Biography of Luangpor Theean

Biography of Luangpoo Theean

The fifth child of Chin and Som Inthaphiu, Luangpor Theean was born on September 5, 1911, at Buhom, a small village in the remote province of Loei in the northeastern region of Thailand. His given name was Phan. He has four brothers and one sister. His father died when he was still very young. There were no schools in the area, and Phan received no formal education. However, at the age of io, he was ordained a novice at the local monastery where his uncle, Yukhuphong Chansuk, was a resident monk. Diligent, obedient, and devout, Phan  spent eighteen months there studying ancient Buddhist scripts, meditation and magic before he disrobed to return to his home. Later, following the tradition, he was ordained as a monk at the age of 20, studying and meditating with his uncle, for a period of six months. His interest in meditation, fuelled by a deep faith in the Buddha’s teachings, continued to grow and he practiced regularly.

About two years after returning to lay life, Phan Inthaphiu married. He and his wife, Hom, had three sons: Niam,Teen and Triam. After the eldest died at the age of 5, Phan became known as “por Teean”(father of Teean) in accordance with the local tradition of calling a parent by the name of the eldest living child. Later, he moved to Chiangkhan, in the same province, where he became a successful trader, sailing in his own boat along the Mekhong river between Thailand and Laos. During these years he met several meditation  teachers and practiced the methods they taught him. Thus, his enthusiasm for pursuing Dhamma continued to strengthen. By the time he had reached his 40s, however, he came to the realization that his many years of making merit, avoiding ”sin”, and practicing meditation had not liberated him from anger, and so he decided that it was time for him to commit himself fully to seeking the Dhamma. And so, at the age of 46, after arranging  for his wife’s well being and economic security and settling his business affairs, Por Teean left his home, firmly determined not to return unless he found the  true Dhamma.

Por Teean Traveled to Wat Rangsimukdaram, in Nongkhai province, where he decided to spend the rapidly approaching three-month monastic retreat(phansa). There he met a Laotian meditation teacher who taught him a form of body-moving meditation, where each movement and the pause at the end of the movement was accompanied by the  silent recitation of the words “moving-stopping”. Having practiced many forms of meditation over the preceding thirty-five years, all involving concentration on breathing ---and also, in the most cases inner recitation—he had only obtained transitory calmness. He therefore decided to abandon such techniques and instead to only practice body-moving meditation, but without inner recitation.

This he did throughout the whole of the following day, practicing in accordance with nature, remaining energetic and at ease. On the third day of his practice at Wat Ransimukdaram in Nong province, while he was sitting and moving his arms in meditation, a sudden knowledge occurred in his mind: instead of experiencing himself as he always did, he now understood rupa-nama(body-mind).

By evening Por Teean’s awareness was sufficiently continuous and fast so that he began to “see”, rather than merely know, thought. Thought was “seen” as soon as it arose, and it immediately stopped. Practicing in this way, he soon penetrated to the source of thought and realization arose. His mind changed fundamentally. Por Teean was now independent of both scriptures and teachers. As he continued to practice that day, his mind was changed step by step. In later years, much of his teaching would be concerned with the details of the steps and stages through which the mind progressed on its way to the ending of suffering.

Later that evening a deeper realization arose, and his mind changed for the second time. Early, the next morning, the 11^th day of the waxing moon(July8,1957), as he walked in meditation, his realization went even deeper, and his mind changed for the first time. Soon afterwards he attained the state of arising-extinguishing of the mind. “ I have died to filth, wickedness, sorrow, darkness, and drowsiness, but I am still alive,” he explained.

It was as a layman that Por Teean held his first meditation retreat open to the public at Buhom, his hometown. He spent his own money to feed the thirty to forty people who attended the retreat. Thereafter, he devoted all his energy and wealth to teaching people.

Since he felt a responsibility to teach what he called the Dhamma of “an instant” to as wide a circle as possible, after two years and eight months as a lay teacher, Por Teean entered monkhood, at the age of 48, in order to be in a better position to teach.

On February 3, 1960, he was ordained a monk at Wat Srikhunmuang in his hometown by a senior monk named Vijitdhammacariya. At his ordination he was given the Pali name”Cittasubho”(the brilliant mind), but peope continued to call him “Luangpor Teean”(Venerable Father Teean). He as known by that name throughout the rest of his life.

Luangpor Teean had been in poor health for some time when in 1983 he was diagnosed as suffering from cancer. Despite extensive major surgery for malignant lymphoma later that year, he required surgery again in 1986. Despite repeated courses of radiation therapy and chemotherapy, Luangpor Teean was able to achieve an extraordinary amount of work in his last five years. He gave public  talks, led meditation retreats, and provided personal guidance. He built his final meditation center at Thapmingkhan in the town of Loei in 1983 and added Ko Phutthatham, a large nearby area, to it in 1986.

He  taught actively and incisively until the disease reached its advanced stages. When he realized that the end was near, Luandpor Teean discharged himself from the hospital and returned to Ko Phutthatham in Loei province. Late in the afternoon on his fifth day back in Loei he announced that he was now going to die. He then turned his awareness completely inward; his wasted body which had been so stiff and brittle, became fully relaxed and fluid; and fully aware, unattached, holding to nothing, not even the breath, an hour later(at 6:15 p.m. on September 13, 1988) his breathing ceased like a tree coming to rest as the wind that moved it faded completely away.


Source: Path to Enlightenment:A guide to meditation techniques practiced in Thailand