Monk · LP Anon

Picture Story

Monk — Luang Phi (LP) Anon, Thailand.

Mu: Why did you come to Pa Pae?

LP Anon: I came here because I wanted to practise English. I knew this is an international centre. Before coming, I had already completed my Pāli certification. I was looking for more of a challenge, so I came here. Actually — perhaps there was something more wondrous in it too. Before coming, I attended a ten-day meditation retreat, three rounds a day. When I went deep into meditation, I saw myself in a forest, and I felt this place was right for me.

Mu: How many years have you been ordained? What does meditation do for you?

LP Anon: Almost sixteen years. Meditation has helped me many times. It reminds me to keep my mind in its normal state. When I feel I am not in that state, I notice quickly. It is like an alarm, bringing the mind back. When the mind is in its normal — neutral — state, I know myself, and I can speak and act more rightly.

Mu: How do you feel about this new Buddha you have helped create?

LP Anon: It feels really good, because I used to love art. Yes — I liked to paint. But after ordaining I stopped, because monastic life does not allow much painting and does not leave time for it. When I came here and met this kind of art, I felt good things happening to me. I felt more relaxed. I could feel more release.

Standing in front of each Buddha and signing my name, the different concepts you call negative thinking became a kind of challenge — prompting me to discover the emotions within. I could feel them, and when I wrote them down, in front of my own eyes, I felt closer to my own feeling: ah, this emotion is like this. I think this is a good thing. People today may not allow their own cells to feel negative emotions. They can feel them, but then they worry about society or about some bias — something that affects them, or themselves — so they do not allow themselves to explore those emotions.

I think this kind of art gives people a chance to discover and to understand them better. When you find them in your mind and write them down, leaving them in some space outside you, you can see more clearly. The feeling is, yes, we did it: you understand yourself more, and you feel more of the release of those emotions from yourself. So after doing this, I felt much better.