selves, they taught others to thoroughly investigate every aspect of
birth, ageing, sickness, and death so that people wanting to take
responsibility for their own well-being can use this practice to cor-
rect their misconceptions before it becomes too late. If they reach
that ‘great academy’ only when their last breath is taken, it will
then be too late for remedial action: the only remaining options
will be cremation and burial. Observing moral precepts, making
merit, and practicing meditation will no longer be possible.
Ãcariya Mun well understood the value of a visit to the
cemetery, for a cemetery has always been the kind of place that
encourages introspection. He always showed a keen interest in vis-
iting cemeteries – both the external variety and the internal one.
One of his disciples, being terrified of ghosts, made a valiant effort
to follow his example in this. We don’t normally expect monks to
be afraid of ghosts, which is equivalent to Dhamma being afraid
of the world – but this monk was one such case.A Monk’s Fear of Ghosts
Ãcariya Mun related the story of a dhutanga monk who inadvert-
ently went to stay in a forest located next to a charnel ground.^12 He
arrived on foot at a certain village late one afternoon and, being
unfamiliar with the area, asked the villagers where he could find
a wooded area suitable for meditation. They pointed to a tract of
forest, claiming it was suitable, but neglected to tell him that it was
situated right on the edge of a charnel ground. They then guided
him to the forest, where he passed the first night peacefully. On
the following day he saw the villagers pass by carrying a corpse,