any ulterior, worldly motives. Whatever he said stemmed from
his knowledge and insights and was purposefully spoken to make
people think. His intention was never to fool credulous people or
to cause harm.
What is recorded here was told to his close inner circle of
disciples – not just anyone. Thus the writer might be showing bad
judgmentin exposing Ãcariya Mun’s affairs. But I think this account
offers those who are interested something useful to dwell upon.
Among present-day kammaååhãna monks, Ãcariya Mun’s
experiences stand out for being uniquely broad in scope and truly
amazing – both in the sphere of his meditation practice and the
insights derived from his psychic knowledge. Sometimes, when
the circumstances were appropriate, he spoke directly and specifi-
cally about his intuitive knowledge. Yet at other times, he referred
only indirectly to what he knew and used it for general teaching
purposes. Following his experience with the elderly monk, whose
thoughts he read during his stay at Sarika Cave, he was extremely
cautious about disclosing his insights to others despite his earnest
desire to help his students see the errors in their thinking.
When he pointed out candidly that this monk was think-
ing in the wrong way, or that that monk was thinking in the
right way, his listeners were adversely affected by his frankness.
They invariably misunderstood his charitable intent instead of
benefiting from it as was his purpose. Taking offense at his words
could easily lead to harmful consequences. Thus, most of the
time Ãcariya Mun admonished monks indirectly for he was con-
cerned that the culprits would feel embarrassed and frightened
in front of their fellows. Without identifying anyone by name, he
merely gave a warning in order to foster self-awareness. Even so,
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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