Luang Por Jarun Ṭhitadhammo

Luang Por Jarun was born on 15 August 1928 in Sing Buri province, in central Thailand. He ordained as a monk on 15 July 1948 at Wat Phrom Buri and received the name Ṭhitadhammo, “one whose Dhamma is steady”. He died on 25 January 2016, aged 87.

After ordination he travelled and studied with a series of teachers. Wat Amphawan’s own biography names, among others, Phra Mongkhonthepmuni (Luang Por Sodh) of Wat Paknam for calm-abiding practice (Thai Wikipedia specifies Dhammakaya meditation); Phra Lee Dhammadharo (Ajahn Lee) of Wat Asokaram, with whom, according to Thai Wikipedia, he studied corpse contemplation (asubha) at Wat Asokaram in 1951; and Phra Rajasiddhimuni (Chodok Ñāṇasiddhi) of Wat Mahathat in Bangkok, with whom he studied insight practice based on the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna).

He became acting abbot of Wat Amphawan in 1957 and abbot soon after, and stayed in the post until he died. He also held senior roles in the Sangha administration of Sing Buri province.

The temple’s biography says his teaching centred on the law of kamma, often illustrated with events from his own life, and on training the mind through the four foundations of mindfulness using the rising-and-falling (phong nho, yup nho) method, in which the practitioner notes the movement of the abdomen with the breath. He also encouraged people to chant the Buddhajayamangala Gāthā as a way of building mindfulness. One of his sayings, quoted on the temple’s home page, is “Chanting is the ointment; insight practice is the medicine you take.”

Under his leadership Wat Amphawan became a well-known centre for lay retreats in this method. The temple’s biography also records that he studied charms and fortune-telling. DharmaBase leaves that aside and describes only his meditation teaching.