ity to get out their message. They relied instead on their exemplary
behavior^14 as a natural means of gaining public interest.
A dhutanga monk who is concentrated on Dhamma consid-
ers wandering in search of seclusion to be an indispensable part
of his personal practice. Secluded places offer his mind and body
a calm, quiet environment. So it was with Ãcariya Mun. Each
year at the end of the rainy season retreat he started traveling,
hiking through forests and mountains in locales where he found
just enough small villages to support his daily almsround. More
than any other part of the country, he enjoyed wandering in Thai-
land’s Northeast region. Among his favorites were the vast for-
ests and mountain ranges in the provinces of Nakhon Phanom,
Sakon Nakhon, Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Loei, and Lom Sak; or
on the Laotian side of the Mekong River in such places as Tha
Khek, Vientiane, and Luang Prabang. Those locations with their
huge tracts of forest and mountainous terrain were ideally suited
to practicing the ascetic way of life.
Wherever he was, whatever the time of day, Ãcariya Mun’s
primary focus remained the same: working tirelessly to improve
his meditation practice. He knew that this was his most impor-
tant task in life. By nature, he disliked involvement in monas-
tic building projects. He preferred to concentrate exclusively on
the inner work of meditative development. He avoided socializing
with fellow monks and remained aloof from civil society, much
preferring life alone – a style of living that allowed him the free-
dom to focus all his attention and energy on one main task: tran-
scending dukkha.^15 Earnestness and sincerity characterized every-
thing he did: never deceiving himself, he never misled others.
The incredible energy, endurance, and circumspection that
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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