15/05/2026
✨️ The Legend of Luang Por Ruesi Ling Dam Facing a Demon in the Cemetery Forest ✨️
This mysterious tale was recounted by of and recorded in the book “Biography of Luang Por Pan.” It took place during the time when he was still a young monk wandering on tudong pilgrimage with disciples of Luang Por Pan. The story is filled with eerie supernatural elements and deep Buddhist teachings.
In those days, the young monk traveled deep into a remote forest area known by villagers as the “Broken Cemetery Forest,” a place where victims of ancient epidemics had once been abandoned and buried. The atmosphere was heavy with death and silence.
🌙 A Midnight Visitor as Tall as a Palm Tree
That night, while meditating alone inside his mosquito-net umbrella tent in the cemetery forest, a violent gust of wind suddenly swept through the darkness. The smell of rotting corpses filled the air.
When Luang Por opened his eyes and looked beyond the netting, he saw a gigantic black figure towering above him — as tall as a palm tree. The creature was skeletal, with burnt-black skin and a horrifying shriek that echoed through the night:
“Wiiid… Wiiid…”
It was a hungry ghost — a Pret, a suffering spirit appearing to seek merit and compassion.
A Test of Courage and Mind
Luang Por later admitted that fear surged through his mind at first. The spirit’s terrifying appearance and enormous size were enough to shake anyone’s heart.
But then he remembered the teachings of Luang Por Pan:
“A monk on tudong must not fear death. If you fear dying, you should not ordain.”
Gathering his mindfulness, he entered deep concentration and used kasina meditation to steady his mind. Instead of seeing the spirit with fear, he looked upon it with compassion, realizing that the being suffered because of its past karma.
Offering Merit Through Compassion
With a calm and unwavering mind, Luang Por chanted:
“Mettanchā sabbalokasmiṃ…”
He radiated boundless loving-kindness and mentally spoke to the spirit:
“May you rejoice in all the merit I have accumulated from the past until now. May this merit ease your suffering.”
As the current of merit reached the spirit, the terrifying form slowly became peaceful. The dreadful cries faded away. The giant ghost bowed three times before Luang Por’s tent, then gradually disappeared into the darkness, leaving only silence in the cemetery forest once more.
💡 Reflection
To ordinary people, ghosts and demons may seem terrifying. But to true practitioners of Dhamma, they are simply fellow beings trapped in suffering, waiting for compassion and merit.
This story reminds us that limitless kindness can transform fear into peace — and that nothing is more frightening than the karma we create ourselves.
🙏🙏🙏
