to molest and kill each other, while the animal world is troubled
because humans tend to do the same to them. Consequently, ani-
mals are instinctively wary of human beings.
Ãcariya Mun claimed that life in the forest provides un-
limited opportunities for thought and reflection about one’s own
heart, and its relation to many natural phenomena in the exter-
nal environment. Anyone earnestly desiring to go beyond dukkha
can find plenty of inspiration in the forest, plenty of incentive to
intensify his efforts – constantly.
At times, groups of wild boars wandered into the area where
Ãcariya Mun was walking in meditation. Instead of running away
in panic when they saw him, they continued casually foraging for
food in their usual way. He said they seemed to be able to dif-
ferentiate between him and all the merciless ‘ogres’ of this world,
which is why they kept rooting around for food so casually, instead
of running for their lives.
Here I would like to digress from the main story a little to
elaborate on this subject. You might be tempted to think that
wild boars were unafraid of Ãcariya Mun because he was a lone
individual living deep in the forest. But, when my own monas-
tery, Wat Pa Ban Tad, was first established^7 and many monks were
living together there, herds of wild boars took refuge inside the
monastery, wandering freely through the area where the monks
had their living quarters. At night they moved around unafraid,
only a few yards from the monks’ meditation tracks – so close
that they could be heard snorting and thumping as they rooted in
the ground. Even the sound of the monks calling to one another
to come and see this sight for themselves failed to alarm the
wild boars. Continuing to wander freely through the monastery
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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