Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

forming special religious functions – or more commonly, by daily
offerings of food to the monks. Some ghosts are able to receive a
portion of the merit made by generous people everywhere even
though it is not specifically dedicated to them. Therefore, Ãcariya
Mun always made such dedications while extending loving kind-
ness to all living beings. According to the specific nature of their
kamma, some ghosts can receive merit dedicated by anyone, while
others can receive only the merit that is personally dedicated to
them by their relatives.
Ãcariya Mun said that ghosts live a very peculiar type of
existence. From his extensive experience with them, he always
found ghosts far more bothersome than any other class of non-
physical beings. Having no recourse to merit of their own, ghosts
depend on and always feel indebted to others for their survival.
Should these others fail them, the ghosts are left completely desti-
tute. Their dependence on others puts them in the extremely dif-
ficult position of never being able to stand on their own.
Generosity and other forms of merit-making are vitally im-
portant as the key elements for laying a foundation of individ-
ual self-reliance in this and in all future lives. All living beings
are the product of their kamma. They themselves must take full
responsibility for the consequences they encounter. No one else
can accept that responsibility because no one can experience the
kamma generated by another. Births, both good and bad, and the
relative degrees of comfort and pain one experiences therein, are
the sole responsibility of the individual who created the circum-
stances that produced these outcomes. No being can substitute
for another in this regard. Even those who expect no benefit from
their actions still receive the karmic credit for them.