Situated in the busyness of urban Bangkok, Wat Dhammamongkol is the home of 99-year Dhammayut monk Luang Por Viriyang Sirintharo. In robes for 83 years, Luang Por Viriyang is the last living disciple of Luang Pu Mun—founder of the Thai Forest Tradition. He spent four years training with the famous meditation master.
Luang Por Viriyang has an interesting story, including a mysterious “white-robed ascetic” who healed him of childhood paralysis. The temple itself is interesting as well, as it is home to the Willpower Institute, the largest jade Buddha statue in the world, and the tallest stupa in Thailand. The stupa is said to contain relics of Lord Buddha.
Nearly a year ago I was on retreat at a Dhammayut monastery in western Texas when another lay person told me of a “99-year-old super-monk...a student of Luang Pu Mun” that I should seek out in Thailand. I never got the esteemed monk’s name or the location of his temple, and my later attempts to use Google and other resources to identify him were unsuccessful. But randomly, on my last couple of days in Bangkok recently, the hotel concierge suggested I visit Wat Dhammamongkol. I did. And the abbot was none other than Luang Por Viriyang.
