Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

you look inside yourself where this madness arises. You’ll go crazy
if you don’t curtail this sort of mindless prattle.”
Ãcariya Mun then turned around and walked back to the
monastery without another word. Arriving at the monastery, the
monks noticed something peculiar about the obtrusive monk –
he seemed stunned, eating very little. Seeing his odd behavior,
the monks kept quiet, as if nothing had happened. They were
afraid he would feel embarrassed. For the rest of the day life in
the monastery continued as normal, each monk applying himself
to his meditation. But later, during the night when all was quiet,
they heard someone cry out in a deranged, incoherent voice. They
immediately rushed over to find the monk lying in his hut, toss-
ing deliriously about, mumbling something about being sorry for
offending Ãcariya Mun so rudely. Shocked by this sight, some
of them hurried off to get the local villagers to help take care of
him. They brought some herbal remedies for him to take, then
massaged his limbs for a while until he finally calmed down and
fell asleep for the rest of the night. The next morning someone
took him to a doctor for treatment. His condition soon improved,
though he did have occasional relapses. When he was well enough
to travel, they sent him home. There was no further news about
his condition after that.
Ãcariya Mun’s reprimands varied with circumstances. A
mild scolding was usually sufficient to promote mindfulness in the
present and increase vigilance in the future. However, if someone
did something that prompted a severe reprimand, but lacked the
good judgment to make use of it, then it could well be damaging,
as we have seen. So monks living with Ãcariya Mun tended to be
exceedingly vigilant and always self-controlled. Just because they