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Added by Jopie, at 05 November 2015
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4 Reviews
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18 January 2017
Learning Historical
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10 December 2016
For those familiar with Vipassana Meditation and interested in understanding the practice in Luang Prabang, the story is told here at the Buddhist Archives at Wat Khili. In the 1960s, after studying the meditation in Burma and Thailand, Pha Xaisamut Chotiko was determined to teach Vipassana in Luang Prabang and built Wat Pa Phon Phao (you can see the golden temple to the Southeast from Mount Phousi). For about 30 years, there was a small group of Vipassana practitioners but in 1992, with the death of Pha Xaisamut Chotiko, the practice died with him. A few years later, Luang Prabang was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and tourism and the local economy flourished. Although a growing economy is generally a good thing, not everything about it is good. There have been a many challenges along the way, a major one being how to skillfully balance this new economy with the Dhamma. In 2004, with support from the local community, senior monks organized a Vipassana retreat for 400 novice monks and about 550 novice monks the second year. 12 years later, the annual Vipassana retreat continues and at Wat Khili, you can hear how the story has evolved and where it is headed, just talk with the exhibit manager, his picture as a novice monk at the 2004 retreat is hanging on the wall. It is said, "no congregation of monks can survive where there are no laypeople to sustain them." To understand this is the beginning to understanding Luang Prabang.
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04 October 2016
A quiet Wat with a great history. The Meditation photography exhibition is not to be missed for the beautiful images.
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12 November 2015
Good
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