BUDDHADĀSA. Phra Dhammakosājān (1906–1993), better known by his self-designated monastic name, Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ("Servant of the Buddha"), was one of the most influential Thai monks of the twentieth century. Born on May 21, 1906, as Nguam Panich, Buddhadāsa spent three years as a temple boy at Wat Pum Riang, a monastery in his home town, where he learned to read and write and was introduced to Buddhist teachings and rituals. After completing his primary schooling and beginning lower secondary education in Chaiya, south Thailand, his father's untimely death forced him to work in his family's business at age sixteen. Ordained a Buddhist monk in 1926, by 1928 he had passed the third and final level of the monastic curriculum and was invited to teach at the royally sponsored Wat Boromathat monastery in Chaiya.

After two years residency in Bangkok to study Pali (1930–1932), he became...