stant anxiety about what they had done. The closer it came to
the evening meeting, the more apprehensive they became. They
could all vividly remember Ãcariya Mun’s scoldings in the past
when something of this nature had happened. Sometimes when
they did something inappropriate and then forgot, Ãcariya Mun
knew and eventually brought it up as a way of teaching a lesson.
The well incident was a serious misdeed that was committed by
the whole monastery behind his back. How could he possibly have
not known about it? They were all certain that he knew and that
he was bound to mention it that evening, or at the latest, the very
next morning. They were preoccupied with these uncomfortable
feelings for the rest of the day.
As it turned out, when the time arrived no meeting was
called. Instead of scolding them, Ãcariya Mun mentioned noth-
ing about the incident. Ãcariya Mun was very astute in teach-
ing his disciples. He knew very well about the incident and about
many other mistakes made by the monks and novices. But he also
knew about their anxiety. Since they obviously realized their mis-
take, scolding them at this point would have needlessly increased
their deep remorse.
Ãcariya Mun’s early morning routine was to rise from seated
meditation at dawn, then do walking meditation until it was time
to put on his robes at the meeting hall before going for alms. The
next morning, when Ãcariya Mun left his walking path and entered
the meeting hall, the monks were still worried about how he would
deal with them. While they waited in anxious anticipation, Ãcariya
Mun turned the whole affair around by speaking gently and in a
comforting manner designed to relieve their distress:
“We came here to study Dhamma. We should not be unrea-
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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