xiiTranslator’s Introduction
Venerable Ãcariya Mun Bhýridatta Thera is a towering figure in con-
temporary Thai Buddhism. He was widely revered and respected
during his lifetime for the extraordinary courage and determination
he displayed in practicing the ascetic way of life and for his uncompro-
mising strictness in teaching his many disciples. During the 50 years
since his death, he has assumed an exalted status in Buddhist circles
and thus remains an overshadowing presence whose life and teach-
ings have become synonymous with the Buddha’s noble quest for self-
transformation.
Although Ãcariya Mun (pronounced to rhyme with “sun”) left
no written record of his own, this biography, compiled by one of his
close disciples some 20 years after his death, is largely responsible for
introducing his life, his achievements, and his teachings to a broad
section of Buddhist society. Through the widespread popularity of
this book, many Thai Buddhists have been given fresh hope that the
spiritual liberation which the Buddha proclaimed to the world over
2,500 years ago, and which has been attained by so many aspirants
over the succeeding centuries, is still accessible in today’s modern age.
Many Thais have expressed the view that they had lost confidence
that magga, phala, and Nibbãna were still relevant today. But, by read-
ing Ãcariya Mun’s biography, they realized that accounts of these
exalted attainments are not mere fragments of ancient history, dead
and dry – but a living, luminous legacy of self-transcendence access-
ible to any individual who is willing and able to put forth the effort
needed to achieve them. They have come to understand that Bud-
dhist monks, with their distinctive robes and monastic vocation, are
not merely clerical figures representing the Buddha, Dhamma, and
Sangha: some of them are indeed living proof of the Truth presented
in the Buddha’s teaching.