Ajahn Siripanno is
a humble Theravada Buddhist monk from Thailand. He was educated in the UK and
can speak 8 different languages. Ajahn
Siripanno's mother is a Thai and he has two other sisters. It was during a retreat
in Thailand where he wanted to pay homage to his mother's family and took up
temporary ordination as a Thai forest monk.
He was eighteen then (1989) and
growing up in UK has made him quite open to different culture and to him the
temporary ordination could be something 'fun'. That was the first time he
encountered Buddhism, something that was very new to him.
Can you imagine a
young man giving up the luxuries of life, crores of money and lead a simple
life as a forest monk? a Theravada
tradition monk only eats once a day and after 12 noon, they are prohibited to
consume any solid food. Ajahn Siripanno
is one of the least examples of the Modern Age Siddharta Gautama.
To tell that he was
a rich man would be an understatement – he is the one and only son of the
second richest man in Malaysia, T. Ananda Krishnan, a successful businessman with
interest in media, oil and gas,
telecommunications, gaming, entertainment and property. Ananda Krishnan is
estimated to have a net worth of US$9.6 billions according to Forbes's 2012
world wealthiest people. He ranks the second richest man in Malaysia while at
the number of 89 in the world. Tatparanandam
Ananda Krishnan (born 1938) is a Malaysian businessman and philanthropist.
Nicknamed A K, he shuns public exposure and is known to
maintain a low profile for a person of his stature. Ananda Krishnan was born in 1938 in
Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur's to Tamil parents, who were Sri Lankan origin. He
studied at Vivekananda Tamil School in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur and furthered
his studies at Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur.
Ajahn Siripanno is
his son ~who has renounced earthly pleasures, leads ascetic life, delivering
lectures on religion, spirituality and motivation.
Incidentally,
Ananda Krishnan is the name linked in Aircel-Maxis case, in which former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi
Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran have been summoned before a special 2G court.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
28th Apr
2015.
PS : read this interesting story in Tamil magazine ‘Ananda Vikadan’- a web search reveals the same contents in - kenwu.hubpages.com too
