kinds instinctively look to the Buddha as a dependable refuge.ÃCARIYA MUN EMPLOYED many training methods with his monks
to ensure that they saw clear results in their practice. Those who
practiced with unwavering faith in his instructions were able to
achieve such results to their own satisfaction. By following the
power of his example, they became knowledgeable, respected
teachers themselves. They in turn have passed on these training
methods to their own disciples, so that they too can witness for
themselves, through their own efforts, that the paths and fruits
of the Buddha’s teaching are still attainable today; that they have
not completely disappeared. When looking at the life he lived and
the methods he employed in training others, it is fair to say that
Ãcariya Mun followed a practice of deprivation. He and his dis-
ciples lived in conditions of virtual poverty in places where even
the basic necessities were lacking. The simple daily requisites they
depended on were usually in short supply. Encountering such an
uncertain existence, those accustomed to living in carefree abun-
dance would probably be utterly dismayed. There being nothing
in this difficult lifestyle to attract them, they would surely find it
most disagreeable. But the monks themselves, though they lived
like prison inmates, did so voluntarily for the sake of Dhamma.
They lived for Dhamma, and accepted the inconvenience and
hardship associated with its practice. These conditions, which are
seen as torture by people who have never submitted to them, were
actually a convenient spiritual training ground for the monks who
practiced in this way. Due to their determination to endure hard-
ship and poverty it is appropriate to call this the practice of depri-