Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

theme. When he felt his heart in possession of this knowledge, he
began his discourse. Sometimes the deva leader requested a dis-
course on a sutta, using an archaic title with which Ãcariya Mun
was unfamiliar. So Ãcariya Mun asked and was told the present-
day title. Usually Ãcariya Mun could figure out for himself the
suttas which were being requested; but occasionally he had to ask
for clarification. At other times, the devas requested a sutta by a
title of which he felt certain. But, as soon as he began to eluci-
date it, they informed him that he had made a mistake; that it was
not the one they requested. To refresh his memory, they recited
some verses from the sutta. After one or two verses he could usu-
ally remember it correctly. He began his discourse only when he
was sure he had the right topic.
On rare occasions, the devas from the upper and lower
realms all came to listen to Dhamma at the same time as the
nãgas. This is not unlike various groups of humans all showing up
to visit a teacher simultaneously. When this happened often, he
scheduled their arrivals at different times for the convenience of
all concerned. According to Ãcariya Mun, even though he lived
deep in the forests and mountains, he did not have much free
time because he had to deal with so many groups of devas from
different realms of existence. If on a particular night no devas
from the celestial realms came to see him, then there were bound
to be terrestrial devas from one location or another; so, he had
little free time at night. Fortunately, there were few human visi-
tors in those remote places. If he stayed near a village or a town,
however, then human inhabitants from the area came to see him.
He received these people in the afternoon or early evening, teach-
ing the monks and novices afterwards.