Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

of offending Ãcariya Mun. Like people everywhere with kilesas,
they were emotionally susceptible to things in their environment.
Their mindfulness was simply too slow in catching up with the
lightning quickness of their minds – thus, Ãcariya Mun’s frequent
scoldings.
Ãcariya Mun was extremely quick at reading other people’s
thoughts. Monks who lived with him had no doubts whatsoever
about this. He was able to read our errant thoughts and then cau-
tion us about them with unerring accuracy. Only on occasions,
when he could not be bothered to say anything, did he remain
quiet. Though his rebukes were frequent, he did relax occasion-
ally to let us catch our breath. Otherwise, we’d probably have suf-
focated to death. Because of my incurable restlessness, I myself
was chastised more often than most. But those of us who endured
and lived patiently with him over a long period of time were usu-
ally energized in our meditation practice. We developed a firm
anchor in our hearts as a result of his exhortations which con-
stantly forged, tempered, and beat our practice into shape. Con-
stant vigilance, and the restraint it fostered, made it possible to
cultivate the mindfulness and wisdom necessary to resist inciden-
tal temptations. In the context of the art of magic, it can be com-
pared to learning the necessary skills and then testing them out
against the teacher until one is impervious to attack. Calm and
secure in the knowledge that their harmful potential has been
neutralized, one can withstand guns and swords, unperturbed.^34
In the context of Dhamma practice, it means one can stand firm
in the face of evocative emotions and temptations that normally
arouse desire, without fear of being influenced or seduced. In
other words, remaining unperturbed in all situations.