It is with sadness that we write to inform you of the death of our beloved meditation teacher, Ajahn Thanat Chindaporn who passed away in Chiangmai, Thailand on March 31st at 10:09 PM local time. Ajahn Thanat was a lay man who became the co-director with his wife Ajahn Kathryn Johnston Chindaporn, of the international section of Chomtong Temple and Meditation Centre under the late meditation master, Venerable Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo.
Along with Ajahn Kate, Ajahn Thanat was our indispensable connection to the beautiful Thai Buddhist tradition. Without teachers such as Ajahn Thanat and Ajahn Kate, the tradition would have remained inaccessible for many westerners due to the considerable cultural and language divides. Ajahn Thanat spoke English well, had a well developed understanding of western attitudes and was an expert in Thai culture and the Theravada Buddhist tradition. His greatest gift was his skill as a meditation teacher which brought him to dozens of countries in Europe, North America, South America and Asia where he taught Insight Meditation for over 40 years. At the time of his death there were 21 meditation centres around the world under his leadership, including the main centre in Chomtong, Thailand which is still expanding, 8 future centres in the process of being established and numerous meditation groups throughout the word including in Africa.
Ajahn Thanat’s generosity was limitless. Those of us who were close to him can attest to how difficult it was to make a donation to him or buy him anything because he would give it away immediately. He was also endowed with incredible emotional resilience which allowed him to constantly maintain a positive attitude and made him fun to be around. He loved to encourage socializing among students and to bring us out for lunch and dinner. In the 2 decades that we knew him, we spent a lot of time with him but we never once witnessed him become angry or even irritated.
Ajahn Thanat was a like a father to many of us. In fact the word in Thai “luuk sit” which translates to student or pupil, literally contains the gender neutral word for offspring which also means son or daughter. Ajahn Thanat was our direct teacher and spiritual guide who can never be replaced. We will miss him immensely. Many of you will know and have fond memories of Ajahn Thanat from his visits to Ontario as our esteemed guest teacher since the early 2000s. Those of you who did not have a chance to meet Ajahn Thanat but who have benefited from the practice we teach should know that, without Ajahn Thanat, we simply would not be teaching and we may have never met this practice.
In keeping with the Thai tradition, the funeral rituals will be performed for 7 days starting today, April 1 at Chomtong Temple in Chomtong, Thailand. In Ajahn Thanat’s case, the services have been extended at least a further 2 days until April 9th. Ajahn Thanat’s family has generously reserved April 8th to be sponsored by our Canadian meditation group. Anyone who wishes to make a small or symbolic contribution to the funeral costs may contact us directly by email to info@buddhavipassana.ca.
Ajahn Thanat is survived by his wife, Ajahn Kate, 22 children, 17 of whom he adopted, a large extended family based in Bangkok and countless devoted meditation students. He was 80 years old.