Although I no longer live or spend much time in Las Vegas, it is always a joy for me to return for a visit to my “home temple” and meditation teacher—Wat Chaiya Dhammavihara & Luang Por Chaiya.
I first came to Wat Chaiya Dhammavihara around January 2017 after an esteemed Thai monk in the U.S. told me I should meet the master—Luang Por Chaiya. And so I went there immediately upon my return to Las Vegas.
Luang Por Chaiya—or Sayadaw U Zeya—is a Burmese monk of more than 50 years. A highly revered meditation master, he was a direct disciple of Mahasi Sayadaw (1904-1982), who is regarded as the father of the modern day vipassana (insight) meditation movement. As such, Luang Por Chaiya is an inspiring example of a sincere and devoted meditation monk.
Raised in the Shan State of Myanmar, Luang Por took novice ordination in 1965 and bhikkhu ordination in 1967. After many years of formal study and practice, in 1988 he was invited to Thailand to teach the Abhidhamma to the monastics at a temple in Petchaburi Province. After traveling to Sri Lanka in 1989, the next year he was invited by the Thai monastic community in Las Vegas to travel to the U.S. The abbot of the Las Vegas monastery where Luang Por stayed passed away in 1992, and the Thai community asked him to become the new abbot. He accepted, and remained in that position until 1995.
In 1995, Luang Por Chaiya stepped down as abbot so that he could undertake an intensive 7-month silent meditation retreat. Afterward, Luang Por and the Thai community established a new monastery—Chaiya Meditation Monastery—which became his new home and remains so today. Each vassa, Luang Por Chaiya continues to undertake 3-month silent meditation retreats.
In the course of training as a lay student of Luang Por Chaiya, I eventually heard of an opportunity to take temporary bhikkhu ordination under him. And so in June 2019, I spent a brief but informative period in intensive monastic training under the great master. It was a profound and difficult experience that I continue to process and grow from.
Yesterday and today I had the good fortune to return to Wat Chaiya Dhammavihara for meditation practice and to speak with Luang Por Chaiya. It was an additional inspiration for me to practice with the many dedicated lay, maechee and monk practitioners that form the body of the monastery community there.
