Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

your thoughts now that you are here? Please tell me the truth, or
else I won’t be able to let you stay on here. I’ve never experienced
anything quite like the events of the last two nights.”
The monk sat trembling, his face ashen, as though he was
ready to faint. One of the other monks, noticing his worsening
condition, requested an opportunity to speak privately with him.
“Please be forthcoming and tell Ãcariya Mun your true feel-
ings about this matter. He’s asking you about it only because he
wants to ascertain the truth, not because he has any intention
to hurt you. None of us, who are living here with him, are saints,
free of kilesas. We are bound to make mistakes and so must accept
his admonitions. All of us live here as his disciples. Being our
teacher, he’s like a father and a mother to us. As a teacher, he has
an obligation to reprimand anyone who does something noticea-
bly wrong. A teacher must keep an eye on his students – for their
own sake, educating them by questioning and criticizing them as
circumstances require. I myself have been subjected to many such
castigations; some even more severe than the one you received.
Ãcariya Mun has even ordered some monks to leave the premises
immediately, only to relent and allow them to stay on when they
realized their faults and accepted the blame. Please think care-
fully about what he just said to you. My own feeling is that you
shouldn’t be unreasonably afraid. If you have anything on your
mind, just express it truthfully. If you feel you have done nothing
wrong, or you cannot recall where you made a mistake, tell him
straight out that you cannot seem to recollect your past errors.
Then put your fate in his hands, letting him take what action
he sees fit, and accept the consequences. The matter will then
resolve itself.”