Phramongkolthepmuni

Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro, also known as Phramongkolthepmuni, was a Thai Buddhist monk who served as the abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen from 1916 until his death in 1959. He founded the Thai Dhammakāya school in the early 20th century. As the former abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, he is often called Luang Pu Wat Paknam, meaning 'the Venerable Father of Wat Paknam'. He became a well-known meditation master during the interbellum and the Second World War, and played a significant role in developing Thai Buddhism during that period. He ordained the first western Buddhist monks in modern Thai history and was the meditation master of two of modern Thailand's most prominent female Buddhist figures, Maechi Chandra Khonnokyoong who founded Wat Phra Dhammakaya, and Voramai Kabilsingh, an early leader in the modern Thai Bhikkhuni ordination movement and the founder of Songdhammakalyani Monastery. He is considered by the Dhammakaya tradition to have rediscovered Vijja Dhammakaya, a meditation method believed to have been used by the Buddha himself. Since the 2000s, some scholars have pointed out that Luang Pu Sodh also played an important role in introducing Theravāda Buddhism in the West, a point previously overlooked.