a very matter-of-fact way, as though he had actually seen it many
times. Of course, he had never gone up there, the climb being too
steep and difficult. Nonetheless, he spoke about it with the assur-
ance of someone who knew for certain that the knowledge aris-
ing in his meditation was no mere illusion.
Ãcariya Mun constantly warned his monks to behave in
a careful, restrained manner wherever they went, for the devas
living in those remote places prefer everything to be orderly and
very clean. When terrestrial devas witness such slovenly behav-
ior as a monk sleeping carelessly, lying on his back spread-eagled
like a corpse, tossing and mumbling in his sleep like an idiot,
they feel quite disgusted – regardless of the fact that it’s impos-
sible for a sleeping person to control his actions. Devas often
approached Ãcariya Mun to explain how they felt about this
matter.
“Monks occupy positions of reverence and esteem in the
hearts and minds of living beings everywhere, so their
deportment should be guarded and restrained at all times- even while sleeping. As far as possible, a monk’s appear-
ance should be attractive and pleasing, never disagreeable
or offensive. We hate to see monks behaving intemperately - like ordinary lay people showing little concern for the
consequences. Especially since the circumspection needed
to act with restraint is well within their capabilities. It’s
not our intention to be critical of all monks. Devas every-
where are grateful for the opportunity to pay homage to
those monks exhibiting exemplary behavior because we all
appreciate virtue and dearly wish to uphold the sãsana. We