Mr. Prachaya Mora, Manager Director SERVgroup Co.,Ltd.
When he was in his early 20s, Mr Prachaya Mora found himself in the perfect place – A young businessman who has a Midas touch. Not only that, he possesses all the qualities one requires to succeed in the fast-moving world: intelligence, passion, drive, willingness to learn, a sharp eye for detail, and a growth mindset.
It is the last two qualities that led to a life-changing question: why do people go to the temple when they are old? Even those living a wealthy, luxurious life also prefer the temple to other places.
“The question just popped in my head. It started when I was so bored that I went out to buy all the self-help books to read,” said Mr Prachaya , founder and Managing Director of SERVgroup Co Ltd, which provides online media consulting services. With a keen eye and good vision, he pioneered E-commerce ten years ago when he was a sophomore engineering student. The business grew so fast that he needed to hire people to help.
With more free time, Mr Prachaya spent on going to nice restaurants, bar hopping, and binge drinking. It went on for two years until he became bored. He went to buy self-help books to find an inspiration and new ideas.
“So I revisited my goals. I was 23-24 at that time. I have money, a house, a car. I’m happy but what is the ultimate purpose of life? So I looked at it from another angle: What else do wealthy old people still want now that they’ve had and been through everything?”
Since he did not find an answer in self-help books, spirituality and Buddhism sections were his next stops a bookstore. As a businessman, Mr Prachaya ventured into astrology, numerology, and even black magic to support his business, before shifting his interest to Dhamma books and biographies of spiritual masters in Buddhism.
Months passed with hundreds of hours of reading all the books and websites. Still he did not find an answer.
One day, the inquisitive millionaire came upon a teaching by the late Venerable Luangpor Rusri Lingdum, an abbot of Tasung Temple who was well known his meditation technique that helps prove the existence of the afterlife. “What he said was that ‘it doesn’t matter how many books you’ve read because they’re just basic and intellectual knowledge. Even if you memorize all the Buddhist Scriptures, it’s useless compared to those who practice meditation.’”
So Mr Prachaya decided it was time to stop searching. He went to a four-day meditation retreat.
“In the beginning, I was desperate to go home, but with the help of my Vipassana masters, I managed to stay and realized how little wisdom I have about the truth of this world.” He quit drinking and try to meditate everyday.
Asked if he has found an answer to the longstanding question, he smiled, “I have. They spend a lot of time in the temple because wealth isn’t the ultimate answer to life. It’s the life in Dhamma that gives them peace of mind. But I’d rather start now. Why wait that long when you can make a change now?”
