Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

stage along the way. It is analogous to taking an examination
and passing with the minimum requirement, necessitating fur-
ther study to achieve the maximum grade. Those who have pene-
trated to the Anãgãmï level of understanding must still train their
wisdom until it reaches an even more refined degree of expertise
before it can be said that they are full-fledged Anãgãmïs. Should
such a person then die, he would immediately be reborn in the
fifth or akaniååha plane of the brahma world without having to
pass through the four lower brahma planes.
Ãcariya Mun recounted how he was delayed at that level
for quite some time because he had no one to advise him. As he
struggled to familiarize himself with the Anãgãmï level of prac-
tice, he had to be very careful not to make any mistakes. He knew
from his experience in analyzing subtle aspects of Dhamma that
the kilesas might undermine his efforts, for they were as equally
subtle as the mindfulness and wisdom he was using to counter
them. This made it very difficult to penetrate each successive
level of Dhamma. He said it was absolutely incredible how hard he
struggled to negotiate that dense, thorny thicket. Before he made
his way through to come and kindly teach the rest of us, he suf-
fered great hardship, making the arduous journey all alone.
When the occasion was right, he used to describe this part
of his practice to us. I myself was moved to tears in two instances
while listening to his description of the terrible ordeal he faced at
that time, and the amazingly subtle and profound nature of the
Dhamma he attained. I wondered whether I had enough inher-
ent virtue to enable me to crawl along in his footsteps, or whether
I was destined to go the way of ordinary people in the world. But
his words were very encouraging and always helped to sustain my