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Wai Kru: Honoring the Teacher
Thai healing studies is an ancient lineage that, like a meandering river, has been influenced in many ways by many sources. It is constantly flowing and ever-changing and as we enter the 21st century that is as true as it ever was. Thai medicine has been deeply influenced by the science of Ayurveda, the Indian medical system. It has been touched by Chinese concepts of energy and balance. It has been steeped in rural shamanistic and animistic traditions and has been shaken by the more scholastic school of the Royal Thai Medicinal tradition. It is a healing art that has been passed down from teacher to student for centuries and we are simply somewhere in the middle of the flow of time.
Thai medicine honors the father doctor Shivaka Kumar Baccha as its founder and patron saint. A disciple and doctor to the Buddha and his followers, we honor his knowledge and spirit as it is passed down to us. We recite a prayer that helps us to remember his deep compassion, loving-kindness, and wish for our healing. And for healing energy to pass through us to find relief and peace for the person we are working with.
The prayer is as follows:
OM NAMO SHIVAGO SIRASA AHANG KARUNIKO
SAPASATANANG OSATA TIPAMANTANG
PAPASO SURIYA-JANTANG KOMARAPATO PAGASESI
WANTAMI BANDITO SUMETASO A-LOKA SUMANAHOMI
PIYO-TEWA MANUSANANG PIYO-PROMA NAMUTAMO
PIYO-NAKA SUPANANANG PINISRIYONG NAMAMIHANG NAMOPUTAYA
NAVON-NAVEAN NASATIT-NASATEAN
A-HIMAMA NAVEAN-NAVE NAPITANG-VEAN NAVEAN-MAHAKO A-HIMAMA PIYONGMAMA NAMOPUTAYA
NA-A NAVA LOKA PAYATI WINASANTI
English translation:
We invite the spirit of our founder, the Father Doctor "Shivago," who taught us through his saintly life.
Please bring to us the knowledge of nature, and show us the true medicine in the universe. Through this prayer, we request your help, that through our hands,
You will bring wholeness and health to the body of our client. The god of healing dwells in the heavens high while mankind remains in the world below. In the name of the founder, may the heavens be reflected in the earth, so that this healing medicine may encircle the world. We pray for the one whom we touch, that he will be happy and all pain will be released from them.
Ajahn Pichest Boonthumme
And finally, I would like to reflect on our wonderful and special teacher, Ajahn Pichest Boonthumme. Living in the house of his childhood in Hang Dong, not far from Chiang Mai, Pichest welcomes students from all over the world who come to him to learn about Thai massage. Of course, as anyone who has spent a lot of time with Pichest knows, Thai massage is only a small part of what he has to teach. So those who come to him looking for technique might be disappointed when he throws their study guide across the room and says something like, "book no feel. . . you (grabbing their hand and placing it on someones shoulder) feel." Pichest's genius for understanding the body and the mind is an inspiration to us at CSTM and it is his teaching that is passed through us and to our students. Although we honor all teachers and traditions, we have chosen the lineage passed down from Pichest as the one that we follow.
