Venerable Master Vitsawapat Maneepatamakate

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Venerable Master Vitsawapat Maneepatamakate

Venerable Master Vitsawapat, known as Sek Guang Tow (釋廣度) in Chinese , is a Thai-Chinese monk who ordained at the Nine Peaks Mountain or Mount Jiuhua (九華山) , the sacred mountain of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva . The Mount is one of the four holy mountains in the People’s Republic of China . Venerable Master Vitsawapat has played an important role in the translation of over twenty Mahayana sutras from Chinese tripitaka into the Thai language. He adheres to following principles and practices advocated in Mahayana teachings. Currently, he is Vice President of Chinese-Thai Mahāyāna Sūtra Translation Project in Honour of His Majesty the King (崇聖大乘佛經中泰翻譯組).

Background Venerable Master Vitsawapat, full birth name Vitsawapat Maneepatamakate, was born on 29 August 1989 in Phitsanulok , Thailand . On 5 May 2006, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun , who was then Crown Prince of Thailand, provided the robe for Venerable Master Vitsawapat’s first ordination at Pho Yen Monastery in Tambon Don Khamin, Amphoe Tha Maka, Kanchanaburi . That monastery belongs to the Congregation of Mahayana Chinese Monks of Thailand . Venerable Master Vinyanukorn (仁意大師), First Assistant to the Congregation, served as the ordaining master. In his first ordination, Venerable Master Vitsawapat was given the name Seak Keak (聖傑), which means a superb one who is blessed with intelligence. Upon leaving monkhood, Master Vitsawapat re-ordained to study and practice Mahayana Buddhism at Hua Yen Si Monastery on Mount Jiuhua, the sacred mountain of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in China. The monastery belongs to Avatamsaka denomination (華嚴宗) and Chan Buddhism (禪宗) . Venerable Master Hui Guang (慧光大和尚)--who is a managing member of the Buddhist Association of China , Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Anhui Province, and Vice President of Buddhist Association of Mount Jiuhua--served as the ordination master, and he granted Venerable Master Vitsawapat a new name: Sek Kwong Tow (釋廣度).

Subsequently, Ms. Prapai Kalayanapong, a fruit grower and faithful Buddhist, offered Venerable Master Vitsawapat approximately twelve rais of land to create Buddhajaksu Foundation Mahayana Monastery (大乘禪寺/佛眼弘法基金會/地藏道場) at Buddhamonthon Sai 6, where Venerable Master Vitsawapat has since resides. (88 Moo 1 Amphoe Sam Phran, Nakhon Pathom Province 73110 Thailand)

Venerable Master Vitsawapat became interested in Mahayana sutras since seventeen. Aiming to disseminate Mahayana teachings in Chinese through Thai language , Venerable Master Vitsawapat has completed over twenty translations of printed and DVD works, and he has given over 100,000 printed images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas . All of these media were distributed for free in honor of Thai royals and in appreciation of their hard work and contributions to Thai people. Venerable Master Vitsawapat has received palace approval to publish images of royals in his translated works; the approval reflects the royal family’s dedication and support of Buddhism, which brings much pride and joy to Thai Buddhists.

While he was a layperson, in 2002 Venerable Master Vitsawapat received the National Model Youth Award in the area of virtues and ethics from the then Crown Prince of Thailand . The award was organized by the Commission to Promote and Coordinate National Youth Projects. In 2003, he won the National Award for Excellent Youth from the National Council on Social Welfare of Thailand . On 15 July 2005, Venerable Master Vitsawapat was granted an audience with the late Princess Kalayani Vadhana to preset copies of his translation of the Sutra of Medicine Buddha for free distribution to members of the Princess Mother’s Medical Volunteer Association to honor and commemorate Her Royal Highness’s birthday.

Upon being ordained for two years, on 31 March 2008, Venerable Master Vitsawapat was granted an audience with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to receive the startup fund to launch a non-denominational Mahayana sutra translation project, which the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej later named the Mahāyāna Sūtra Translation Project in Honour of His Majesty the King. This new name was adopted on 15 June 2010.

On 13 May 2008, Venerable Master Vitsawapat received the Dharma Wheel Award in the field of the dissemination of Buddhism, more specifically Buddhist compositions, from Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn during Visakha Puja festival. He became the first and the youngest monk from the Thai-Chinese Buddhist denomination of siua class (聖) to receive the award. In addition, Venerable Master Vitsawapat was also granted an audience with Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali on many occasions to present her with his translated works. He has also been frequently invited to give lectures on Mahayana teachings at Chinese associations and disparate Dharma practices. In 2012, Venerable Master Vitsawapat became chairman of Buddhajaksu Foundation at Buddhamonthon Sai 6 and the director of the construction of a granite statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva that is 13.99 meters tall at Buddhajaksu Foundation.

Venerable Master Vitsawapat’s translations have not only helped Thai and Chinese Buddhists who are interested in Mahayana Buddhism gain wisdom and insights from Mahayana texts, they also enabled Theravada Buddhists to experience and develop proper understanding about Mahayana Buddhism . Previously, knowledge and texts about Mahayana Buddhism have been available in Chinese , preventing generations of Chinese descendants in Thailand and Thai citizens from obtaining correct knowledge of and faith in Mahayana teachings. Venerable Master Vitsawapat’s translations have also enabled many sectors to learn and disseminate Mahayana sutras .

On 15 July 2016, Venerable Master Vitsawapat began collaborating with Venerable Master Ming Sheng (明生大和尚) --Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China , President of the Buddhist Association of China of Guangdong Province , and Abbot of Guangxiao Temple (光孝寺) in Guangzhou , Guangdong --to learn and exchange knowledge about Mahayana Buddhism . Venerable Master Ming Sheng kindly created and composed a name for Buddhajaksu Foundation in Chinese calligraphy: 大乘禪寺 (Mahayana Monastery). These letters have been inscribed on a marble sign above the monastery’s entrance gate. Venerable Master Ming Sheng also gave Buddhajaksu Foundation a set of Chinese tripitaka for study and research in Tripitaka Hall at Mahayana Monastery. The tripitaka consists of 永樂北藏，大正藏，乾隆大藏經，卍續藏經，浄土藏. Altogether, they are comprised of 5 sets, 129 boxes, 1,448 books. Furthermore, Venerable Master Ming Sheng offered Mahayana Monastery one of three 1.98 meters tall brass statues of Venerable Master Hui Neng (六祖惠能) from Guangxiao Temple . (This temple was where Venerable Master Hui Neng shaved his head under a large Bodhi tree to ordain. His hair is stored in a seven-story pagoda. Today both the tree and pagoda still remain. This temple is also where Bodhidharma resided over 2,000 years ago.) The brass statue of Venerable Master Hui Neng was made by Pan Guo, one of the four most famous metal artists in China. The statue has been transported to Thailand for worship in the Patriarch Hall at Buddhajaksu Foundation Mahayana Monastery on 9 August 2016, a date that signifies an auspicious occasion for the dissemination of Chan Buddhism and virtues of the patriarch from China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China to Thailand .

Previously, Venerable Master Shi Chang, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Beijing </ref> and abbot of Lingguang Monastery (the tooth relic temple) in Beijing gifted a copy of the gold Chinese tripitaka (趙城金藏) that is 1,000 years old and made up of 150 books.

On 5 October 2016, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej granted Venerable Master Vitsawapat a Mahayana robe for a mass ordination ceremony to honor His Majesty at Pu To Si Monastery in Zhuhai , Guangdong . The event took place from 25 November to 6 December 2016. This ordination was the first large scale religious collaboration between Thai and Chinese people.

On 25 October 2016, Venerable Master Vitsawapat fully ordained as a monk in the Chinese tradition in which he received all three categories of precepts (三壇大戒) in Mahayana Buddhism --the precepts of disciplinary codes, the precepts of gathering virtue, and the precepts of acting for the welfare of living beings (Bodhisattva Precepts)--at Pu Tuo Si Monastery in Zhuhai , Guangzhou , the People’s Republic of China , where he was granted a certificate of monkhood from the Buddhist Association of China .

On 16 January 2017, Venerable Master Vitsawapat received an alms bowl , robe, and prayer beads from Venerable Master Jian Ming of Malaysia to become a forty-fourth generation master of Chan Buddhism under the Lin Shi branch (臨濟正宗) of Shi Ta Si Monastery（七塔寺) in Ningbo , China . On 27 March 2017, the Buddhist Association of Mount Jiuhua in Anhui , China created nine three meters tall sculptures of Vasudhara Bodhisattva or earth deity (堅牢地神) in Chinese style for distribution to nine countries. Venerable Master Vitsawapat was chosen as the recipient for Thailand . In addition, he was also given a set of stone tripitaka (房山石經) . To formally receive these gifts, Venerable Master Vitsawapat and his disciples traveled to Mount Jiuhua to participate in an official statue blessing and acceptance ceremony. At present, these sacred items are housed at Buddhajaksu Foundation Mahaya Monastery in Thailand .

On 6 August 2017, Venerable Master Vitsawapat received an alms bowl, prayer beads , stamp seal, and white jade scepter from Venerable Master Hui Guang (慧光大和尚)--Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Anhui Province, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Mount Jiuhua , and managing member of the Buddhist Association of China--to become a second generation master of Hua Yen Si Monastery of Mount Jui Hua .

On 27 November 2017, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn granted Venerable Master Vitsawapat ceremonial water to sprinkle on the sacred bodhi tree and a cloth to cover the pagoda containing the hair of Venerable Hui Neng , the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism , at Guangxiao Temple in Guangzhou on Saturday 24 March 2018. These bestowments were given to pay worship and homage to contributions of the patriarch and to perform merit on the occasion of her royal highness’s birthday: 2 May 2017.

Work History

1998 to Present, translate Mahayana sutras from Chinese into Thai 2007 to Present, serves as a special instructor in the graduate school of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University 2008 to present, serves as Vice President of Mahāyāna Sūtra Translation Project in Honour of His Majesty the King 2010, served as a special lecturer at Mahamakut Buddhist University in Chonburi 2011 to present, serves as President and Founder of Buddhajaksu Foundation

Translations of Mahayana Sutras from Chinese into Thai

佛說大乘無量壽莊嚴清浄平等覺經 一切如來心秘密全身舍利寳篋印陀羅尼經 大乘方廣總持經 藥師琉璃光如來本願功德經 佛說大乘聖吉祥持世陀羅尼經 大方廣圓覺修多羅了義經 佛說長壽滅罪護諸童子陀羅尼經 大方廣佛華嚴經 七品 千手千眼觀世音菩薩廣大圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經 藥師琉璃光七佛本願功德經 佛說觀無量壽佛經 大方廣佛華嚴經 十地品 大方廣佛華嚴經 入不思議解脫境界 《普賢行願品》 大寶積經 妙慧童女品 佛說阿彌陀經 地藏菩薩本願經-淺說 佛說十善業道經 仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經 文殊師利所說般若波羅密經 佛說莊嚴菩提心經 無量義經 大乘大集地藏十輪經 佛說文殊尸利行經 佛說天中北斗古佛消災延壽妙經 入法界體性經 緣起經 大佛頂尊勝陀羅尼經

Written Works in Thai

Mahayana Buddhism and Dharma Sutras On Mahayana Buddhas and Bodhisattvas About the Western Pure Land A Translation of Recitative Chants of Chinese Monks in Thailand Darani of Vajrayana Buddhism A Translation of Mahayana Morning and Evening Recitations Medicine Buddha and Society The Supreme Determination of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva: A Model of Great Conduct for Modern Society 108 Sayings from Mahayana Sutras on Bodhichitta Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva: The Supreme Vow

Dharma Media

藥師琉璃光如來本願功德經 (DVD of a cartoon on the mantra of Medicine Buddha) 地藏菩薩本願經 (DVD of a Chinese opera on the mantra of the great vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva) 地藏菩薩本願經-淺說 (DVD of a Chinese cartoon explaining the great vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva) Mahayana Recitation Books Volume I (Chinese with Thai translation) A Cartoon Synopsis of Western Pure Land (DVD)

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