© Udonmap.com Magazine Issue 9
Wat Phu Tok is a unique place to visit. It is situated some 35 kilometre south east of the town of Bung Kan and nearly 200 kilometre from Nong Khai.
The site is a sandstone outcrop that rises, impressively, 200 metres into the sky out of the surrounding plain and so good shoes and a reasonable constitution are required in order to explore it, but the impressive views make the effort worthwhile.
Access to the top is gained by climbing a series of wooden steps that have been driven into the side of the outcrop. However the construction of this stair way is not just simply to allow access to the summit it is also a physical representation of the Buddhist spiritual belief of the 7 steps to enlightenment. There are 6 wooden stages and the 7th. and final stage involves scrambling up the rocks to reach the reasonably flat surface of the summit.
The first three stages are a climb through the surrounding trees and are relatively easy although slippery if wet. The fourth level actually takes you through a passage within the rock to level five which ends in a cave containing images of Buddha. The caves floor is smooth and there is a wooden gallery at the front of the cave that offers a spectacular view over the plains below and of Laos in the distance. Also you can see a twin outcrop to the one you are climbing, but this one is uninhabited. In the gallery of level 5 there is also a glass case which contains the skeleton of a young man who is said to have died from cancer in his twenties and gifted his remains to the site to remind visitors of the impermanence of life. The final scramble over rocks takes you to the summit where it is possible to walk along overgrown paths through thick forests.
The site is currently home to about 50 monks who live there because the solitude and tranquillity of the site aids their meditation. Monastic kùtì (meditation huts) are scattered around the mountain, in caves and on cliffs. So it is necessary to dress and act as if you were in a Wat, even when climbing and viewing.
The site was created by the famous meditation master Ajahn Juan, a disciple of the fierce Ajahn Man who died in 1949. He saw the construction as a form of meditation. Tragically he died in a plane crash in 1980 along with several other highly revered forest monks who were flying to Bangkok for high placed individual’s birthday celebration. In his honour the King had a mausoleum built at the base of the site to commemorate Ajahn Juan's life and works. This mausoleum contains some of Ajahn Juan's possessions and bones.
- watphutok.jpg (117.13 KiB) Viewed 1081 times
- watphutok2.jpg (116.34 KiB) Viewed 1081 times
Photos by Graham Taylor
