On 10 October 2024, on occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Phramongkolthepmuni, Wat Phra Dhammakaya and laypeople throughout the world organized the chanting activity and mass meditation in the morning and the 3rd robe offering for conjoining with the Kathin ceremony of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and 30,000 temples across Thailand in the afternoon. The evening session was the Zinnia planting activity, followed by the lighting of 20,000 lanterns and the celebration of achieving 6,788,140,140 rounds of Dhammacakka chanting in honor of the Buddha and Phramongkolthepmuni. The next goal of completing 6,881,000,000 Dhammacakka chanting rounds will be celebrated on 15 November 2024 or Loy Krathong (lantern floating) Day.
The Great Master Phramongkolthepmuni (Sodh Candasaro) was born in a family of rice merchant on 10 October 1884 in Song Phi Nong district, Suphan Buri province. He had faith in Buddhism in the early childhood and was ordained at the age of 21. As a Buddhist monk, he put effort into the Buddhist scripture learning and meditation practice. On the full moon day of the 10th lunar month in 1917, he meditated and attained the Dhammakaya (the inner body of enlightenment) inside. This confirmed that the Buddha’s enlightenment and teachings were real and truly beneficial. After his meditation achievement, he propagated this meditation method to his disciples for the Dhammakaya attainment, leading to the answer of “Why were we born?” and “What was the actual goal of human beings?”. Finally, he passed away at the age of 74 on 3 February 1959.
