the day and dozed off. As I slept, Ãcariya Mun appeared in my
dream to scold me: “Why are you sleeping like a pig? This is no
pig farm! I won’t tolerate monks coming here to learn the art of
being a pig. You’ll turn this place into a pigsty!” His voice bel-
lowed, fierce and menacing, frightening me and causing me to
wake with a start. Dazed and trembling, I stuck my head out the
door expecting to see him. I was generally very frightened of him
anyway; but, I had forced myself to stay with him despite that.
The reason was simple: it was the right thing to do. Besides, he
had an effective antidote for pigs like me. So, I was in a panic. I
stuck my head out, looking around in all directions, but I didn’t
see him anywhere. Only then did I begin to breathe a bit easier.
Later when I had a chance, I told Ãcariya Mun what happened.
He very cleverly explained my dream in a way that relieved my
discomfort – a tolerant approach that I don’t always agree with,
since soothing words can easily promote carelessness and compla-
cency. He explained my dream like this:
“You’ve just recently come to live with a teacher and you are
really determined to do well. Your dream simply mirrored your
state of mind. That scolding you heard, reproaching you for acting
like a pig, was the Dhamma warning you not to bring pig-like ten-
dencies into the monkhood and the religion. Most people do only
what they feel like doing, failing to take into account the value
of their human birth and the consequences of their actions. This
makes it difficult for them to fully realize their human potential.
There’s an old saying that someone is ‘not all there’. It refers to
a basic lack of human potential arising from callous insensitivity
to the fact that human beings possess intrinsic qualities that are
superior to those of animals. This attitude promotes such degrad-
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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