On the day we are successful, have money, are famous, but we do not find happiness. This is a true story that happens to many people’s lives. The story of Pan – Thanaporn Waekprayoon, a famous former singer, is the same. She has also experienced and felt this way.
If we talk about the most talented female artists in Thailand from the past to the present, the name Pan – Thanaporn Waekprayoon must be one of the names on the list of female artists that will definitely be mentioned.
“On the day we succeed, but we don’t find happiness.”
Over the past 10 years, Pan Thanaporn has become very famous. Her work has been widely accepted. But the image of success on stage, with the bright lights shining on her, has not made her feel truly happy. She feels that fame, popularity, and even a lot of money cannot fill the emptiness that has arisen in her heart.
Over the years, Pan Thanaporn decided to reduce her role as an artist. She chose to spend more time studying Dhamma and doing volunteer work. Until one day, she discovered that her empty and empty heart was now filled with peace and happiness from Dhamma.
Filling in the gaps with Dhamma therapy
Before becoming famous as one of Thailand’s divas, Pan – Thanaporn Waekprayoon’s musical career path began when she was a teenager as someone who worked behind the scenes, as a guide singer in a recording studio, and as a chorus for many famous artists. Until she received the opportunity to become a full-fledged artist, Pan Thanaporn, who used her abilities and experience that she had accumulated for a long time, achieved success quickly.
Pan – Thanaporn Waekprayoon has a unique voice style that is hard to find anyone like her. And every song she sings makes her reach the highest point in life that an artist can be. Pan – Thanaporn has fame, money, and success in many forms. But it appears that what she has gained is at odds with her inner feelings.
“Fame, money, success are not permanent. Once you get it, it will be gone.”
Khun Pan – Thanaporn told us that “What flows in is fame, money, opportunities, success. At the same time, we have to develop ourselves to maintain our fame and work. We have to move forward all the time. This makes us feel tired deep down inside. We feel that how long will we have to be tired like this with something that will fade away and deteriorate in the future? How long do we have to be tired to maintain it?” This is one of her inner feelings on the day of her greatest success.
“On the day we succeed, we are faced with emptiness.”
Pan -Thanaporn told us that “We noticed that while we worked hard to make others happy, why were we not happy ourselves? When we stepped off the stage, why did we want to stay still, to be still? At that moment, we slowly looked and slowly analyzed our feelings, trying not to deceive ourselves, to find out what we really were. We slowly asked ourselves what we wanted when we already had everything. We went to work and earned money every day, had many friends around us, but inside we felt empty and lonely, not knowing what to hold on to?”
When a successful career could not fill the emptiness in her heart, Pan -Thanaporn encountered something that made her learn a new value in life: studying Dharma.
Pan -Thanaporn told us that during the time she had to take care of her sick mother, she started reading Dharma books. As she continued reading, she found that something answered the questions in her heart that were feeling lost. She said, “I feel like a person who is drowsy and then awakens. When I wake up, I feel very refreshed. Then I gradually studied by reading books of teachers who I am sure teach the true Dharma because I feel that I want to escape suffering. I want to know what the Lord Buddha taught, how his knowledge will answer my heart, and what is the name of what I am like today. Why do I feel so lost?” And this is the process and steps of learning towards change in the beginning of Pan -Thanaporn.
Learn to be a giver with a volunteer spirit.
When life gave Pan -Thanaporn the opportunity to access Dharma through both reading and practicing to find answers to her empty and lonely life, the next step of learning made Pan -Thanaporn find that what was more meaningful to her life was being a messenger of Dharma to others. She started to volunteer by singing songs about Dharma and making Dharma songs to share on various occasions to give people a better understanding of the meaning of life.
“Being a giver and doing things that benefit the receiver allows us to find the meaning of life.”
Khun Pan – Thanaporn told us that “Sometimes I think that we don’t know what we are living for? What is our value? Actually, worldly work is very good, but why do I feel that it still cannot fulfill some of our needs? Until we started doing religious work, we felt happy, felt valuable, and saw that there were people who really benefited from what we did, even if it was not much.” And this is her feeling that arose from learning through volunteer work.
Although her volunteer work is only known in a small circle, not comparable to the work of artists and singers that is widely publicized, even though it is work that does not bring fame or money, it makes her feel truly happy.
Pan -Thanaporn shared that “We are happy when people tell us that our chanting has made our father pass away peacefully. When we listen to it, we feel fulfilled inside. We feel that we are on the truth of life. But it is not that worldly songs are not good. They are useful and have some essence in every song. But when we work on Dhamma, we feel peace. It may be because in the past we had never known true peace. Even though some people say that worldly work makes us live securely, we feel that our hearts are not secure with what we have. We feel that financial security is not the best answer.” And this is what she discovered and what made her mind, which was once lost, find true stability.
Less life, more happiness
Pan -Thanaporn said that from the process of learning about life in the past, she has arrived at the door of the next step in life. And she will use the time from now on to learn new things, which is to find life balance and live life to the fullest.
Pan – Thanaporn told us that “Pan will probably stop seeking worldly things. The work related to worldly things that she has to do will probably decrease a lot. In fact, it has decreased for a long time. And she will probably do more work on her mind.” Currently, she feels that studying Dhamma and doing volunteer work related to Dhamma over the past several years have brought her to stand on the path of peace. She therefore wants to continue on this path to understand and get to know true peace.
“Stop seeking, stop looking, and start living your life to the fullest.”
“From now on, I will live my life to the fullest extent possible. Wherever I have knowledge, I will do it. Wherever I know this much, I will say this much. As for worldly work, I must balance it. As long as I still have some duties, I will do them. Now I have started to find some balance. I can do worldly work without suffering like before.” – Khun Pan – Thanaporn
Ms. Pan – Thanaporn said that she observed herself until she found that even though she has fewer things than before, whether it is money or fame, she is incomparably happier.
“Even though everything is less, less fame, less money, but why aren’t we suffering? Why are we suffering when we have so much? Today, we feel that it is a time when we are happy. The emptiness that we used to have is gone. What we said we were suffering is not now. Instead, we have more understanding. So we feel that this is where we have arrived at the entrance to our next step, which is our entrance to the Dhamma.”
Turn to examine yourself
The most important thing that Pan -Thanaporn discovered on her learning path that helped her overcome her suffering and find happiness and peace of mind was that she realized the importance of thoroughly exploring herself.
Pan -Thanaporn said, “I’ve never seen this before. I never knew what self-examination was. We use self-examination for all external matters. We examine ourselves, such as, ‘Do I dress well today? Do I behave properly?’ But we’ve never examined ourselves inside, such as, ‘Do I think well or badly today? How much do I blame or resent others?’
“We never knew how to explore ourselves like this until we got to know the Dharma and had the opportunity to practice Dharma. When we were near teachers, they taught us. We gradually absorbed this knowledge bit by bit until we began to know what exploring ourselves really was.” This was another important lesson that she had learned during the past period.
Pan – Thanaporn said, “Pan thinks that self-examination is the most important thing that every human being should do. It should be something that we take every breath. If we really examine ourselves and accept the truth, we will find many of our own shortcomings, so many that we think we can fix them all. But we have to fix them one by one. Whatever teachers and masters teach, whatever the Lord Buddha teaches, take this as the core, as the place of our hearts. What will we live for from now on? What will we use the rest of our lives to do for others?”
“Pan thinks this is very important. If we set a goal that is stable enough, it will make us live happily, no matter what the situation is. This really helps us.” This is the summary of everything she has learned, by Pan – Thanaporn Waekprayoon.
The story references an interview with Mr. Pan – Thanaporn Waekprayoon.
From the Transformative Learning Project
Supported by the Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth)สส.)
For more articles about the Transformative Learning Project, please visit:
Joan Jandai’s bad experiences are another teacher who gave us the hardest lessons.
Thank you https://www.sanook.com/news/7991386/ for the article illustrations.
