adults, the little ones raced around in confusion. Stranded, they
ran back and forth in the open field while their mothers remained
in the forest, too frightened to emerge and retrieve them. An
amusing scene of needless panic, but at the same time pitiful: to
see innocent children so frightened, running in circles, desper-
ately crying in search of their mothers.
Obviously the situation didn’t look good, so the dhutanga
monks hurried past lest their prolonged presence provoke even
more hysteria. Had they made any attempt to approach the chil-
dren, the incident might have gotten out of control with terrified
kids frantically scattering in all directions, their shrill screams
ringing through the forest. In the meantime, their anxious moth-
ers huddled, trembling, behind the trees, afraid of the ‘Dhamma
monks’ and, at the same time, afraid that their children might flee
in all directions. They watched nervously until the monks were
out of sight.
When the monks finally disappeared, a big commotion
erupted as mothers and children dashed excitedly about, trying to
find one another. By the time the whole group was safely reunited,
it seemed as though the entire village had disbanded for awhile.
The reunion was accompanied by a hubbub of chatter, everybody
laughing about the sudden appearance of the ‘Dhamma monks’
and the chaos that followed.
Such occurrences were common in those early years: women
and children were terrified because they had never before seen
dhutanga kammaååhãna monks. Ordinarily people knew nothing
about them and showed little interest, except to flee at their sight.
There are several possible reasons for this. Firstly, their appear-
ance was rather austere and reserved. They were unlikely to show
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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