Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

aware of them he called off the meeting and quickly entered
samãdhi, where he talked privately to the devas. Their reticence
on those occasions was due to the profound respect they had
for monks. Ãcariya Mun explained that devas of all levels were
careful to avoid passing by the monks’ dwellings on the way to
see him late at night. Upon arriving they circled around Ãcariya
Mun three times before sitting down in an orderly fashion. Then
the leader – devas of every plane have a leader whom they obey
with great deference – would announce the realm from which
they came and the aspect of Dhamma to which they wished to
listen. Ãcariya Mun would return their greetings and then focus
his citta on that aspect of Dhamma requested by the devas. As this
Dhamma arose within, he began the talk. When they had com-
prehended the Dhamma that he delivered, they all said “sãdhu”
three times, a sound that echoed throughout the spiritual uni-
verse.^22 This exclamation was heard by everyone with celestial
hearing, but not by those whose ears were like the ‘handles on a
pot of soup’.
When his discourse on Dhamma ended, the devas again cir-
cumambulated him three times, keeping him on their right, and
then returned to their realms in an elegant fashion – very differ-
ent from we humans. Not even Ãcariya Mun and his monks could
emulate their graceful movements. For there’s a great difference
between the grossness of our bodies and the subtle refinement
of theirs. As soon as the deva guests retreated to the edge of the
monks’ area, they floated up into the air like pieces of fluff blown
by the wind. On each visit they descended in the same manner,
arriving outside the monks’ living area and then walking the
remainder of the way. Always very graceful in their movements,