 Luang Phor Pern ordained as a monk at Wat Bang Phra at the age of 25 and studied with abbot Luang Pu Him Inthasoto, an accomplished sak yant master.Even though Luang Phor Pern had never been tattooed himself (and never would be), he took up the sacred art at Luang Pu Him's feet and carried on the tradition after Luang Pu Him died four years later.In 1953, feeling he needed further withdrawal, renunciation and solitary meditation, wandered in the forests of a remote area of Kanchanaburi Province on the Myanmar-Thailand border.