Ajarn Fon Dee Sawang - Arjan Aik Yai

Ajarn Fon Dee Sawang Rian Roon Tao Setthi: Ajarn Aik Yai (Ek Yai), Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn, B.E. 2560 (2017)

• Master / Lineage: Ajarn Fon Dee Sawang; Fon lineage under Ajarn Aik Yai (Ek Yai) of Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn
• Temple: Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn (Wat Sunthon Phichitaram), Ongkharak, Nakhon Nayok
• Year: B.E. 2560 (2017)
• Materials: Mixed metal smelted from old holy items, including old rians, temple bells, alms bowls and other yantra sheets
• Size: 1.5 inches
• Casing: Vintage plastic waterproof frame

Summary

This Rian of the Roon Tao Setthi edition presents a relief portrait of Ajarn Fon Dee Sawang, the celebrated Ayutthaya white-robe master, on the front. He appears in his householder's jacket, with a seated Buddha above his head and a chedi on either side. The reverse bears a diamond-lattice yant within a border of sacred script, and both sides remain visible in a vintage plastic waterproof frame.

It is associated with Ajarn Aik Yai (Ek Yai) of Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn, a present-day lay master of the Ajarn Fon lineage who holds the annual wai kru at the temple where Ajarn Fon spent his last years. Issued in B.E. 2560 (2017), the Roon Tao Setthi edition is a wealth-and-millionaire issue of this line.

Historical Background

Ajarn Fon Dee Sawang came from Ban Chung, Nakhon Luang, in the Ayutthaya countryside, where he was born around B.E. 2426 to 2427 (1883 to 1884). After he received the metta katha, a remarkable popularity gathered around him, and that gift of warmth has been remembered in every generation that keeps his image. His first teacher was his maternal uncle, Phra Ajarn Plod, abbot of Wat Klang, and from mid-life he worked openly as a white-robe lay ajarn.

Devotees still speak of pa sa lueat, the blood consecration he gave to yantra cloths and to those under his care. When war came in the Indochina conflict of B.E. 2483 (1940), he was called upon as one of the rare lay masters to prepare protective items for Thai soldiers. He made his last home at Wat Bueng in Ongkharak, Nakhon Nayok — today Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn — and passed away peacefully on 15 July B.E. 2489 (1946), aged about 62.

That same temple is now the seat of Ajarn Aik Yai (Ek Yai), a present-day lay master of the Fon line whose family in Ongkharak were already disciples of the founder. He holds the annual Fon-lineage wai kru at Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn, and this Rian of B.E. 2560 (2017) belongs to the work he has consecrated there.

Origins of the Materials

This Rian is made of mixed metal smelted from old holy items: earlier rians, temple bells, alms bowls and other yantra sheets. Metals of this kind are treasured because they already carry the baramee of sacred use — bells that have sounded in the temple, bowls that have served the Sangha, and yantra sheets and rians from earlier blessings — now gathered into a single alloy for the Roon Tao Setthi edition.

Blessings and Effects

This Rian of the Roon Tao Setthi edition is kept first for wealth and for wish-granting, the blessings of a prosperous life and the fulfilment of sincere aims. Devotees also look to Ajarn Fon's image for metta maha niyom, for klaew klaad and kongkrapan protection, and for the healing, protective baramee of a master famed for the pa sa lueat blessing. The yant on the reverse adds a written covering to the portrait on the front, so that both the founder's face and the sacred script stay close to the wearer.

Modern Application

Wear it or keep it close as a daily companion when you set a wish or seek to draw wealth in daily life and business. The vintage plastic waterproof frame leaves both the portrait and the yant visible, a quiet reminder of Ajarn Fon's covering and of the living line held at Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn by Ajarn Aik Yai (Ek Yai).

Recommended Pairing

It belongs well alongside other objects of the Ajarn Fon Dee Sawang lineage, especially work from Wat Bueng Phra Ajarn, and pieces associated with Ajarn Ord (Aod) of Wat Boonrod or Ajarn Aik (Ek) of Samnak Sukhumvit.