chinese painting he rubs the solid ink bar in a small circle slowly with a few drops of water to make the liquid ink.  Artists who used black water-colored ink appear to draw beautiful lines in a Chinese painting.  By the way, the Chinese ink bar was first developed in the eastern territories of China during Han Dynasty (around 518 BC to around 343 BC).  It has been around in its present form for almost 2,000 years.    

Chinese history records that in the old days wizards used ink for fortune-telling. Following sacred ceremonies the magic master or “Phu Viset” would forecast the future for noblemen in the palace and the public,  The master would inscribe letters and put ink onto the shell of a turtle.  He would then burn the animal and forecast as good or bad signs by studying carefully the shape and broken lines on the shell to provide a reading upon the questions being asked of him.

 

“Kra-dook-yang roo” - bones to tell the future - were ancient remains found while discovering Yin City.  The City - a major political and economic centre, fell at the end of the Sang Dynasty (1600 - 1046 BC).  The ancient city has been replaced by the modern city of Anyang in Haeu Nan territory in central China today.        

Archeologists found black ink on the faces of the bones for foretelling the future.  The bones were found about one hundred years ago.  The bones themselves were almost 3,000 years old.      

At the present time the solid ink is developed to be liquid form again.  It is packed into a plastic bottle for easy use.  By the way, a powerful mantra or sacred virtue is put into the black ink before use.  A tattoo needle is made of 100% stainless steel.  The pointed end is pure silver.  Depending upon the thickness of each tattoo design 3 to 5 silver pointed needles are tied together.       

Masters douse the silver pointed ends in ink sufficient for holding enough ink for 6 - 10 times staining of the skin.  As per ancient belief, both ink and oil tattooings need frequent Buddhist prayers to be said during the tattooing process.          

Ajan Noo brings all the inks and sacred objects into magic ceremonies everyday by himself.   The casting of spells onto the inks, needles and sacred objects  happens many times a day. 

After tattooing the masters at Samnak clean the needles with alcohol. Up to 50 replacement needles are treated this way for use during the tattooing.  Thus it is certain that each tattooing is totally free from infection.      

Having moved to this new Samnak Ajan Noo accepts that he is so happy here even though the amount of work has become much more.  The new location satisfies his urgent need for appropriate parking space and lets him serve the crowd of his devotees  much more comfortably.

Ajan Noo pays respect to his Great Master, Luang Pu Tuad.  He blesses the Master’s image for protecting the virtue of all his followers.  Besides he had asked the image’s favor to let him earn that piece of land attached to this new Samnak.  

In the middle of  2007 AD, the owner of the land visited Ajan Noo and asked him to buy the land.  The owner explained he did not want to keep the property anymore as his children had grown up and can now afford their own families.  Ajan Noo quickly approved the deal.  It was really weird how this deal had come to happen because he did not think he would ever have a chance to buy the land..        

During the year 2004 - 2007 AD, Ajan Noo created a lot of virtuous objects with various forms.  He produced a large number of each specific object.  However, some were not for sale but given to close disciples-Ja-Re, Tao, Jod (a comedy group) Too, Tee and Phee along with others not named.  He gave them these objects for their good fortune.  These gifts showed his mercy by not choosing money as the reason for making the objects.

Takrud are popular with his devotees.  Takrud Vayothad or Takrud Lom are typical forms with only 21 pieces of each available.  Ajan Noo puts sacred power into each object by writing “Yantra Maha-Uttama” then tying it with “Pi-rod Ring”.  The symbol is well recognized among believers.  They know the only value of this Yantra of “Kong-kra-pan-cha-tree” is having invulnerability.  The virtue of Pi-rod Ring is similar to Yantra Maha Uttama for protecting the body skin meaning they will not be easily hurt.  Thai boxers prefer wearing Takrud Lom before coming up onto the fighting stage.  Ajarn Noo has blessed the miniatures three times. He ensures followers with high ambition by putting this “invulnerability value” into the takruds.   

            “Takrud Itipiso” is the takrud which Ajan Noo developed for use during the  Buddhist Lent (the period of time when monks must live within their monastery for three months beginning around June every year).  During this period of time even ordinary 

            Thai persons will perform serious rituals to make merit and gain forgiveness for their transgressions.  This particular takrud is 8 centimetres long.  One side shows yantra “Itipiso” encircled by a powerful word “Soros”.  The other side has the yantra “Soros Mongkol”.  Ajan Noo produced only 70 pieces in total.  Then he took them to be blessed at Wat Mae Takrai.    

            Another magic spell was cast on the takrud at Wat Kreun Kathin.  Ajan Noo and Luang Pao Pien did the sacred ceremony together on the occasion of opening of “Kuti Boonyarit Ajan Noo Kanpai” (Kuti means a house for individual Buddhist monks in a monastery.)  

            This takrud set nearly became lost to devotees at that time as a senior monk who had joined in making the incantations took the set from the ceremonial stage, carrying them away in his satchel.         

            It happened on September 20, 2007. After the holy ceremony, Ajan Noo went to collect together all the takruds, which were sitting in front of the main Buddha statue.  He was most disappointed to find there were no takrud left there. They had been stolen when the monks were walking out from the holy ceremonial area inside the temple.  Ajan Noo could not believe what had happened.  He could not just give up.  Therefore Luang Pao Tienchai, the abbot for the monastery, allowed Ajan Noo’s team to frisk the monks.  They searched everyone for hidden takrud before anyone was allowed to leave the monastery.  Eventually the takrud were found in the cloth bag belonging to one of the    senior monks. That monk still looked very stern when he was walking out of the area.  Ajan Noo said to him “I can not believe you have done such a bad thing.”  The reason Ajan Noo did not  give up on finding the takrud missing is that he had already planned to take the takrud for another enchantment on October 28, 2007.  Only after this  additional enchantment would the takrud be ready to be given to devotees to wear.  Due to  the peculiar history of their origin, these particular takrud may be renamed “The Found Takrud”.          

            Takrud-ngeun-yantra-ha-thaew-nhun-duang  are made of 100%  silver.   Takrud-jing-jog-phrom-kao(No.9),  Takrud-hanuman-taew-pad(No.8),  and Takrud hanuman-taew 9 are favorites which were developed by Ajan Noo’s school.  They are all made by hand starting from the cutting and rolling of silver sheets.  This is then followed by their enchantment with spells of “na”.   Then Ajan Noo inscribes codes “Taew 8” and “Taew 9”on the sheets.  These codes have now become the logo for Ajan Noo’s Samnak.  Most female devotees take the miniatures with them to keep them safe from harm.       

 

            Takrud Story  

            Actually any kind of amulet is favorable for the wearer.  They provide a good chance of success.  The wearer should make sure that they believe in the takrud’s virtues and should pray to and recall the charmed material regularly.  The more often the wearer can invoke the magic of the charmed material the more the magical power is gained.  Referring to common belief, some people find a Buddha image favourable while others would like to wear miniatures, charmed materials, or yantra cloth sheets. (Na-na-jittang in Thai)      

            Ajan Noo himself has always been fond of  Takrud because of their holy virtues. Letter and number yantra being inscribed on metal sheets is proof of their popularity.  The character is comparable to the electric mains-power lines which draw current directly from energy sources generating electricity.  There is no doubt that the magic of takruds is really powerful. The inscriptions used are like certificates of the various virtues. The meaning and power of each letter or number work together collectively to build up the total magical strength.  We can compare that kind of strength to that in an electrical battery where there are many individual cells each carrying their own individual electrical charge but adding together to build up the total energy of the battery.        

            “Arkhom” or “Phra Katha” of spells when inscribed on takrud represent abbreviations of particular phrases from prayers.  When Ajan Noo proceeds with the incantations it seem  like there is a tube conveying the spells into the numbers and letters and finally forming a total collective power.  As an example, when Ajan Noo writes only a word “i”  he must pray the full phrase “i-ti-pi-so-pa-ka-wa” without missing any words for the power of the incantation to be passed to the takrud.  He can not miss any words.      

            The purpose of each takrud is to be a main subject to help direct appropriate action.  The master’s soul and spirit while performing ceremonies is another condition that also tells levels of power gained on “yantra letter star moon sun”.  Moreover an inscription on a takrud may need to be written more than once under the same conditions to achieve full power.     

            A secret about the character of takrud should be explained at this point. While this set of takrud was having spells cast upon them in holy ceremonies which showed  deep respect to great masters, observers could feel great heat coming from the takrud like they were on a hotplate. It demonstrates that this takrud collection is guaranteed qualified by their charms making them much different to other designs which may contain much less power.  It is like comparing a powerful searchlight battery to an ordinary torch battery.    

            The virtue and power in any amulet will decrease with time because of the less valuable letters, numbers and spells put upon it. Therefore the aforesaid will make the amulet inferior to those better higher quality takrud.  A wearer should also mind that they have a safe, secure and respectful storage place for keeping takrud and other amulets.  If takrud are not properly stored it will result in them losing their magical properties and therefore their value to the wearer.

            There is another possible comparison between a properly prepared takrud and an ordinary amulet.  It is like comparing people with wooden catapult and stone sets.         

             A skilful person with a well made catapult and stone can shoot a stone straight to the heart of a target and pierce it completely.  However, an unskillful person with a low quality catapult and stone like a toy will not hit the target or pierce what they do hit.        

            Previously the school has not given as detailed an explanation of takrud as the above.   Samnak hopes that devotees and readers are able to learn and understand more about takrud charms from this information to help them select the most suitable kind of amulet or takrud best for them.          

            A Guide for Devotees 

An amulet is an object worn in the belief that it will protect the wearer against evil, disease and/or bad luck.  However, people that follow this belief differ widely in how they choose to select an amulet.  Some become successful and prosperous because they pay respect to Buddhist images.  Devotees who have such amulets always seem to gain good fortune.  Some groups of people however, believe in other Gods to bring them wealth alone.  In this connection, Ajan Noo’s school tries to guide them try to keep or wear other powerful objects as substitutes (for the amulets displaying other Gods).  For a trial period then, such people should observe carefully what befalls them to see whether they gain or decrease in the amount of good luck or happiness.  They will then be able to make a final choice which is right for them.

As a suggestion, time and circumstances are also key factors involved in any  changes.  There is a Thai saying that the Wat or Temple is the place to worship Buddha so that Thais can visit any Wat or Temple for that purpose to pay respect to Buddha images.  There is no need to restrict oneself in the choice of a place to worship in the mistaken belief that only this or that temple is suitable.  In the same way, devotees should consider the same approach with respect to amulets.      

            However, devotees should always perform proper practices towards any amulet .    They should always pay respect by chanting holy verses in recalling the amulets.  Then it will be certain that a miracle will be around and can happen to them sometime.      

            Virtues in amulets protect wearers when traveling.  The objects will also keep them being successful in life and in business.     

            For chanting, Ajan Noo gives devotees the best holy verses and let them practice automatically wherever they eat, walk, or even sit.  The every day practice is “Na-mo-bhud-dho, So-pa-kha-wa, Pi-ti-i,  I-ti-pi-so-pha-kha-wa, Na-mo-boon-ya-rid,  I-ti-pi-so-pha-kha-wa, Bhud-dho-pha-kha-wa, Su-ka-to-aa-ra-hang, Na-ma-pha-tha.        

            For Takrud Ajan Noo lets wearers keep chanting “Aa-hi-bhud-thang, Aa-hi-tham-mang, Aa-hi-sang-kang, Pa-ri-sud-tho-cha-na, Pa-ri-sud-tho-aa-thi-tha-mi, Na-ma-aa-au, I-mang, Ka-ya-phan-tha-nang, Aa-thi-tha-mi, Na-ma-aa-au, I-mang, Ka-ya-phan-tree-phed, Cha-khong-khong, Aa-thi-tha-mi, Pa-tha-mang, Aa-thi-han-ta-nang, Aa-kha-ra-yan-tang, Sun-tang, Vig-lueng-kha-ra-mi.”   Devotees should get used to chanting this verse once in the morning before leaving home and, once again, before bedtime.           

            Ajan Noo created various amulets for devotees.         

            Luang Pu Tuad Naeu Whan - He initiated this design when a devotee brought him an image of Luang Pu Tuad.  The devotee had just been keeping the image and was not concerned about it.  Ajan Noo took main ingredients in the Guru image, Phed-naa-thang, Kao-san-hin. His team help him run every step in the manufacturing process since making a mould named “Phra Rod” and developed about 600 pieces.          

The following give details of the ingredients.  Luang Pu Tuad was a miniature of Thailand’s Great Priest belonging to Wat Prasart Boonyawad.   Phed-naa-thang was a holy element from the ancient beliefs.  It has square shape and many masters prefer to use this element.  It was believed that it let the wearer attain good fortune.  Kao-san-hin is colored darker than a real rice seed.  Old people believed that a devotee would not face any difficulties but would always be wealthy.  Kao-san-hin became the symbol for this amulet.  However, there is an inferiority in the amulet as Luang Pu Tuad Naeu Whan may easily crack because the ingredients or materials used are quite soft. There was less raw banana used as a binder.  However, Ajan Noo ensures that a devotee can touch and gain most value from the amulets.       

            Phra-khun-phan-phim-khan-oon - the school had produced the design a long time ago.  This time Ajan Noo made 2 sets  made of delicate soil powder or “Phong.”          

            The first set used various ingredients soil powder from Buddha Statue 72 pieces  last 25 centuries, Phong-phra-soom-kaow, Phong-look-oom-prai-ku-man of Wat Rahanrai(5 seeds), Phra-Kru-kam-phang 500, Phra-phong-Luang-Pu-Phueag of Wat King Kaew, Phong-ya-jin-da-ma-nee of Luang Pu Boon at Wat Klang Bang Kaew,  Phong-nga-chang, Phong-id-thi-ja, old yantra cloth of various great priests, and yantra cloth of Luang Pao Derm’s footprints at Wat Nong Pho.  Ajan Noo prepared typical mould and produced only 85 pieces.     

            The second set used the left-over mixture from the first set and clayey soil  from Lampang.  As at the year 2549 B.E.(2006 AD) he produced 2549 pieces which were given to devotees.  “Muan-san” or ingredients of this set were lighter and smaller than for the first set.  However the feature was lower in quality - they contracted when they dried.           

            The third set was a reproduction of the second set - a total of 2,000 pieces.  Ajan Noo baked this set as tiles - they were smaller and lighter than those from the second set.  All three collections were cast in the same mould.     

            Pad-phra-au-ra-han - Ajan Noo used the same tile mixture as for the third set of Phra-khun-phan-phim-khan-oon. The difference is the 8 virtues of Pha-hu-sutra “Phra-an-ya-kon-than-ya, Phra-ma-ha-kas-sa-pa, Phra-sa-ree-butra, Phra-u-bha-lee, Phra-aa-non, Phra-kwam-pi-ti, Phra-mok-kan-ra-na, Phra-ra-hoon. This design came after Jing-jog-Prom set.  Hoon-pha-yon:  Ajan Noo learnt how to create this kind of amulet from Luang Pao Sa-nga at Wat Ban Maow, Radchaburi province.  Hoon-pha-yon means a dummy made of yakha or lalang (a type of hay).  Ajan made hay and then left it to be covered with dewdrops overnight.  Spiritual masters call dewdrops in this context “nam khang krank hao” which term specifically relates to the dewdrops which appear during the period of the waxing moon (from new moon to full moon”. As for the sacred writing Ajan Noo inscribed “na”  when the  monks wound white string called “saisin” around the object to concentrate the spiritual elements within the perimeter of the string.  The “saisin” string was retained after use in sacred ceremonies held annually at the school. The string was held by the various monks taking part in the sacred rites while chanting to keep away evil spirits.          

            Magical codes were also put onto a bracelet which was then placed onto the dummy’s wrist to stop other people trying to copy the dummy. After the sacred rites, Ajan Noo then primed the dummy with “Rak” or black lacquer.  The purpose of this step was to put on a spell to give it Buddhist virtues.  The way that devotees should practice to obtain success with this amulet is keep recalling it virtues and to tell it their wishes regularly.          

            Jing-jog-phrom-kab-thung-ngeun: This design serves to make devotees prosperous and wealthy.  Arkhom Jing jog phrom is Ajan Noo’s speciality.  Jing-jog is a miniature lizard. Ajan Noo wrote the spell  “U-aa-ka-sa” on its mouth.    “Yantra-tree-ni-sig-he 1-9” is then put on the body.  After that “16 Phra Chaow” was inscribed around the

four legs of the miniature lizard to add spiritual power.  The verse of Gods is “Na-ma-na-aa-nor-kor-na-ka-kor-au-na-aa-na-aa-ka-ang”. He prays “I-ti-ji-aa-ki-ya” on the heart of lizard.   One tail use Tha-ra-nee7 kampee read “aa-sang-vi-tha-pu-ka-ya-pa.  On the back is inscribed “Na-lom” which represents the typical character of this amulet. Most virtues for this amulet are to attract good luck and to keep everyone loving the wearers.  Ajan Noo produced these amulets in the year 2001 AD  and they have all been given to his devotees.       

            In the middle of 2005 AD Ajan Noo created a new design of Jing-jog-ma-ha-ni- yom.  The object was to make a small amulet which the devotee could keep with him continuously.  There are two colors- blond and black.  The virtues for these are the same as with the original design.  Ajan Noo put number yantra and phra katha, as well as “Phra phrom’s heart” on these.  This set has been taken to many ritual ceremonies.

            Tukkaa-na-ha-lap:    Ajan Noo put the heart “Aa-i-aa-na” and Jing jog’s heart “Aa-ma-aa-i” with “putson” on Tukkaa’s (another lizard) upper part and four legs.  On the stomach there is “Na-tua-yai” along with the verse “Bud-tha-ma-aa-u”.  Another is katha “I-ti-la-pho-ma-ni-ma-i-ti-pho-kang-ma-ni-ma.  The latter has equal virtue to Jing- jog-phrom.  Ajan Noo would like to develop this object to serve businessmen and merchants to keep in their money drawers so as to increase their incomes.

            Luang Pu Tuad “Chak-nguen-chak-thong”:  The back side includes various materials including Phra 25 centuries, Buddha birth yantra, Takrud Nguen-yan-ha-thaew-noon-duang, takrud salika and Pet na thang.  

            For ingredients he took from Luang Pu Tuad at Wat Prasart Boonyayad.  This design uses the same ingredients as Luang Pu Tuad Nuew-whan “Pim-phra-rod”.  However there is a small bit of difference that the Chak-nguen-chak-thong is stickier than for the Pim-phra-rod because he uses glue as a binder.  Accordingly the objects are much firmer and stronger.   

            Above are all collections in which Ajan Noo and his team performed all the necessary steps.  They did this in their free time when there were no devotees visiting the school.  Since Ajan Noo follows ancient skills and practices he decided that he must also

 do the various production steps by hand.  He say that while producing amulets in a large number by machine may make them very beautiful it does not provide any of protection against counterfeiting which you can get with hand manufacturing.           

            Ajan Noo and Media  

            Ajan Noo’s fame has drawn both Thais and foreigners to him.  He is  truly  open minded and welcomes all comers.  He only want to know what their objectives are and how he can communicate with them.

            When Ajan Noo is contacted by someone from the media he will brief them about ancient tattoo types so that both the school and the media can provide suitable information to the public.  In this way, he always ensure the school and the ancient arts are always shown to best advantage.  “Diamond is Diamond, Gold is always Gold” is a suitable comparison.  This is the Thai way of saying that “Quality, where it is present, will always shine through.”  It shows that Ajan Noo is one of the best in this area and he is always ready to prove it through the media.  Tattooing has it own magical elements and Ajan Noo is one of the best practitioners alive to explain about tattoos.          

            At present Ajan Noo has become a star personality with respect to tattooing within Thailand.  Even with regard to criminal activity Ajan Noo has always  been asked about tattoos that are worn by criminals who are gangsters or thieves.  The Police hope that the school will be able to recognize the bad guys.  The bad deeds done by these bad guys are taken to be examples of the sort of violence that tattoo wearers in Thai society are capable of.       

            However, tattooing is considered acceptable by many people in Thai society at all levels except for those who are against progress and development in general.  Whenever the latter people come across a yantra tattoo wearer on television or in the newspaper news, they automatically assume that the tattooed person is a bad person.  This is not fair and just to those who believe in the ancient practices.  There are also many criminals appearing in the news who do not wear tattoos at all.  In fact, in every society there are both good and bad people, some who wear tattoos and others who don’t. People should learn not to make up their minds about whether someone is good or bad just because they may or may not have tattoos.  For this reason Ajan Noo would like the media to make this a talking point, not for fear about his reputation but because he really is concerned  about any talk about Thailand which may make it notorious.

            This talking point is of great concern to the school especially when they are providing information to the international media.  Ajan Noo thinks that tattooing seems like “Darp Song Khom”. (A Thai saying which indicates all things have good and bad aspects which can affect those around-the risks can be compared to a two-edged sword). Misunderstanding by the foreign press  may result in them giving wrong guidance to their readers causing them to think the situation is different to what it actually is.   They may think that tattooing is a negative core value of Thai society which is not true.  Tattooing is the preference of devotees, either as an expression of their belief in the ancient knowledge or just an expression of their own personal right to decorate themselves. 

            Whatever Ajan Noo decided he always did his best.  It’s quite an effort to support making yantra tattoos more acceptable to society.  Therefore Ajan Noo keeps creating positive benefits recklessly, hoping that those people who oppose tattooing will be sufficiently open-minded to at least listen to masters and gurus explaining that tattooing is a magical science from a long time ago.     

 

            In his opinion, Ajan Noo thinks that the new generation should not choose to be tattooed for facetious reasons, especially with decorative cartoons and animal images.  They should not have their skin used for the worthless body decoration.  However, it is up to their own personal choice.  Ajan Noo suggests that teenagers should consider the good aspects of ancient tattoos for their benefit in improving fortune and luck.  It is not necessary to have to switch the mind off to believe in the magical sciences.  The school can persuade them to try having a tattoo made.  Then one day they may face bad luck but be able to survive safe from harm and consequently can give credit to the virtues of  tattoos in which they have a passionate interest.

            Yantra Design

            Yantra-chat-petch:  This yantra came after Ajan Noo’s first initiative (Yantra-ha-thaew-noon-duang).  However, both designs are very different.  Ajan Noo created Yantra-chat-petch based upon a dream he had.  At that time Ajan Noo thought to himself that devotees only had Yantra-ha-thaew-noon-duang on one side of their body.  He felt that this tattoo by itself made the body look unbalanced.         

            In his dream Yantra-ha-thaew appeared coming down from the sky.  The image delighted him very much.  After a while the image came close to him and looked like  a very bright light shining in the sky.  Then he saw that the image was not actually Yantra-ha-thaew but he could read power alphabets “I-ti-ban-ya-so-pha-kha-wa-ti-uu-aa-i-ti-pha-ti-na-mo-bud-dha-ya-ma-na-pha-ha-so-pi-ti-i-pha-tha-aa-na-ti-i”.  He found there were 34 magical numbers visible.  It looked very mysterious to him.  Even after reading it for a third time he could not decode the numbers and it made him feel very ill.  He felt like all the numbers were being laid upon his chest.  For a moment there were golden silky strings coming out of the yantra numbers.  The silky strings spread all over his body.          

            Ajan Noo felt he had seen himself clearly in his dream with the atmosphere of a light-coloured sky.  The silky strings which spread over him tightened together like a cast net.  He then felt uncomfortable and woke up. He gradually became conscious and was able to chant Phra katha towards the  thirty-four numbers so that the threads loosed their grip and gradually disappeared.  He wrote down all the numbers and tried to interpret the power meaning in them.  He was curious about the numbers  “3” and “4” which looked like they could be read as the Thai letters “ºØ” and   “­”.  It looked strange to him as if the two items should be joined together to make the Thai word “boon” meaning “merit”.   Another pair or numbers was “22” and “23” which looked like they could be read as “นะ มะ พะ ทะ” (Na-ma-pha-tha) but what he saw was “นะ มะ พะ ทะ” (Ma-na-pha-tha).        

            Ajan Noo thought to himself that he should not change the numbers he had seen in his dream.  Thai people call this sort of insight into such dreams or “nimit.”  Accordingly, the next day Ajan Noo meditated upon a spell “ma” (which represents “Thad Nam” or the water element) for peace.  After three days he came to recognize that all the numbers must be arranged into a row-the line representing a resource offering Buddhist virtues continually flowing through the cast net which had appeared in his dream.           

            Ajan Noo called this “Yantra-chat-petch” because it came from the sky high over the earth we live on.  However, his followers always call it “Yantra-ta-khai-petch”. (Ta-khai in Thai means the cast net) Its virtues are to support wearers with power, good luck and prestige.  The object also keeps them away from harm. 

            Amongst yantra tattoo schools, we find that Ajan Noo’s Samnak is quite costly. Actually this is because of his shrewd planning by which he really wants the tattoo wearer to take part in merit making and performing good deeds.  The first plan donated some income to build a monastery or “ubosot” at Wat Maa Takrai.    It is a good idea to have this at a monastery as this is where ordinations of monks are carried so that this means yantra tattoo wearers can help make the Buddhist religion prosperous.  The second plan is to cover Ajan Noo’s monthly activities.  The school donates part of its income to Phra Bai Deega Teinchai Supadto, the abbot, to buy coffins for the dead bodies of  poor people and those without relatives.  The devotees themselves gain merit and virtue from such good deeds-they will lead them have a good living and increased prestige.  The school ensures that performing good deeds in this way along with the yantra tattoo virtues will greatly help the devotees to  become more successful and to fulfill their desires.          

            The above mentioned is just a small tip to help one to have a successful life by accumulating merit by performance of good deeds.  Ajan Noo’s school teaches his devotees to continue making new merit regularly as their past merits become less and not  sufficiently strong enough to continue upholding the fortune gained from the ancient tattoos.   The tattoos call for achievement at work and good luck but only for a limited time.  Therefore the devotees must follow the directions to say their prayers and perform good deeds as a regulars habit so as to keep refreshing the powers  of the yantra. 

            Ajan Noo has supported the construction of the monastery at Wat Maa Takrai since 2003 AD.  The main objectives was to mark His Majesty the King’s 80th birthday.  In the same area “Kuti Boonyarit Ajan Noo Kanpai” was being built at the same time. Now both buildings have been fully constructed.          

            A Clue to Yantra Tattoo         

Many people still do not know much about Yantra Tattoos. Oil and ink tattoos are the typical types of this powerful art.   

One question devotees are always asking the school is what difference is there between tattooing with oil and with ink, especially with respect to the designs used and the Buddhist values they can bring. 

The answer is that they both use different tools and materials but they both serve devotees well with the same Buddhist virtues.        

With an oil tattoo a devotee can see the design as a picture before being pierced. However, within two or three days after piercing the decoration on the body becomes invisible.  The inability to see such a tattoo may then cause the devotee to lose faith and forget all the virtues which go with the tattoo. In such a case the favorable powers will gradually decrease with time.             

Ajan Noo discovered a problem with devotees’ lack of concern about tattoos when many came back for further oil tattoos but they could not talk about the benefits they had received from the previous tattoo’s powers and virtues.  In this regard, Ajan Noo considered he should work to adjust devotees’ mind and attitudes to at least keep the fruitful virtues in their memory for their own prosperity.        

In conclusion therefore the school confirms that both oil and ink tattoos will  provide the same virtues given to them by Ajan Noo - protecting wearers from harm and making into beloved persons.                                   

General           

            Samnak declares that Ajan Noo is not a magician.  He cannot perform miracles which require holy spiritual powers.  It is possible that such happenings are not according to the laws of  nature.  However, the necessary power may be hiding inside a person’s mind to make such things happen.   

            Actually, Ajan Noo acts as a spiritual medium bringing “Boonyarit” (holy merit) down towards devotees’ minds.  “Vayothad” (wind), and a spell are used as the main tools to attract the merit. The receivers will gain a good life, safety when traveling, health and wealth, business prosperity and will make them beloved by others.   

 

            Those holy powers will serve along with the devotees’ wishes.  How much power they can gain depends upon the level of merit or demerit they already have.   However, the power is out of nature.  Devotees also have to count on an unseen law and so it does not mean that yantra tattoos will automatically make anyone meet success.  Anyone can be disappointed depending upon the level of “Karma”(demerit) he has already accumulated.   In the long run, what Ajan Noo is doing is helping devotees by not letting their fortune become worse.  For a devotee who is already living properly according to Buddhist principles then they should certainly attain better fortune.    

            Rules for Behavior after Tattooing:    

            Visitors to Samnak always ask Ajan Noo about the best practice for them to follow after getting a tattoo. Actually this is not difficult to define-they should just behave properly and carry out good deeds everyday like good Buddhists.      

            Key Practices for Men :          

            1. Don’t hit, curse or abuse their parents or physically hurt in them in any way (even bruises or very small wounds are not acceptable.)  Men should not disappoint their parents with any bad or rude words.  Instead, Ajan Noo  encourages men to speak out about  moral issues.  As examples -“Please don’t play cards in a gambling house.” or “ Please keep away from drinking alcohol”.     

            2.  Don’t have affairs with married women. The prohibition means avoiding any sexual misconduct with women who are known for sure to have a husband.  An exception can be made if the man did not learn beforehand that the woman had a husband or if she happens to be divorced.  Ajan Noo’s school always makes sure everyone is told of this particular prohibition but many devotees choose to ignore it and go their own way to their own detriment.        

            3.Don’t ever underestimate the instructor’s abilities.  In this connection the instructor means the person who teaches and transfer knowledge to a devotee.  Ajan Noo warns people  not to disparage their master’s ability in any way, especially not in public. 

            Key Practices for Women :     

            A woman who has a tattoo needs only to be aware of the first prohibition with respect to behavior  towards her parents.                

Again, Samnak allows for an exception for unintentional mistakes in behavior.  In such cases Ajan Noo can help make fresh incantations to place the virtues again over the existing tattoos on the devotee’s  body.  However, Ajan Noo reminds devotees they should get used to doing good deeds and accruing merits in order to let the yantra tattoos and amulets work properly protecting them from danger and helping them to gain wealth and prosperity.    

            Tattoo Shops Copying  Yantra Designs

Ajan Noo discredits the tattoo makers who deceive themselves and their customers with false copies of Yantra Tattoos etc. These do not give any virtues to the wearer.  It is distressing for honest skilled masters to see bad guys producing such bad copies and cheating everyone.  Such bad guys just drag the whole art down as well as ruining the customer’s skin and wasting their money.      

Ajan Noo raised a weird case he could not stand because it was bad for the reputation of his own tattoo association.  A shop named “TATTOO” copied Yantra Tattoo designs for their own commercial purposes.  The owners was  piercing tattoos for Thai customers as well as for foreigners.     

            Ajan Noo’s team found the cheats had come and taken copies of  ancient tattoo designs for their own advantage.      

            Samnak sent a person to investigate the bad case by letting the tattoo maker at the “TATTOO” shop inscribe a Yantra Tattoo on his body skin.  He found that the shop used Ajan Noo’s designs as given in Ajan Noo’s pocketbook titled “Sak Sek Yantra”.  Ajan Noo could not believe that there could be such a deceitful master cheating on his  innocent  customers.  The wrongdoing is assumed to be an immoral or unrighteous action.  

            Ajan Noo picked up on this case because he had already been facing the problems himself.  He found many visitors to Samnak already had decorations on their body skin.  They appeared to be yantra tattoos but with unreadable and meaningless alphabets and numbers.  He felt terrible to see  these faulty tattoos.

            A visitor told Ajan Noo he received the junk tattoo while he was at Phuket.  Another visitor was a Thai woman who came along with her boyfriend – a foreigner.  She was able to indicate the shop which was giving tattoos resembling Ajan Noo’s designs. Ajan Noo wondered if she had suspected how come she could get a Yantra Tattoo from a local tattoo shop along the footpath.  She replied that she did not really know.   However, when Ajan Noo handed his pocketbook to her, she instantly responded that it was the same book which her boyfriend had used to select designs at the shop.       

            Later, Ajan Noo asked her why she did not read the key warning message inside the book.  The message reads “All yantra alphabets and numbers shown in this book are examples.  These designs should not be taken for counterfeiting because they will not create any Buddhist virtues for the wearers.”  Ajan Noo had modified the magical writings to prevent just such deceitful copying.  He wondered why she had not told her boyfriend about the warning in the book.  He thought maybe she had not read it or maybe she was just frightened by the tattoo maker who might have made trouble for her if he had thought she was siding with the foreigner against a Thai.  The bad tattoo maker obviously did not care what impact he had upon the ancient science.  He was only after a high income when he carried out the body decoration.         

            Ajan Noo teaches us that a person should learn how to earn a living through work of some kind.  He considers that people should think how to obtain money righteously and how to give a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.   “Ajan Noo discredited these false tattoo masters because they deceive themselves and do not give back any rewards to their customers.  Good tattoo masters feel that it is a waste of time leaving a gap in the system which allows bad guys to work by copying their best designs to cheat customers.  Apart from destroying the reputation of all tattoo matters they ruin  the customer’s skin and take their money under false pretences”           

            “Phaow Kaa” performs miracles         

            Ajan Noo Kanpai Sakyan Samnak greatly respects “Phra-Pra-Khon-Than (Phaow Kaa).  Phaow Kaa is the way  that Thai people called  great artistic or magical gurus or ancestors.  

At Samnak Ajan Noo has set up a guru image and various Phaow

Kaa masks representing the gurus’ features.  Ajan Noo believes the school really needs such magical art images. The visitors can see them displayed gorgeously on a special shelf where they are placed.    

            Ajan Noo especially recognizes the worth of Phaow Kaa as being his own master who instructed him in the sacred lessons.            

            In June 2005 AD, some sculptors created a full lifesize statue of Phaow Kaa. Then Ajan Noo and his devotees performed the first annual rite of putting the eyes into the image.  That day, in studying the image of Phaow Kaa over a long time he noticed some errors in the body  appearance.  That night he dreamt about the image.  In his dream Phaow Kaa made Ajan Noo understand that he, Phaow Kaa, did not appreciate the weaknesses in the body design and that he wanted some changes made.  While meditating further the next  morning Phaow Kaa appeared again to Ajan Noo to indicate how the body design of the statue ought to be modified.      

As a consequence, Ajan Noo went to one of his most devout followers, Mr. Prajak Somjaiprasert.  Mr.Prajak was an adopted son of Ajan Noo and known by the nicknames  “Ling Jiek” or “Ake”.  Ajan Noo asked Ling Jiek to make a new sculpture of Phaow Kaa to be  more graceful and gorgeous to look at and of the same size as Phaow Kaa.  Ajan Noo did not pass on any of the specific details of the desired changes he had seen in his meditation.   

            Ajan Noo started by discussing with Ling Jiek what he thought about the character of the present sculpture.  Ling Jiek replied “not really like the Guru and not graceful enough” so he agreed to take charge of this big artistic project.  Three months later his work was nearly completed.  Then Ajan Noo commanded him to finish the work by the time of “Wai Kru” Ceremony (a ceremony where pupils pay respect to their teachers).  In the middle of March 2006 Ling Jiek asked Ajan Noo to appraise the part-finished sculpture-if any changes were required these could be done before the ceremony.  Ajan  Noo was very pleased with what he saw.

            On March 29,2006 AD Ajan Noo arranged to bring the new statue of  Phaow Kaa to its permanent resting place at Samnak.  He asked Sergeant Boonman Roong-ha-thai of the Vipavadee Police Station to help lead the school’s motorcade with the statue.  Very many people in the neighborhood were watching the motorcade and were witnesses to a very strange happening.       

             Before the precession moved off, Sergeant Boonman pointed his handgun up into the sky. He expected to be able to shoot it making a loud noise to bring luck and prosperity.  However, the gun did not make any noise at all.  It only made a “chaae-chaae-chaae” sound which puzzled everyone around.  Sergeant Boonman tested his gun before trying to shoot into the sky again.  The mechanism was working but again the bullets would not fire in the gun.  He reloaded and tried again-.still the same “chaae-chaae-chaae” sound.  The witnesses were all encouraging him to try again which he did - a third and a fourth time but failing the same way each time.  Eventually they all agreed to stop trying in case the gun broke down fully.        

            Sergeant Boonman’s face went pale as the failures to fire his gun discouraged him.  He did not understand what was happening.  His gun was stamped with the  Police Seal and had been blessed by the monks when he first received it.  He had never had such the problem before.   After a while Ake said “I forget to tell Phaow Kaa first”.  Ake turned to the  Phaow Kaa and made a “Wai” towards it.  This is the way Thai people pay respect to the images by putting their hands together as in praying.  Ake asked Phaow Kaa’s blessing for the successful firing of the gun to open the pathway for carrying the image smoothly and safely.  After Ake had made his wai he told Sergeant Boonman what he had done.  The sergeant was not sure if that would have changed anything but he decided to try to shoot the gun again.  This time everything worked properly.  Everyone heard “bang-bang-bang” followed by a round of applause from the spectators.  After that the  motorcade was able to move without any problem.  Some people thought it was a miracle by Phaow Kaa.    

            The Police Sergeant said he had never got used to going to a temple in the past but he took the circumstances as a good sign for him. Previously he had never had an experience like this one.  He had never really believed in magic because it was very hard to prove its existence.  Now, however, he thought he could believe and made up his mind to respect the powers of magic.  He then went on to learn and find out more facts about the virtues and influences as a result of this experience.     

It is Ake’s turn to tell of his experience with magic. He could not believe that he had succeeded with the new sculpture of Phaow Kaa.  At the beginning Ake lacked confidence because Ajan Noo had not told him any details he wanted to improve the body image.  In addition Ake had never studied sculpturing.  Nevertheless, he was delighted to have been given the task and was determined to tackle  it with inspiration. The responsibility given to him was to modify the statue, not to produce it from the beginning, so Ake cheered himself up that he would surely be able to do this work.  He spent some days just trying to imagine the detail.  Then he got a bright idea - he took his own picture to show the same features and body parts as were the problem areas with the original statue.  He eventually found that the body structure needed to be changed to become like that of a real man.   He was so proud then when a keen master appreciated the beautiful body image he had come up with.

            Ajan Noo recalled his decision about the modifications. At first sight he could recognize some faults on the figure of the sculpture.  However, he had received the sculpture in time for the annual “Wai Kru Ceremony” rites  at Samnak.         

            Phaow Kaa possessed magical knowledge and power.  The guru gave Ajan Noo a piece of “Kham-maak-reu-see”.  In Thai, “Kham-mak-reu-see” is a little piece of areca nut and betel leave that Phaow Kaa had chewed like a chewing gum.  Old people in Thailand love to chew Kham-maak between meals. Ajan Noo was not normally willing to share this precious material even with other believers.           

            Ajan Noo knew “Phaow Kaa” under the name “Phra Nart” who was  respected “Khon Than”.   Khon Than was a musician and he sang and played music for celestial beings.  The Thai people believed that Khon Than became an essential element of the decoration surrounding the gods in heaven.  Khon Than also associated with normal human beings.  In the role he was known as “Khon Than Loke” meaning “Khon Than” belonging to the world we live on.  Khon Than was always moving between the earth and heaven.         

            Khon Than Loke was an expert at blending medicines to cure people of their illnesses and in the study of zodiac and their use in forecasting people’s fortunes.             

            Luang Pu Man, one of the greatest priest of Thailand, had been practicing  peaceful mediation inside a forest.  Luang Pu Lord, who was accompanying the senior monk, found some Kham-maak-reu-see. Luang Pu Lord gave it to the senior monk because Luang Pu Man had more strength of power and knowledge so he could put the best virtues into Kham-maak-reu-see.       

            For the last 15 years Ajan Noo had used a part of Kham-maak-reu-see to make into a miniature image of Buddha.   He had been keeping the rest until he decided it should be used as an ingredient of the present Phaow Kaa sculpture.        

 

            Kham-maak-reu-see has certain virtues.  It has some magic which can help devotees keep away from danger.  Therefore the decision to use some of Phaow Kaa’ s   Kham-maak-reu-see in the mixture for the sculpture model is to transfer Phaow Kaa’ heart into the heart of the person paying respect to the statue.  The act of paying respect  will help bring health, wealth and happiness towards devotees.

            Samnak is the place which provides prosperity for Ajan Noo’s devotees.  Besides the “Wai Kru Ceremony” is a very holy one so they should participate if at all possible.  The senior monks perform the holy rites and chant the spells to let spiritual power accrue in Khaow Kaa, including the amulets, every year.  This holy action ensures that devotees will always have amulets with the best virtues.           

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