Luang Phor Rung Wat Bang Waen
The monk with the iron beard
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Generally all Thai monks will shave their head and beard. The reasons date back to the time when the prince who was to become the Buddha left his palace to seek a way beyond ageing, sickness and death.
It is said that one of the first things that he did was to shave off his hair and beard and put on the yellow cloth.
Likewise Buddhist monks always completely shave their head and beard, showing their commitment to the Holy Life (Brahmacariya) in essence it a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem and on a path to spiritual enlightenment.
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However there was one very unique guru monk, Luang Phor Rung, who is thought to be the only monk who possessed a beard.
Many misunderstood him, often quickly forming an opinion about his integrity based on what would initially appear as a clear disregard of the Buddhist law.
Those that were uninformed did not know that his beard was in fact sacred. No one, not even Luang Phor Rung himself could cut the beard, and hence the reason that he became known as Luang Phor Rung Krao Lek, The monk with the iron beard.
The supreme Sangha were suspicious and actually sent a delegation of senior monks to investigate the claims and determined that the best way in which to do this was to shave his beard. They were unable to do so despite numerous attempts and as such his claim was substantiated.
He became one of the most famous monks not only of Chumporn province, but many of the neighbouring provinces. This is an area that is well noted for many of Thailand’s most sacred monks including Luang Phor Song of Wat Jaofasalaloi, Luang Phor Tong of Wat Donsaton, Luang Phor Jon of Wat Donruab, Luang Phor Jun of Wat Kun Ngern, Luang Phor Ngern of Wat Narsuk, etc.
Despite his notoriety he was considered particularly merciful even to the local wildlife from surrounding forests that would gather at the temple on a daily basis to be fed by food that the monk would specially prepare
It was strange that after his death it was reported that the wildlife never returned to the temple, almost as if through their actions the wildlife had silently spoken about this great monk.
The miraculous power of Luang Phor Rung had been witnessed on many occasions and is well documented. On one occasion it was publicly reported publicly that an accidental fire had spread rapidly through a number of structures at the temple including many monks hoses that were constructed from wood and straw. Although there was severe damage, the house of Luang Phor Rung survived intact whilst those even in close proximity were burnt to the ground.
It was this event that led people to believe that his amulets were powerful talismans against the threat of fire and other dangers including weapons and accidents. His takruts were popular for this kind of protection.
It was also reported that a local farm house that had been destroyed by wild fire . However a number of LP Rung’s amulets contained within the dwelling and the surrounding area had not been damaged, further increasing the strong belief in the sanctity of his amulets.
He was highly revered and respected by countless people. All of his sacred amulets and takruts are highly desirable and we would highly recommend that given the chance you at least acquire one of his pims,
Such is the desirability all his amulets are rare and its difficult to find genuine examples or those that are prepared to sell them. I also suspect that many of the younger generation have not even heard of this great monk.
Another reason for the rarity is that they were all hand made and in limited numbers. Even Luang Phor Rung himself had said that it took tremendous effort to create even a single pim as he wanted to ensure each and every amulet was as powerful as possible. To this end he even tested the amulets himself, and those that he suspected as not meeting his critical standards were destroyed in preference to giving them to devotees, It was such perfectionism and dedication to those that he served that further increased the rarity of his amulets.
Many people have reported that they had witnessed Luang Phor Rung testing his amulets by exposing them to fire. Those that were damaged by this process were never released to the public. It is said that if you want to ensure you have a genuine amulet then this is the method by which you can test the efficacy yourself, (although we would not recommend this).
View amulets blessed by Luang Phor Rung
