SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand — A Buddhist monk living in a monastery in Thailand won a nearly $175,000 lottery jackpot thanks to a "lucky" number revealed to him by a tree.
Phra Prawit Techapalo, 41, of the Cheepakhao Temple in Samut Sakhon, located just outside of Bangkok, revealed he won first prize in the lottery after a longtime habit of purchasing several tickets every month.
Phra Prawit's announcement was seen as controversial by some who pointed out monks are supposed to forgo luxuries such as money.
Phra Prawit, who became a monk about 10 years ago, said he chose "84" as the last of the numbers on his winning ticket after the "lucky" number was revealed to him while examining the textures of a teak tree on the monastery grounds.
The monk said his $173,493 windfall will go toward buying his mother a house, school tuition for his son and a funeral for his temple's recently deceased abbot.
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Wow
wow is right, pretty cool.
The monk is a liar.
He got lucky just like everyone else that has ever won a prize.
Just another lottery winner with another creative story of how they won.
Was invited to a house party by a friend. Did not know anyone there. Heard a big ruckus in one room and checked it out. There were a bunch of Buddhist monks and other guests playing cards. There was gambling and drinking and laughing. The monks were the life of the party. So, if you really want to spice up a party, invite some monks.
Maybe. Or maybe we should all be studying tree textures.
OK. This gives me a different perspective....
Having lived in a home with a Korean Buddhist priest, I can attest to that.
He prays hard and he drinks/parties hard.
Kinda like New Yorkers, Koreans don't do anything half-way.
LOL!
Got milk
Teak huh? great wood for boat building
but for picking lottery numbers? thats the first I've heard...lol
wait, I think I have some lying around the boathouse.
Trees are wonderful and remember the heavy tree canopy around the Whitehouse likely saved it on 9-11.
Check out the Celtic Tree Calendar. Many cultures have a belief system associated with plants and trees.
We get lots of Medicine from them.
I agree with Todd!!!
I'm not buying this story.
I did not think the Monks were allowed off of the premises to participate in worldly activities.
The Monk is not a liar concerning his explanation of how he chose # 84. What he is actually implying relative to tree textures, is that his "Divine Intuition" was triggered by viewing tree textures, and the # 84 simply "came to him" intuitively >>> to play this particular number [# 84]. It's all a matter of Intuition and Interpreting Signs and Symbols, in everyday life !!!
I agree.
I guess things have changed with the belief that monks are supposed to forgo luxuries such as money. This is the second story about monks and the lottery.
Back on Jan. 12, 2016, Todd reported about a 61-year-old monk in Philadelphia who was at a Sunoco gas station store on South Broad Street buying lottery tickets from a machine on Jan. 3 when an unidentified black male snatched $350 in cash from the monk's hands and ran out of the door.
Buddhist monk fights back after getting robbed buying lottery tickets
It is wrong to condemn any religious person for earning money outside the donations they receive. As long at it does not break the laws like those tv evangelists did.
A monk, Pastor, Priest who has talent in music, oratory, or any other blessings should be able to market them.
A citizen author may make $50 million off his books and film adaptations. Why should a professional religious person not be able to profit off his/her works?
People vote with their dollars, yen, marks, pounds, rubels, etc.
There could be some truth to all of this but it would involve LP as well. This monk could have studied trees, and having access to a computer he could have simple clicked on " systems" on the LP page and under "convert words to numbers" added in the following " appearance of tree trunk & texture is rough to the touch." Put in those specific words & his winning numbers would appear.
* Mystery solved.
No, he's telling the truth. He got his number from tree bark.
It was, however, pure coincidence that the number drawn happened to match his number.
Everyone has a winning strategy and his just happen to finally work. Call it luck or fate but his ship has came in.
I'm looking into a tall glass of cold beer right now. Don't see any numbers but sure am feeling better.
LOL
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend's refreshments. Cheers.
Yea you too music. Well... If we don't win, at least we can feel better about it. LOL
Thats not a bad idea. I wonder if it will work with scotch? or... maybe I'll get my next set of numbers from
Packers jerseys....it worked for some lady in Texas awhile back.
l thought so myself but given that his allowed his pic to be taken, tells me that he doesn't give a rat's A' whether they boot him from the monastery or not.
You need to keep looking before you start drinking. Everyone knows that.
.
This Monk fellow hasn't any more luck than anyone else on this planet.
He may know more about Kung-fu than anyone here, but that's about it.
That's how I feel about it, anyway.
OK?
It seems that the more impossible things seem to obtain in this world, like lotto, except for the ultra-lucky few,
the majority of this sad globe is likely to throw in with the majority who say "yes, tree bark", or whatever.
How about the patterns in the brick and mortar of your house? How about the peeling wallpaper in your apartment. Is it peeling on the south wall or the west wall?
I'm not trying to start an argument or anything but I have a guy in my lottery pool
that keeps telling me I need to get a few drinks in me to get my mind right before I pick
the numbers....LOL
At least the monk didn't say anything about one of those numbered turtles coming by.
Exactly. Every single person who has ever won a lottery prize had some method of choosing the numbers. Some let the computer terminal do it, some used numbers they thought were special, and some used numbers they thought were more likely to win than other numbers. Some winners think they won because of the method they used and others understand that they simply happened to choose numbers that were drawn.
When I win I have a similar experience,the texture of my winning lottery ticket was actually a tree once (a lucky tree probably).On my way laughing all the way to the bank ,I salute all trees with my deepest respect.lol
This monk probably smoked some good shiiii...stuff before buying his ticket.
He saw what looked like a 84 in the texture of tree bark and used it. But this is suppose to be crazy and using a combination of birthdays is not? SMH
Best comment of all here. We weren't there so why would anyone say it didn't happen? Stuff happens all the time.
It is only as far fetched as saying you can predict P3/P4 numbers in the lottery. One ALWAYS has to have an open mind to anything and everything when playing the lottery.
1 in 292 million win the power ball, winning lottery 7 days straight is a coincidence compare to hitting a powerball jackpot. To prove it was not a coincidence he has to do it by will , timely and consistently . Also have in mind that the mind can be tapped into once in awhile. anyone can do it but not everyone will.
Maybe the monk fell in love with a tree. Actually a real disorder.
Anything might work, if it's your time to win- even letting your cat pick the numbers
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/164377
I won't believe it till he studies another tree and win again! Prove tree bark is the answer to winning. All he had was luck and created a good tell story like most other ''lucky'' winners.
If you believe that then I have a magic unicorn I want to sell you!
If the monk had magic tree bark that revealed winning lottery numbers then how come he did not take a picture? That would have been more intriguing then his made up story. That monk is a bald head lie!
lol If only tree textures were the answer to having abundant flow of cash. I wonder how many people will study tree textures now and hope for a lottery win. lol
I remember I followed Cynthia Stafford advice and I haven't won big since. Makes for a good story though!
This story has nothing to do with TREE BARK !!! It is simply an example of using your innate Divine Intuition [which everyone has - some more refined than others] to interpret signs and symbols in everyday life, and to be able to figure out what those signs and symbols might possibly relate to, in your own life. It's all INTUITION & INTERPRETATION !!!
The press loves a good story. The more interesting and outlandish ones get the printer's ink.
So Lottery Players get ready with your own story. Be sure to have a beginning, middle, and end to the story.
How about, this was my first time playing. I only played one line. I got an oversized check made out to anonymous. There is no end to my story because I just might play again if the jackpot gets huge enough. No, that is too outlandish and not very interesting. Never mind, I made it all up!
WOW!!! Guess I'll go plant a tree
congratulations 
I plan to say I am a squirrel whisperer and they tell me things. Lol
It must be a bunch of sore losers that think the monk is lying. He saw what looked like the number 84 in the patterns of the tree bark. That's like seeing a cloud that looks like a turtle. He played the number 84 as part of his set. He won. There's no lie there, there's only jealousy on the part of the sore losers here.
I agree. The human mind wants to see patterns in things.
When you start "seeing a cloud that looks like a turtle" you know it's definitely time to cut down on the booze and the weed. A cloud that looks like a turtle
Seriously? Why?.
Google it. It is the way the brain is wired.
That's right. The U.S. Army used to recruit men who were colorblind because they could see the patterns in camouflage and not be fooled by the colors blending into the surrounding landscape. There many instances of people seeing religious imagery in nature and while some would require a vivid imagination, others look very accurate when compared against historical art.
I once found a potato that looked just like my Aunt Mavis, warts and all. I wish I had saved it, but I was hungry so I peeled her and made French fries. I have a lot of clipart CDs and in the anatomy section of one, I saw this one:
I guess it looks like a colon, but to me it looks more like the upper radiator hose of a '67 Fairlane.
lol lol The perils of "free" internet lol lol.
Maybe he smoked the tree bark.
When I was a kid, we used to smoke the "silk" just under cottonwood bark.
It was better than smoking grape vines, but not by much.
They say," showing up is the biggest part of winning."
Everyone has a reason to play. Some reasons are just more colorful than others.
"Apophenia is the human tendency to perceive meaningful patterns within random data."
"Apophenia is the spontaneous perception of connections and meaningfulness of unrelated phenomena. The term was coined by neurologist and psychiatrist Klaus Conrad (1905-1961). The term has found a place outside of psychiatry and is used to describe the natural tendency of human beings to find meaning and significance in random, coincidental, or impersonal data."
"It is now viewed as being a ubiquitous feature of human nature."
Never done that, couldn't have been all too tasty.
You're absolutely correct people always want to dismiss others but there's no way to explain divine. IntInvention.
And he has the money to prove it
Ha! He found the money tree!
still searching <me
Thank you. I loved it when the other poster viewed it as a crazy concept off the internet. It is well documented.
You're welcome, Artist77.
This basic, human trait is recognized as a key to survival.
It is how infants learn at such an astounding rate.
The Rorschach Inkblot Test capitalizes on it.
Anyone who has ever perceived a human face in an object or shapes in clouds has experienced it.
And it worked successfully for this lucky winner.
There was a monk from Tennessee who won a $259.8 million Powerball jackpot in 2014.
It was stated that he had taken a vow of poverty.
"there's no way to explain divine. IntInvention."
Plenty of people think they can explain it, but here's no way to prove divine intervention. Well, the entity intervening could prove it, but so far there's no proof that it ever happened.