The 12 Virtues of

Master Nun Chand Khonnokyoong

Founder of Wat Phra Dhammakaya

Master Nun Chand, or as her disciples affectionately have called her Khun Yai Chand, had a habit of saying little, but every word of her was precious. They were words of kindness and the words of a person who knows the truth. She started by teaching herself and then trained herself in everything from the most advanced meditation practice to the little things of everyday life. She took every step of her life along with Dhamma. Whatever she did, it was for the purpose of attaining nirvana. Once she had practiced and ascertained herself, she taught that knowledge to her disciples.

Pure body, Speech, and Mind

This is the first virtue that Khun Yai Chand emphasized. She said that the person who can practice Vijja Dhammakaya or who can pursue perfections till the end or who has the moral pillar must possess the purity of body, speech, and mind. Purity is very important. It is a priority for people who pursue perfections. It is also the first resolution that Luang Por Dhammajayo and Khun Yai Chand made in the resolution prayer. The purity of body, speech, and mind shall be achieved through meditation and inner peace. Khun Yai also said that those who can follow her must have pure minds. Only a person with a pure mind can continue to pursue perfections.

Honesty and Integrity

Khun Yai Chand emphasized honesty. In addition to being honest with others, we must also be honest with ourselves. Do not cheat ourselves. Do not deceive ourselves. Sometimes our mind can be clouded by defilements. If we are not honest with ourselves or cheat ourselves, we will reason to act unwholesomely with those defilements. Khun Yai Chand emphasized that every night before going to bed she reviewed the good deeds she had done that day. And she also considered her own shortcomings and aimed to correct them.  Honesty is a prominent characteristic of Khun Yai Chand. People who were close to her knew and appreciated her honesty. One example is her words. Her words were honest, straight, concise, simple, and not deceitful. Khun Yai Chand taught us that when meditating, an honest person will be able to enter the center of the body correctly and stay there and will not veer off the center. The person can attain the correct insight and knowledge. Khun Yai Chand was a sincere person. Honesty and sincerity always go hand in hand. She was kind and sincere and wished good for everyone regardless of the class. She taught us that if we are honest and virtuous, these attributes will influence us to only associate with honest and virtuous people. A wicked person will not be able to get close to us. A wicked person is dishonest and unvirtuous. Khun Yai Chand told us that during the period that the temple construction was almost complete, she often encountered wicked people. She prayed every day during that time not to meet any wicked person and wicked people cannot approach her. She prayed to be away from them. Because a wicked person would cause disturbance in the group of temple people. She encouraged us to make the same prayer or resolution.

Diligently Making Merit of all Kinds

Khun Yai Chand often told her disciples: “I am only afraid that she has accumulated just a little merit. I love to make merit and goodness”. “We who work and live at the temple sacrificed all things of the world. We must think that our worldly sacrifice is for doing good deeds at the temple. Therefore, we must do the best of our lives to do good deeds and to match our intention to work at the temple. We help each other with all the work. Don’t neglect your responsibility. Think about it as our job. Don’t pretend that it is not our duty and pretend not to care. That is not right. Let us just do the job. If we can do it, the merit is ours. Others do not earn that merit. The merit will be ours and will accompany us to our future lives. I can tell you that we indeed earn merit from our job. Because everything we do in this temple is for the whole Buddhism and for Lord Buddha. Hence, every task, small or big, we perform here will earn us merit. When there is a job, we work together. When free from duty, find time to meditate to clear your mind. Read books so you are knowledgeable. When you go to someone, you can talk to them with knowledge. You become a wise person.”

Saving and Being Aware of the Value of Your Thing

To spend money wisely, we must know the value of money. Don’t spend recklessly. Don’t be an ostentatious person, who doesn’t know how to save. Otherwise, we behave like a servant of money for the rest of our life. We must think of the time and effort spent earning money. How tiring it is. Khun Yai Chand raised enough money from her physical strength and the power within to live comfortably and for her disciples. Khun Yai practiced advanced meditation every day to attain inner power that draws in wealth and prosperity. Khun Yai Chand felt at ease when she was able to provide for her disciples and her pursuit of perfections. If we work to earn enough money for our good cause, we can rest and close our eyes for meditation. So that we can enjoy our inner peace. If we work hard to provide for others, but they spend recklessly, then we will have to work endlessly to find enough money until the day we die. Whatever we earn would not be enough. When spending money, we must follow Khun Yai Chand’s example. She made

the most of the money she owned. The money that Khun Yai owned had been spent in the most useful way.

Use everything properly. We must utilize water judiciously; otherwise, we will be subservient to it. We must utilize electricity judiciously; otherwise, we will be subservient to it. We must spend money judiciously; otherwise, we will be subservient to it. We must learn to utilize all things properly. If we do not, we will be subservient to them until the day we die. We can learn from Khu Yai Chand. When she used a toilet, she drew just enough water with a bowl, and she used it to clean the toilet without spilling a drop of water. So, we can look to Khun Yai Chand as a role model on how to properly utilize all things. We will not then suffer from the misuse of our things later

Patient and quiet

Do not think that it is easy for a person to do good deeds. We must persist, be patient, and be calm. Khun Yai Chand did only good deeds. She persisted with calmness and was helped by her merits. In the end, she succeeded because of her merit.

We have sacrificed everything to pursue perfections and perform good deeds. Regardless of what other people are saying, we must endure. We must try to improve ourselves well. We should look up to Khun Yai Chand. She always improved herself and adapted to any situation so she could pursue perfections. In this life, we must endure, improve ourselves, and do only good deeds so that only good things will happen to us in the next lives. If we can eliminate our defilements in this life, there will only be good things for us in the future. But if we cannot get rid of our shortcomings now, we will still have to correct them in the next life and all our lives afterward. That is not good. Therefore, we must correct and improve ourselves as best we can now.

When Khun Yai Chand was dissatisfied with anyone, she would be silent and would not say or do anything. She would endure and tolerate small matters. But for any matter that could cause damage to the temple, she would not keep silent and would voice her thoughtful opinion. She would not joke around. She never argued with her father. Khun Yai Chand only stayed calm. Only calmness can win.

No desire for fame

Khun Yai Chand was not an overly ambitious person. She did not want fame for herself like some other people. It was her attribute from the beginning. While she was at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen to study Vijja Dhammakaya with Luangpu Sodh, she was a quiet person who only talked about substantive matters. When she was at the Dhammakaya Workshop, she rarely spoke. But when she did speak, everyone listened to what she said. She did not involve herself in matters relating to other people. Her only focus was on what Luangpu requested regarding Vijja Dhammakaya. Whoever made a mistake during the workshop would be discussed. During the workshop session, only matters related to Vijja Dhammakaya were discussed. Other than that, Khun Yai would not speak. She just continued to do her job. If Luangpu asked, she would answer his question. If he asked about Vijja Dhammakaya, she would answer about Vijja Dhammakaya and nothing else. Other than that, she did not initiate anything. If she had something to say, only then she would speak to him. Her duty was to answer Luangpu. Khun Yai did not have eagerness like others. If a person wants to be famous but has not accumulated enough merits to support the wish, he or she will not succeed as desired. It is like building a structure. If its base is not strong, the structure will crumble down.

Humble and respectful

The Humility of Khun Yai Chand

For people who met her when she was still healthy, they would see Khun Yai put her palms together and greet any temple visitor first, although she possessed advanced knowledge and was our master. One reason she gave to her disciples is as follows. The first timers did not know who she was. She was afraid that they would sin if their thought toward her was negative. Therefore, she would greet them and pay respect first. When greeting them first, she created a sense of familiarity. They felt welcome and did not feel awkward. Later, when they knew who she was, they would be careful when visiting the temple. If they saw Khun Yai, they would hurry up and pay respect to Khun Yai first. Because they were afraid that Khun Yai would greet them first. Therefore, showing humility and respect has become a tradition of Wat Phra Dhammakaya Temple to this day.

Modest and humble

Although Khun Yai Chand was the founder of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, which is a huge temple, some people may imagine that she would use expensive or luxury items. This cannot be further from the truth. For example, her dining plate. She got it free when she bought detergent. The plate was originally pink. She used it for more than 20 years until the color of the plate was almost gone. She used that plate from the time she was at Wat Paknam until she moved to Wat Phra Dhammakaya and still used the same dining

plate. Her disciples once replaced her plate with a new one. She would inquire about her old plate and ask for it. They had to return the plate to her before she started eating lunch. Another example is her sitting cushion for meditation that Aunt Kheng had made for her since the time of the Dhammaprasit house. Khun Yai Chand continued to use it with care until she passed away. Or her rattan chair and bench that she used daily. She never changed for new ones and put them to good use. Or a low table used during meals. It was not luxurious. When she was still healthy, during mealtimes, she would simply sit on the floor with plates of food on the low table and would use her pink to put rice on.

Modest, solitary, and happy with what one has

We should not be too ambitious. Do not be greedy. Keep solitude. Greed makes a person dishonest and crooked. Khun Yai Chand did not like dishonest people the most. If one is greedy for bad things, that person will not be happy. We must try to keep our minds very clean and pure. If we have merit, we will receive what we want without effort. Do not be too ambitious. However, it is okay to wish to do many good deeds. We should all be solitary, modest, and maintain and care for our belongings properly.

Love for Cleanliness and Orderliness

Khun Yai taught every layperson before they were ordained, and it was a tradition and quality we all know that for anyone coming to Wat Phra Dhammakaya, if they cannot clean the bathroom or keep the facilities clean, they will not be considered for ordination. There was no one to teach about cleanliness; neither father nor mother taught it. Khun Yai taught herself. When she was a child in Nakhon Chai Si, after eating, she would wash the pot, dishes, and cups thoroughly, cleaning both inside and outside. When cleaning the house, she would clean both the stairs and underneath them. Her siblings would ask why she didn’t clean only the parts in use or just the stairs. Khun Yai replied, ‘I don’t really know. I just want to clean things like this, to make them completely clean.’ This taught her to clean thoroughly, both inside and out.

Loving the Rules and Discipline of the Community

Respecting Rules and DisciplineWherever we are, we must understand and respect the rules and discipline of that place. By doing so, we will live comfortably. Khun Yai has always been an example of this. When she first arrived at Wat Pak Nam, she thoroughly studied the rules and regulations of the temple and adhered to them with respect. She never violated a single rule or regulation of Wat Pak Nam. Whether it was the rules of Wat Pak Nam or the rules of the meditation center, she followed them all. She lived comfortably and harmoniously because of this. Even after the passing of Luang Por of Wat Pak Nam, Khun Yai continued to respect the temple’s regulations without ever breaking them. Today, at the Buddhist Center, she still adheres to all the rules and regulations and actively promotes following them. She makes every effort to uphold the rules, no matter how difficult, because she values having discipline and order. Therefore, we must work together to maintain these rules and discipline. Khun Yai has worked tirelessly and, even in her old age, continues to do so. If we respect the rules and others see this, they will follow suit, and problems will be minimized. We must share the responsibility to bring happiness to the community and benefit everyone.

Loving the Practice of Celibacy

Raise our mind to a higher level, and we will see that sensual pleasures are suffering. Ordinary people cannot see this. If we train ourselves to lift our minds above the ordinary, away from sensual pleasures, we will clearly see that sensuality is a low and degrading thing. It becomes evident from a higher perspective, while ordinary people, who are on the same level, cannot perceive it. We should also pray that we may never even encounter sensuality, whether through hearing, seeing, or otherwise. We should strive for true purity. Reflecting on the past, both gross and subtle, I see that I have been pure for countless lives. In the present, since childhood, as a woman, I have never had such thoughts or desires. I take great pride in this. When someone once tried to court me, I did not engage with them, speaking only minimally. After joining the temple, I saw that my purity had greatly increased, and I prayed not to encounter such things again. I believe that with continued prayer and striving, I will never face them again. We must pray every morning, every day, to raise our mind higher and think beyond these things. Practice this to carry good qualities with us. For other matters, also continue to pray. The more we immerse our heart and soul into it, the more sacred and effective our prayers become, and the more our merits will grow, aligning with our intentions.