In a set of incredibly moving yet hauntingly striking set of pictures, a monk appeared to not have decayed at all right up to the smile on his face, after his body was exhumed by followers, two months post his death.
Admired monk Luang Phor Pian, who died at the age of 92 on November 16th, had passed away after succumbing to illness in a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.
A native of Cambodia, Pian was a revered spiritual and Buddhist guru in the central Thai province of Lopburi, where his body was returned after his death.
But in a miraculous turn of events, when his followers removed his body from the coffin, that was placed at the temple where he served, they were baffled at finding out that his body hadn’t decayed much, in all this while.
Astonishingly, Pian also had a smile on his face, which put followers in a frenzy, who began taking pictures of the incredulous moment, that circulated widely on social media and hit virality in no time.
Further, local reports also suggested that his body looked like he hadn’t been dead for more than 36 hours. But monks had, in fact, removed the monk’s body in order to put him in clean robes earlier.
While many were quick to point out that his smile and peaceful state were indicative of the fact that he had attained Nirvana in the real sense, cynics were also quick to dismiss the assumptions.
Pian’s peaceful state has been described as a sign that the monk has truly reached nirvana—the highest state of existence that someone can attain; a state of enlightenment where all the individual’s desires and suffering are wiped out, bringing an end to the cycle of karma and life.
The monk’s followers will continue to pray for him until a final resting ceremony is held on the 100th day of his death.
Who is Luang Phor Pian?
Born on the 5th of February, 1926 in Lopburi, Pian’s father Dao was a Cambodian and his mother was Lek Thai. He had two brothers and four sisters. At the age of 21, he went to the military in Lopburi which he left two years later.
He married and had seven sons and two daughters with his wife. At the age of 50, on 4th September 1976, he was ordained in Wat Khampaeng, Amphoe Ban Mi, and Changwat Lopburi. After some years he began to build the Wat Gren Gathin.
At the time Luang Phor Jur, abbot of the temple, acted as Pra Upacha and also renamed him as “Akkadharmo”, which meant the person, who specialized in Dharma.
After that, he returned to his hometown and remained at Wat Gren Gathin to learn magic sciences from Luang Phor Parn, the then abbot of the temple.