On October 12th, 2023 in the early morning before sunrise I was sent a message that one of the most important people in my life had passed away.

Having witnessed much with my own eyes, I know enough from personal experience that most of, if not all of, the stories are true. What I’m going to say will likely sound crazy to you. Impossible. I have not spoken much about it, largely because I was not allowed to. With his passing, I get to honor him. And tell you perhaps one of the craziest story you are ever going to hear directly from first hand experience.

From 2007-2010 I lived in Thailand as a fully ordained bhikkhu. In late 2007 I was sent to พี่ ถาวร พรหมถาวร “Pi” (Older Brother) Tawon Promatawon because I was having trouble finding my way as new ‘phra farang’.

There are legends of this man. Mystical legends. He fulfilled a few different roles at the temple. Initially he spent years as the caretaker to the Abbot, he also was the temple’s Buddha image maker. However, what everyone really talked about was that he was the special missions man of the temple. Pi Tawon played a significant role in a great portion of the temple’s current mystical and supernatural lore.

The temple I ordained at is massive. It isn’t a temple that focuses solely on scripture, but rather on the practice. Massive, as in just one part of it had a meditation stadium for one million people. And imagine practicing with one million other people. There’s nothing like it. Yes, it had its controversy. If you google Wat Phra Dhammakaya you will see. Some parts I can understand and take issue with. Others, no.

There is a dark behind-the- scenes story there as to why the temple was attacked so mercilessly but that is for another time. Some people say you can judge success by how many haters you have. I guess they are pretty successful.

In truth, that wasn’t my focus. Yeah there were issues, but to let them rent space in my head for free, was not why I was there. I was there to seek out the real practitioners in the temple. I am very blessed to have met many of them. The ones holding shit down. Pi Tawon was one of the Generals.

He was an enigma in that, as an advanced practitioner in Buddhist monastery, the natural Thai train of thought is that he’d be an ordain monastic. He wasn’t. The Abbot had Pi Tawon receive initiation as a kind of ascetic – akin to a Reusi/Rishi/Yogi – and was kept as a recluse in the temple. He observed the 8 main precepts for his training. And initially he was given a boundary area in which he had to live. Most were not allowed to see him. Because, his training was very specific. And he became like a wild sorcerer or, for the LOTR fans, Tom Bombadil.

Pi Tawon was untethered by temple politics, free, liberated, funny and a jokester. He pushed you, not aggressively, but encouragingly. By challenging your beliefs, patterns, and habits, it would force you to look deep within yourself. He was incredibly intelligent and LOVED wordplay. This made understanding him rather difficult so I would always have to show up with a full Thai dictionary.

Carpenter by trade, he was very strong, both physically and mentally. He was a force: wild yet controlled, powerful yet gentle when needed. If you have ever survived a category 5 hurricane, and experienced what the eye of the hurricane is like, being around Pi Tawon was similar. Similar in that, holy shit this is not a joke. This is a force of nature. Or, as was described in the movie Twister, “a defender of God.” Yet, it was very different in that the surrounding energy and feeling was not of destruction and chaos. It was of the grandeur and power of goodness and purity of mind. A natural, palpable, and universal force surrounded him. Clearly it was result of successful practice.

Pi Tawon was the absolute hardest worker in the room. He would very often go over 72 hrs without sleep to finish large projects. As his crew slept he would be working away at the โรงปั้น ‘Molding Facility’ on the many projects he was given.

I always said that if I wasn’t a monk anymore, I would want to be like him. As a monk, I used to sneak away to see him whenever I could. The building where I was studying Thai language with the other ‘phra farang’ was next to his old residence and the original Molding Facility. It was near a stream, with huge snapping turtles, peacocks and other unique birds that looked other- worldly. Moreover, the place had this aura as if walking into a fairy tale.

Here I saw him converse with wild animals, they listen and understand and respond. He knew when things would happen, and would proactively create circumstances to benefit many people at once. He would know things about me others couldn’t, answering questions I had in my mind, but hadn’t verbalized.
He would look at me, smile wryly beneath his Pai Mei meets Captain Jack Sparrow goatee, and say do you want to know the answer to your question? Before I asked it. Yes the answer was always spot on correct.

Pi Tawon was so adept at Entering his Center in samādhi he had reached the Dhammakāya within. There are no doubts here on my end. In this process he had attained the side effect of the Six Abhijña:
1) to travel any distance or take on any form at will
2) to see everything
3) to hear everything
4) to know another’s thoughts
5) to recollect former existences 6)liberation/freedom by undefiled wisdom, which I was taught meant the power to completely clean and purify the mind. Inferred in these six is control over the elements: earth, fire, air, and water.

Because of his mental capability, he proved himself very useful. He was usually given rough coordinates, and he was meant to find his way to the exact location using mental powers. I remember asking him about when he was sent into the jungle and came to a clearing where when he arrived a glowing orb arose from underground for which he was to wrap, collect, and return to the temple as a gift from certain beings. He said, I’m not allowed to talk about that. And under his breath I heard him say, “dangerous”.

Pi Tawon was widely known for his ability to levitate, himself and other objects. This wasn’t unusual as the Founder of the temple, Chandra “Khun Yai” Khonnokyoong, was known throughout Thailand for her mental prowess, seen during World War 2 replicating her body and flying to catch bombs dropped by the Japanese midair, transporting them safely to the nearby rivers around Bangkok.

There are stories of Pi Tawon being asked to go bring gifts to remote hidden practitioners in mountains that were hundreds and hundreds of years old. But perhaps the most famous story he is known for is when he was asked to mold and build a 14 ton solid silver Buddha image of the Primordial Buddha for the temple’s main square- mile Cetiya and meditation stadium. Ceremony time came along and the plan was to hoist the statue up to place it into the dome/stupa of the Cetiya still under construction. However, the cranes could not budge it. It was too heavy. They attempted to hoist it for quite a while, as there were a hundred thousand people in attendance, and they did not want to disappoint.

Pi Tawon looked at the operators as they said, “it cannot be done”. He proceeded to hop up onto the base near the lap of the Buddha image, cross his legs, closed his eyes and said, “try again”. The cranes did and assisted by the prayers and hands of many monks and staff, the statue hoisted into the air without a problem. It was then set perfectly into the dome.

What really impressed me was that Pi Tawon did not show it off, unless it was needed and/or would cause benefit. He would use these gifts, that he afforded himself through continual practice, to help others and do as much good as he could. Every time I was with him was like being in some kind of mystical tale. It was like being with a real life Avenger. A real life superhero.

Amidst the many miraculous stories and events I was lucky enough to experience there, what I always walked away with was feeling inspired and encouraged to practice. I asked what I could do to give back. He would always say, go practice. Enter your Center. Be there. Live there. That is the biggest gift you can give me.

Perhaps even more astounding to most people, I actually only saw him sit down to meditate cross- legged once. This was only for a 2-5 minute demo. What was so amazing about Pi Tawon was that he could be in very deep states of meditation but be talking to you and moving around as a normal person. His eyes would glisten and he’d have that wry smile, and he’d be there with you. Not off somewhere else mentally. But you could tell something else was happening inside too. He would often tell me that the body doesn’t need to be sitting for you to meditate, and reach realization. He would sometimes give me techniques to work on, and I would close my eyes to which he would immediately say, “why are you closing your eyes? This has nothing to do with your physical eyes.”

If you are a person that trains your mind, you’ll understand the value of this lesson. 24/7. He was not a person that used meditation or spiritual development to escape the world. He used it to make himself and the world around him better.

There are few people in my life who have proven to me the power, and reality, of the teachings of Lord Buddha. Not as a religion or dogma, but as a practice or workout training program for understanding yourself in existence in the universe/multiverse. And how to create your own destiny. There are a lot of false prophets out there, but my Older Brother Tawon was a real one. He saw and he knew, from direct experience.

As the community mourns his passing while celebrating his miraculous life, I won’t say goodbye. I will say, good journey.

Thank you Pi Tawon, for being my Brother. Thank you for being my Friend, when I was alone and confused as a young man and monk. Thank you for being my Teacher and guiding me to the light. Thank you for the example you set for our world, and for simply being who you are. You changed millions of people’s lives. You are a warrior and a protector of the Dharma. To me, you will remain my hero. And, it is these giant footsteps you left behind that direct me in my life.