The other monk was stunned. “Oh, my gosh! What is it
between you and those women?”
“Nothing,” answered the monk, “except blindly falling in
love with one of them and having my meditation going to pieces.
What appeared in its place was a beautiful image – a crazy infat-
uation crushing down on my heart all night long. Even now this
madness continues unabated, and I just don’t know what to do
about it. Please, can you do something to help me?”
“You mean it still isn’t any better?”
“No.” The monk’s voice sounded wretchedly pathetic.
“In that case, I have a suggestion. If you can’t suppress this
thing, then it is not prudent for you to stay here any longer –
things will only get worse. I think it’s better that you move away
from here and find another place to do your practice. If you don’t
feel up to asking Ãcariya Mun about this, then I will speak to
him for you. I’ll inform him that you wish to go look for another
secluded place because you don’t feel so well here. I’m sure he will
immediately give his permission because he is well aware of what’s
happening to you. He just hasn’t said anything about it yet for fear
of shaming you.”
The monk readily agreed. That evening his companion
went to speak with Ãcariya Mun, who immediately gave his con-
sent. But there was a caustic element latent here. Ãcariya Mun
said rather cryptically: “A disease arising from karmic attraction
is hard to cure. Contagions spread quickly when their original
cause still remains.” And that was all he would say on the matter.
Even the monk who went to speak with him didn’t understand
his connotation.
Everyone kept quiet about this matter. The monk never spoke
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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