A Short History
Luangpor Teean
- Luangpor Teean (Teean Cittasubho), born Pann Intapew, was born on 5 September 1911, died on 13 September 1988, and was from Loei province, Thailand (source: Wikipedia).
- In 1957, while practising bodily movement in Nong Khai, he stopped mentally noting "moving, stopping" and only knew the movements of body and mind.
- He ordained again on 3 February 1960.
- He first learned the hand movements from a Lao teacher known in Chinese sources as 阿姜潘 (romanisation to be verified) (source: fjdh.cn, lineage history, in Chinese).
- The Luangpor Teean Foundation was set up in 1989.
- The book says the method of knowing regular hand movements is not in the classical texts and was found by Luangpor Teean himself (Luangpor Thong, Chinese edition, p. 21; page to be verified).
Luangpor Thong
- Luangpor Thong (Thong Abhakaro) was born in 1939 and studied under Luangpor Teean from 1967.
- In 1985 he was named abbot of Wat Sanamnai (Nonthaburi, near Bangkok), and in 1989 became the first chairman of the foundation.
- From 1992 he taught in the United States and Taiwan; in 2002 the Taiwan association was founded with him as its first chairman.
- From 2007 he taught in mainland China (another source says 2006, to be verified).
- He died in May 2024 (one source gives 23 May, to be verified).
- The book on the principles and method of Mahasati was compiled by the Taiwan association from about twenty years of his Q&A sessions in the United States and Taiwan (the book's preface; page to be verified).
Sources: Taiwan association: Luangpor Thong's life (Chinese), memorial article on zentrue.com (Chinese).
An academic view
A Thai scholar's paper treats it as "secularised insight practice" and discusses its influence on healing, education and holiday-style retreats (see the Prajñā Vihāra paper).
FAQ
Who are Luangpor Teean and Luangpor Thong?
Luangpor Teean (1911 to 1988) was the Thai teacher who developed Mahasati; Luangpor Thong (1939 to 2024) was his student who taught it in the United States, Taiwan and mainland China. Sources are above; some dates are to be verified.
Who found the Mahasati hand movements?
The book says the method is not in the classical texts and was found by Luangpor Teean himself (p. 21). Another source says he first learned the hand movements from a Lao teacher known in Chinese sources as 阿姜潘; how the two accounts fit is to be verified.