Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

to his heart. He felt inclined to extend his stay in the area in order
to strengthen his heart, for it had long been thirsting to live again
in the solitude of the mountains and forests. Upon coming across
a suitable location, he would decide to remain awhile and prac-
tice meditation until the time came to move on again. Steadily
he wandered through the area in this way. He would tell of the
region’s forests and mountains abounding in many different kinds
of animals, and of his delight in watching the barking deer, wild
pigs, sambor deer, flying lemurs, gibbons, tigers, elephants, mon-
keys, languars, civets, jungle fowl, pheasants, bear, porcupine, tree
shrews, ground squirrels, and the many other small species of ani-
mals. The animals showed little fear of him when he crossed paths
with them during the day when they were out searching for food.
Those days, the forested terrain didn’t really contain any
villages. What few there were consisted of isolated settlements of
three or four houses bunched together for livelihood. The inhab-
itants hunted the many wild animals and planted rice and other
crops along the edge of the mountains where Ãcariya Mun passed.
Villagers there had great faith in dhutanga monks, and so he could
depend on them for alms food. When he stayed among them, his
practice went very smoothly. They never bothered him or wasted
his time. They kept to themselves and worked on their own so
his journey progressed trouble-free, both physically and mentally,
until he arrived safely in Bangkok.