Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

attained that kind of perception. But talking away indiscrimi-
nately about such knowledge is quite abnormal, so normal people
are reluctant to listen. This is not intended to be a criticism of
anyone. Rather, what’s important to keep in mind here is that
those who do possess such knowledge should act properly accord-
ing to the principles of Dhamma – for their own benefit and for
the benefit of everyone associating with them. Being convinced
of the amazing nature of what we have perceived is not sufficient
reason to speak out about things which may encourage others
to go mad. Those people, who are keen on listening to such talk
simply because their religious conviction is dependent on hearing
about amazing phenomena, are already on the road to madness.
So I don’t approve of conviction and amazement of this kind. I’d
prefer that the kind of discernment the Lord Buddha taught us be
used by people in their convictions, and in their sense of amaze-
ment. Even though we aren’t all exceptionally wise, at least there’s
hope that enough good judgment will be shown to maintain the
sãsana, preserving it for the future.
“Let me ask you this: Suppose you had a certain amount of
money which could be useful to you if you were clever, but harm-
ful to you if you weren’t. How would you handle it when going
into a crowd of people to insure that both you and your money
were safe?”
The senior disciple replied: “I’d take every reasonable pre-
caution to look after my money.”
“How exactly would you go about looking after it in a large
crowd of people to avoid any possible danger?”
“If I felt it was appropriate to spend some of my money there,
I’d take care to count out and hand over the necessary amount