food offered later. Once lay devotees in the village became famil-
iar with his strict observance of this practice, they would put all
their food offerings into the monks’ bowls, making it unnecessary
to offer additional food at the monastery. He advised his disciples
to eat all food mixed together in their bowls, and to avoid eating
from other containers. And he showed them the way by eating
only one meal each day until the very last day of his life.WANDERING BY STAGES across the Northeast, Ãcariya Mun gradu-
ally attracted increasing numbers of disciples at every new loca-
tion along the way. When he stopped to settle in one place for
some time, scores of monks gravitated to those areas to live with
him. Having set up a temporary monastic community in the
forest, sixty to seventy monks would gather there, while many
more stayed close by in the surrounding area. Ãcariya Mun always
tried to keep his disciples spread apart, living in separate loca-
tions that were not too close to one another, yet close enough to
his residence so that they could easily seek his advice when they
encountered problems in their meditation. This arrangement was
convenient for all, for when too many monks are living in close
proximity, it can become a hindrance to meditation.
On the uposatha observance days, when the Pãåimokkha^15
was recited, dhutanga monks came from various locations in his
vicinity to assemble at his residence. After the recitation of the
Pãåimokkha, Ãcariya Mun addressed the whole assembly with a
discourse on Dhamma, and then answered the monks’ questions,
one by one, until their doubts cleared up and everyone was sat-
isfied. Each monk then returned to his own separate location,