Phra Khuva Boonchum
Phra Khuva Boonchum | |
|---|---|
Ñāṇasaṁvara | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 5 January 1965 (age 60) |
| Nationality | Thai |
| Other names | Ñāṇasaṁvara |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Theravada |
| Lineage | Thai Forest Tradition |
| Senior posting | |
| Teacher | Khruba Siwichai |
| Based in | Wat Phra That Don Ruang |
Venerable Ñāṇasaṁvara (Thai: ญาณสํวโร; Burmese: ဉာဏသံဝရ; born 5 January 1964), also known as Khruba Boonchum (ครูบาบุญชุ่ม) in Thailand and as the Mine Hpone Sayadaw (မိုင်းဖုန်းဆရာတော်) in Myanmar, is a prominent Shan Theravāda Buddhist monk of the Northern Thai Forest Tradition established by Khruba Siwichai.[1] He is widely respected in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos for his solitary meditation retreats in remote forests, mountains, and caves, earning him the nickname "the monk of the three nations".[2]
Early life
Ñāṇasaṁvara was born on 5 January 1964 in Mae Kham, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, to Po Kham Hla and Nang Saeng La, a Shan-speaking family originally from Mong Yong near Kengtung, Shan State, Burma.[3] His birth name was Sai Wun Sum. His grandparents later migrated to Chiang Saen, Thailand.[3]
Ordination
He first ordained as a novice at the age of 11, receiving the title Shin Nya Tham Wora. He was ordained as a bhikkhu on 29 May 1985 at 09:39 am by senior monks including Sai Nom (Paw Kyit), Daw Nan Sam Saeng, Mong Phone Pandaka U Nang Shwe, and Daw Nan Thit.[4] In the third year after his ordination, he built a stupa on the 49th mountain of Khyen Loi Win Kyauk (Khyen Taw Taung) in Wan Lai village. He also travelled to Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka and India.
Later life
Ñāṇasaṁvara serves as the abbot of Wat Phra That Don Ruang in Tachileik, Shan State, Myanmar.[5] He has been invited to royal palaces in Bhutan and Thailand.[6]
His followers include senior Burmese officials, military generals, and Shan ethnic armed leaders such as Khin Nyunt and Yawd Serk. Before Khin Nyunt’s fall from power, he donated large sums to the Sayadaw. Around 2007, authorities pressured him to leave his monastery; after the Saffron Revolution, he was named among patrons of the International Sangha Organization led by the exiled Penang Sayadaw. He relocated to Thailand until returning to Myanmar under President Thein Sein.[6]
In 2016, at the invitation of Aung San Suu Kyi, he visited Nay Pyi Taw and also met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.[6] In 2018, he visited ailing former Senior General Maung Aye.[7]
He gained international media attention during the Tham Luang cave rescue, when he predicted the exact day the trapped boys and their coach would be found alive.[8] The King of Thailand later offered him robes in recognition.[9]
Ñāṇasaṁvara has also mediated peace and reconciliation ceremonies with ethnic minority groups in Myanmar.[10]
Health
In August 2022, after completing a three-year, three-month, and three-day cave meditation retreat, he became seriously ill with cerebral malaria. He was treated at Bangkok Hospital at the expense of King Vajiralongkorn, and later recovered.[11]
Awards
- Saddhammajotikadhaja Medal (1996)
- Agga Maha Kammatthana Sariya Degree (2018)[12]
References
- ^ "Khruba Bonchum: A symbol of peace". Burma News International. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "A mystical take on the Tham Luang cave rescue". Bangkok Post. 4 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Khuva Boonchum - Dhamma Wiki". dhammawiki.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "ເມີນານຫຼານສານສານສານສານສານສານ". kanbawzatainews. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ "หากันให้วุ่น! "เหรียญครูบาบุญชุ่ม" เกลี้ยงแผง ล่าสุดทะลุเกินแสนแล้ว!! (คลิป)". ข่าวสด (in Thai). 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ a b c "ထိုင်းဂူရှေ့ ဆုတောင်းခဲ့တဲ့ မိုင်းဖုန်းဆရာတော်". BBC News မြန်မာ (in Burmese). 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "Monk Who Predicted Thai Cave Rescue Hailed for 'Intervention'". The Irrawaddy. 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "Thai King Offers Robes to Monk Who Predicted Team Trapped in Cave Would Be Found". The Irrawaddy. 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "Thai King Offers Robes to Monk Who Predicted Team Trapped in Cave Would Be Found". The Irrawaddy. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ "Ming Phone Sayadaw's peace and reconciliation ceremonies with ethnic minorities". myanmardigitalnews. 25 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ "ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံ ဘန်ကောက်တွင် ဆေးကုသမှုခံယူနေသည့် မိုင်းဖုန်းဆရာတော်၏ ကျန်းမာရေး ရာခိုင်နှုန်း ၈၀ ခန့်ပြန်လည် ကောင်းမွန်လာ". Eleven Media Group (in Burmese). 15 August 2022.
- ^ "President presents Agga Maha Kammatthana Sariya Degree to Monk My Phone Sayadaw". tachileiknewsagency. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2023.