Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

resolving to develop themselves even further. Even those who did
not experience external visions were encouraged by what they
heard. Sometimes the monks told Ãcariya Mun how they had
achieved a state of serene happiness when their hearts ‘converged’
into a state of calm, explaining the methods they had used. Even
those who were as yet unable to attain such levels became moti-
vated to try – or to even surpass them. Hearing these discussions
was a joyous experience, both for those who were already well
developed and those who were still struggling in their practice.
When the citta ‘converged’ into calm, some monks traveled
psychically to the heavenly realms, touring celestial mansions
until dawn; and only then did the citta return to the physical
body and regain normal consciousness. Others traveled to the
realms of hell and were dismayed by the pitiful condition of the
beings they saw, enduring the results of their kamma. Some vis-
ited both the heavenly abodes and the hells to observe the great
differences between them: one realm was blessed with joy and
bliss while the other was in the depths of despair, the beings there
tormented by a punishment that seemed to have no end. Some
monks received visits from ethereal beings from various planes
of existence – the heavens, for instance, or the terrestrial devas.
Others simply experienced the varying degrees of calm and hap-
piness coming from the attainment of samãdhi. Some investigated,
using wisdom to divide the body into different sections, dissecting
each section to bits, piece by piece, then reducing the whole lot to
its original elemental state. There were those who were just begin-
ning their training, struggling as a child does when it first learns
to walk. Some could not make the citta attain the concentrated
state of calm they desired and wept at their own incompetence;