Ajahn Jumnien Silsetso is the abbot and founder of the
incredible temple named Wat Tum Sua in Krabi, Thailand just outside
of Krabi town toward the mountains. Ajahn Jumnien (Chamnian,
Jumnearn) was born in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in Southern
Thailand where he was a monk for 17 years. He then moved to a small village where he grew up in
the Surat Thani province called "Ban Na San". Ban Na San is a very
pretty little town located on a river. Their Rambutans (exotic red
Thai fruit like large oval shaped golf balls with green or pink
'hairs' coming covering them are excellent
in season and they have yearly Rambutan festivals that you should
attend if you get the chance sometime while you're here.Ajahn
Jumnien studied meditation in Ban Na San for a short while then
moved to Krabi, Thailand to found "Wat Tum Sua", Tiger Cave Temple
of the South. Ajahn Jumnien founded Wat Tum Sua in 1975. So, he was
a monk for 33 years at Wat Tum Sua and 17 years at Nakhon Si
Thammarat. I think 2 years in Ban Na San. That's 52 years as a Thai
Theravada monk!
A monk told me recently that Aj. Jumnien's good
friend is Jack Kornfield, who has written many books about the
subject of meditation. The monk told me that Ajarn Jumnien and Jack
Kornfield stayed at the same temple in Banasan, Surat Thani
province, Thailand for some time. Yearly now Ajahn Jumnien
goes to California to teach a meditation course with Jack Kornfield.
Ajahn Jumnien is a world traveler, frequently making visits to:
California, Chicago, Malaysia, India, Burma, Singapore, Germany, and
the UK mostly for the purposes of teaching mediation. He is a most
accomplished meditation teacher and world renowned.
Wat Tum Sua presently has 30-40 Buddhist monks living on temple
grounds including 8 that live in the caves of the foothills area at
the north side of the temple. It is possible to climb 100+ steps and
explore the area which resembles Jurassic Park with HUGE palm trees
and other plants that aren't usually seen. There are 1000 year old
trees in this area and some nice caves to explore.
(Gathering info for this page)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
|
