This amulet is released from Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen temple, located in Thonburi District, Bangkok. Luang Phor Sodh (LP Sodh) was born on 10 October 1884 to a relatively well-off family of rice merchants in Amphoe Song Phi Nong, Suphan Buri Province in Bangkok. When he was nine years old, he received his first schooling in the temple in his village, by his uncle who was a Buddhist monk. He, therefore, became familiar with Buddhism from an early age. He also showed the qualities of being an intelligent autodidact. Another habit of him was that he was compassionate towards animals. For example, he would not allow the animals to be in the sun for too long or work for too long. When LP Sodh uncle moved to Wat Hua Bho, he took LP Sodh with him to teach him further. After a while, his uncle left the monkhood, LP Sodh father managed to send him to study with Luang Por Sap, the abbot of Wat Bangpla. This is where LP Sodh learnt the Khmer language. When he was 13 years old, he finished his Khmer studies there and returned home to help his father. LP Sodh father ran a rice-trading business. At the age of 14, LP Sodh father passes away, and he had to take responsibility for the family business, being the first son.
This affected him, thieves and other threats brought home to him the futility of the household life, and at the age of 19, he desired to be ordained as a monk. One day he was particularly aware of the risk of thieves that might steal his rice and the crew being killed in the process, and he imagined what would happen if he would die that day. Then he took a vow that as long as he would survive his job, he would attempt to become ordained. He had to take care of his family first though and saved up enough money for them that he would be able to leave them. Then he had to calculate the rate of inflation for this and work harder than before but finally managed to gather enough funds when he was 22 years old. He left the family company in the hands of employees he trusted. LP Sodh was ordained at Wat Songpinong in his hometown and was given the Pāli language monastic name Candasaro Phra Sodh started to study meditation and scripture, as he came across a word in Pāli language which drew his attention: aviccāpaccaya. He wanted to know the meaning of the word, but his local fellow monks could not answer his question. They recommended him to further his studies in Bangkok to find an answer, which is what he did.
In the area of Bangkok, LP Sodh studied both under the masters of the oral meditation tradition as well as experts in scriptural analysis. He learnt about a broad range of things. He also learnt many traditional arts and lore’s that were taught in Buddhist temples in those days, including astrology and magical practices, but later devoted himself to meditation only. LP Sodh practice meditation every day, from the first day following his ordination. After his third year after monk's ordination, LP Sodh travelled to many places in Bangkok to study scriptures and meditation practice with teachers from established traditions. He studied scriptures at Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Wat Mahadhatu, among others, and learnt about meditation during approximately 10 years at eight temples, including Wat Ratchasittharam, Wat Pho and many more. At Wat Ratchasittharam, he studied a visualization meditation method with Luang Por Aium, Although LP Sodh had studied with many masters, and had mastered many important Pāli texts, Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro (10 October 1884 – 3 February 1959), also known as Phramongkolthepmuni, was the abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen from 1916 until his death in 1959.
More about this amulet on Amulet # 4
