Life of Luang Pu Liew
Luang Pu Liew Pannako (หลวงปู่หลิว ปณฺณโก), born Liew Sae-tang on 7 December 1905 (B.E. 2448) in Ratchaburi Province, was the third of nine children in a poor farming family. He learned carpentry from his father and taught himself herbal medicine, treating neighbours long before he entered the monkhood.
He was ordained in B.E. 2475 at the age of twenty-seven under the monastic name Phra Leou PhumNakho. He studied under a succession of masters, the most consequential being Luang Phor Yorn of Wat Ban Khong Yai in Ratchaburi, from whom he received the complete transmission of the turtle practice (พญาเต่าเรือน, Phaya Tao Ruean). He then spent close to three years on ascetic practice in Burma, and later sought instruction from masters in Phetchaburi and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Over his lifetime he built or presided over five temples, finally settling as abbot of Wat Rai Taeng Thong in Kamphaeng Saen District, Nakhon Pathom. He kept to the old monastic manner: a plain dwelling, no air conditioning or television, a daily meal of rice and vegetables. He passed away on 4 September 2000 (B.E. 2543) at the age of ninety-five, after seventy-four years as a monk.
The Wealth Turtle, B.E. 2516 to 2542
Luang Pu Liew is known to collectors as the turtle master. He made his first wealth turtle in B.E. 2516 and continued through dozens of batches until B.E. 2542, to the point that Phaya Tao Ruean and his name became difficult to separate. He explained the choice of form this way: in the Buddhist canon the turtle was one of the Buddha's past-life incarnations, and its longevity, steadiness and willingness to carry weight match what wealth should do, which is accumulate slowly and stay.
After each blessing he performed a floating test, placing the amulets in a vessel of water. Those whose blessing was complete floated; those that sank went back for more. The practice was not his invention, but he made it a fixed step in every batch.
Notable batches
- B.E. 2536 Sui Sui Sui turtle: 848 in solid gold, 6,888 in silver, 24,888 in nawa loha, 48,888 in copper.
- B.E. 2537 Sabai Zai turtle: moved into his meditation quarters after the main ceremony for roughly three further months of personal blessing, one of the longest he ever gave a batch.
- B.E. 2538 big-foot turtle: nawa loha, blessed jointly by Luang Pu Liew and Luang Phor Khun.
- B.E. 2542 porcelain-face self-image wealth turtle: a late work bearing the master's own likeness.
