On January 2, 2012, Wat Phra Dhammakaya under the leadership of its abbot, Phrathepyan mahamuni (Luangpor Dhammajayo), along with twenty-five government and non-government organizations collaborated to organize 'Dhammachai Dhutanga Pilgrimage' to celebrate the 2,600th anniversary of the Lord Buddha's enlightenment and to revitalize the Buddhist culture in Thailand. The event was meant to uplift the spirit of the people who suffered from recent natural disasters and help the nation regain hope for the auspicious future.
In 2011, Thailand suffered the worst floods in fifty years. The floods had devastated many parts of Thailand and brought insurmountable damage to the Thai economy and the livelihood of its people. The worst casualties were suffered by six provinces in central Thailand: Ayutthaya, Suphanburi, Nakorn Pathom, Pathumthani, Nonthaburi, and Bangkok.
As many as 1,127 Buddhist monks took part in the Dhutanga pilgrimage to traverse through these six provinces. It was a way to bring merit to the land and provide spiritual support for the people.
The pilgrimage was held in honor of Luangpu Wat Paknam. The procession was led by a solid gold statue of Luangpu, one and a half times his actual size and weighed as much as one ton. The gold statue had been created entirely with donations from Luangpu's devotees. The journey began on January 2, 2014 and ended on January 25, covering the total distance of 427.8 kilometers (265.82 miles). The starting point of the procession began at Wat PhraDhammakaya in Pathumthani, coursing through Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya, Suphanburi, Nakorn Pathom, stopping at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen in Bangkok before returning to Wat PhraDhammakaya.
The pilgrim monks made a stop to pay homage to Luangpu at each of the six historical places related to Luangpu's life. These places included Lotus Land in Suphanburi, Luangpu's birth place; Wat Songpinong in Suphanburi where Luangpu had his ordination; Wat Bote-bon in Nonthaburi where Luangpu attained Dhammakaya; Wat Bang-pla in Nakorn Pathom where Luangpu first taught the Dhammakaya Knowledge, where several monks and laypeople attained Dhammakaya following his footsteps; Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen in Bangkok, Luangpu's home base; and Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathumthani, world center for Buddhism and Dhammakaya propagation. Everywhere the monks passed, thousands of laypeople would come to pay respect. They lined the paths with rose petals throughout the entire length of the journey for the monks to walk on.
The Dhammachai Dhutanga Pilgrimage had indeed uplifted the spirit of the people. The event had brought so much happiness and joy to the communities. The sights of more than one thousand monks walking orderly in unison and appearing so calm and picture perfect were something the people had never seen before in their entire lives. Families benefited from this event because it gave them an opportunity to perform merits together and also be rejuvenated with good moral ethics. Many wept with tears of joy.
Monks participating in the pilgrimage had to be strong in physical health and willpower in order to last through the journey. They had to endure extreme physical hardships walking barefoot for hundreds of miles (even on flower petals) under the burning heat of the sun, eating only one meal a day, and sleeping in any place allotted to them. The ability to complete the trek is considered by each individual monk to be an accomplishment of a lifetime-a virtue worthy of a true monk.
Dhutanga is a form of austerity training traditionally practiced by forest monks who lived in seclusion without permanent shelter. It is meant to help the practitioner develop detachment from material things including the body. The goal is to rid oneself of bad habits that impede spiritual development, and to 'burn' away defilements in the mind. Defilements (made up of greed, hatred and ignorance) are obstacles to enlightenment. Each type of defilements calls for a specific austerity treatment method, similar to taking specific medicine to cure a specific disease. Here are some examples:
• Practice generosity to overcome stinginess
• Practice loving-kindness to overcome hatred
• Observe the Eight Precepts to overcome sensuality
• Practice meditation to overcome ignorance
• Eat to live, not live to eat, to overcome excessive appetites
• Practice restraint of the senses to overcome temptations brought about by the sixsense doors: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and thought
• Take a Dhutanga retreat to overcome attachment to comfort and luxury
• Develop self-discipline to overcome laziness and a lack of responsibility
• Perform good deeds to overcome evil
• Avoid and abandon all bad deeds to overcome unwholesome habits
On January 2, 2013, the second Dhammachai Dhutanga Pilgrimage was organized. 1,128 monks participated in the event. They trekked through the same six provinces along the paths of Luangpu's historical sites. The second pilgrimage lasted twenty-six days and covered 448.4 km. (278.62 miles), which broke the record of the first pilgrimage. The procession was led by another solid gold statute of Luangpu Wat Paknam, the same size and weight as the first one. This time, the entire length of the pilgrimage paths was lined with marigold flower petals (instead of rose petals) for the monks to walk on. Again, thousands of people showed up along the pilgrimage paths to pay respect to the monks. With tears of joys in their eyes, many people expressed their gratitude to the monks and the organizers of the event for having brought such an auspicious event to their cities and communities.
Both the first and second pilgrimage walks had been recognized by the Guinness World Records as "The longest journeys on flower petals in the world". Two certificates of recognition-one in 2012 and another in 2013-were presented by officials of Guinness World Records to Luangpor Dhammajayo at Wat Phra Dhammakaya to honor these two events.
Since then, two more pilgrimages have been organized. 2015 marked the fourth year of the event, with 1,130 monks embarking on the 485 kilometers (301.37 miles) journey through seven provinces in Thailand, namely, Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya, Suphanburi, Nakorn Pathom, Bangkok and Samut Sakorn. The Dhammachai Dhutanga Pilgrimage is now an annual event that is organized during the month of January of each year.
The greatness of Luangpu Wat Paknam is attributed to the success of the Dhammachai Dhutanga Pilgrimages.
Luangpu's legacy will live on with us forever.
