“Treating an illness requires diagnosing its cause, then devis-
ing an effective cure before it develops into a chronic condition.
Taking care of morality requires the mind to be in effective con-
trol. Otherwise, the result will be tarnished morality that’s patchy,
and full of holes. Such splintered, inconsistent virtue is truly pit-
iful. It moves people to live an aimless existence and inevitably
causes an adverse effect on the entire religion. Besides that, it’s not
a source of comfort to the person practicing it, nor is it admired
by his peers.
“I have never done much studying. After I ordained, my
teacher took me as a wandering monk into the mountains and
forests. I learned Dhamma from the trees and grasses, the rivers
and the streams, the cliffs and the caves. I learned it from the
sounds of birds and wild animals, from the natural environment
around me. I didn’t study the scriptures long enough to become
well-versed in the teaching on moral virtue; and my answers to
your questions tend to reflect that primitive education. I feel
rather inadequate for my inability to provide answers that would
be suitably eloquent for your edification.”
Question: “What is the nature of morality and what con-
stitutes genuine moral virtue?”
Ãcariya Mun: “Being mindfully aware of our thoughts;
knowing which things are appropriate to think about and which
are not; taking care how we express ourselves by way of body,
speech, and mind; controlling these three factors so that they
remain within the confines of what is morally acceptable. By
properly adhering to these conditions we can be confident that
the moral nature of our behavior is exemplary and we are never
unruly or offensive. Apart from such exemplary conduct in body,
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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