Revered Abbot Luang Pho Choon of Kok Bamprugsart Temple Remembered

Luang Pho Choon Ratanalabho, formally Phra Khru Mongkol Ratanaphirak of Kok Bamprugsart Temple in Don Kruay Subdistrict, Damoen Saduak District, Ratchaburi Province, was a greatly revered monk whose mastery of esoteric Buddhist knowledge was considered among the finest in the Damoen Saduak area of his era. It was said that when Saint Anthony Temple, a Christian temple in Don Mod Tanoi, Ratchaburi, commissioned a medal of Saint Anthony, the temple still requested his consecration services. He was born on October 20, 1899, to parents Tim and Lamyai Baiban at Ban Wat Kaew in Wat Kaew Subdistrict, Bang Pae District, Ratchaburi. As a child, he studied under Phra Atcharn Chaeng at Wat Kaew and mastered both Thai and Khmer scripts from an early age. He later moved to live with relatives in Don Kruay Subdistrict, Damoen Saduak District. At age 23, his relatives arranged his ordination at Kok Bamprugsart Temple, where he received the monastic name Ratanalabho. Luang Pho Huea of Klang Wang Yen Temple served as his preceptor, Phra Atcharn Chaeng as his instructor in scriptural knowledge, and Phra Ajarn Chom as his ceremonial instructor.

He spent 10 vassa (Buddhist Lent seasons) at Kok Bamprugsart Temple before returning to Wat Kaew for 8 vassa to care for his ailing father until the father's death. After completing funeral rites, he returned to Kok Bamprugsart Temple. In 1943, following the passing of the previous abbot, the villagers invited him to become the new temple abbot.

Kok Bamprugsart Temple was originally a small monastic dwelling in the Kok Tanarak village of Don Kruay Subdistrict, Damoen Saduak District, built by villagers as a place for religious practice. It initially had two small huts where invited monks would spend the rainy season. Around 1911, under Luang Pho Rat's leadership, the temple was developed and expanded with an ordination hall, preaching hall, additional huts, and was granted official monastic boundaries by royal decree on August 24, 1913.

In 1958, following the death of Luang Pho Fueng of Amronyadee Samakhom Temple, he was appointed to serve as the subdistrict monastic elder. In 1963, he received the honorific title Phra Khru Chao Prathuan (fifth-level monastic rank), and in 1971 he received the title Phra Khru Mongkol Ratanaphirak (seventh-level monastic rank).

He was a highly accomplished monk in esoteric knowledge, so much so that Luang Pho Sai of Nong Song Hongs Temple praised him as exceptionally skilled and rarely matched. Beyond his studies of ritual magic with the Wat Kaew teachers, he learned from Phra Atcharn Chaeng, the scriptural instructor known for expertise in sacred water blessing and incantations, and studied the making of protective amulets and sacred cloth.

Among his most celebrated miraculous objects was a sacred flag called the "rain-stopping banner," believed to possess the power to halt wind and rain. On numerous occasions, villagers witnessed its efficacy: violent storms would cease moments after the flag was blessed and raised. During the construction of the new ordination hall, the flag was hung overhead and no rain fell on that area for an entire year, causing villagers hardship. Disciples eventually requested that the flag be removed so that rain would return to normal.

A close disciple recounted that during the fundraising for amulet casting, he served as the abbot's regular driver for various trips. On one memorable occasion, a group of women's volunteer associations from Pranburi District arrived by two buses to help clear grass and develop the temple grounds in exchange for blessed amulets.

He was a monk who valued education highly and took in orphaned children, sponsoring their schooling to completion. Many benefited from his support, including Luang Pho Porn, a later abbot of the temple, who was one of several orphans he had sent to school.

He passed away from old age on the 29th of the month.