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Most Venerable Phra Prom Mongkol Vi
The Venerable Phra Prom Mongkol Vi (Ven. Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo, 1923-2019) was the Abbot and Head of the Vipassana Insight Meditation Centre at Wat Phradhatu Sri Chomtong Voravihara, near Chiang Mai in Thailand, from 1991 until he passed away in 2019. The Northern Vipassana International Meditation Center IS THE AFFILIATED INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR FOREIGN MEDITATORS INSIDE THIS LARGE AND WELL -KNOWN MONASTERY, MANAGED BY KHUN KATHRYN CHIDAPORN.
Venerable Phra Prom Mongkol Vi (Ven. Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo, 1923-2019) dedicated his entire life to the practice and dissemination of Vipassana Meditation and remains as one of the most highly respected Vipassana Teachers in Thailand, known widely for his exceptional conduct and immaculate Teachings.
In the year of 1934 he ordained as a novice and in 1944 he was fully ordained as a monk. In the 1950s he was sent to Wat Mahathat in Bangkok for one year as the only representative of the Northern-Thai Sangha to practice Vipassana meditation based on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. In the following two years he learned and studied in Burma amongst others with Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw Bhaddantasobhana Mahathera.
In 2017, Ven. Phra Prom Mongkol Vi (Ven. Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo) was officially honored as the Leading Vipassana Meditation Teacher of Thailand by HRH King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
In March 2011, he received the honorary title “Agga Maha Kammatthana Cariya” (The Highest-Ranking Monk in Vipassana Meditation) from the Government of Myanmar
Khun Thanat Chindaporn
TEACHER & FOUNDER OF THE NORTHERN VIPASSANA INTERNATIONAL MEDITATION CENTER AT Wat Phradhatu Sri Chomtong Voravihara
Khun Thanat (1941-2022), a senior disciple of The Most Venerable Phra Prom Mongkol Vi (Ven. Phra Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo), established the International Meditation Department at Wat Phradhatu Sri Chomtong Voravihara under the direction of the latter in 2000.
He studied Vipassana meditation with Venerable Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo from mid 1980s and together with his wife, Kathryn, he began teacher training with Venerable Luangpoh Banyat Akkayano, the late director of the Northern Insight Meditation Center at Wat Ram Poeng (Tapotaram), Chiangmai.
Since 1988, he has conducted meditation courses in Thailand, Hawaii, America, Canada, Mexico, Columbia, Germany, Spain, Slowenia, France, Israel, India and Nepal.
In 2004, Khun Thanat received Thailand’s Benefactor of Buddhism Award, the Golden Pillar of Dhamma Sema Dhammacakka Award, for teaching Satipatthana Vipassana Meditation and the Practice of Buddha-Dhamma worldwide.
Khun Kathryn Chindaporn
Teacher and Director OF THE NORTHERN VIPASSANA INTERNATIONAL MEDITATION CENTER AT Wat Phradhatu Sri Chomtong Voravihara
Khun Kathryn Chindaporn (Kathryn Johnston) is a senior disciple of Venerable Phra Prom Mongkol Vi (Ven. Phra Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo) having practiced Vipassana under his guidance since 1986. She began teaching Vipassana Meditation over 30 years ago, in Thailand as well as abroad, with her husband, Thanat Chindaporn, together conducting courses in North America, Hawaii, Europe, Israel and Asia since 1988.
Khun Kathryn was a guest lecturer the Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya Buddhist University in Chiangmai in 1999. Since 1989 she has interpreted for Thai meditation masters, published five Thai-English Buddhist translations and appeared as guest speaker and interpreter on Thai and Mexican television and radio.
In 2000, Kathryn received the Benefactor of Buddhism Award of Chiangmai Province and the Sema Dhammacakka in Recognition of International Dissemination of Buddhism, the latter conferred by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand.
Kathryn is teacher of Satipatthana Vipassana Meditation in the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Thailand and Co-Founder & Director of the Northern Vipassana International Meditation Center Wat Phradhatu Sri Chomtong Voravihara, Chomtong, Chiangmai.