ing between teacher and disciple so that instructions need not be
repeated over and over until it becomes annoying and tiresome
for both parties.ÃCARIYA MUN’S SECOND TRIP to the Northeast was a cause for much
interest and excitement among monks and lay supporters through-
out the region. During that period, he traveled extensively teach-
ing in almost all the northeastern provinces. He passed initially
through Nakhon Ratchasima; then through Si Saket, Ubon Rat-
chathani, Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, Udon Thani, Nong
Khai, Loei, Lom Sak, and Phetchabun, and occasionally crossed
the Mekong River into Laos to visit Vientiane and Tha Khek. He
criss-crossed these areas many times in those days, but he pre-
ferred to remain longer in provinces that were mountainous and
thickly forested because they were especially suitable for medi-
tation. For instance, south and southwest of the town of Sakon
Nakhon there were many forest-covered mountain ranges where
he spent the rains retreat near the village of Phon Sawang in the
district of Sawang Dan Din. The mountainous terrain in this area
is so conducive to the ascetic way of life that it is still frequented
by dhutanga monks today.
Monks wandering in such areas during the dry season usu-
ally slept out in the forest on small bamboo platforms. They were
made by splitting sections of bamboo lengthwise, spreading them
out flat, then securing them to a bamboo frame with legs, making
a raised sleeping surface of about six feet long, three or four feet
wide, and about one and a half feet above the ground. One plat-
form was constructed for each monk and was spaced as far apart