ment to them. Wisdom was the tool he used to excavate the entire
root system of the kilesas, relentlessly destroying them trunk, roots,
and all. His mind was fixed on a single purpose: investigating all
arising phenomena. Everything that made contact with the mind
was scrutinized in terms of the ti-lakkhaõa^4 to gain insight into its
true nature, thus eliminating the kilesas associated with it. Any
dhutanga monk who felt uncertain about his mode of practice
returned to Ãcariya Mun as quickly as possible to ask him for clar-
ification. As soon as his doubts were cleared up, he left, returning
to the seclusion of the mountains to press ahead with his spirit-
ual development.
Many dhutanga monks relied on Ãcariya Mun to give them
guidance in meditation. There was not sufficient room in his mon-
astery to accommodate them all. So, after receiving his instruc-
tions, they went to live in the surrounding hills and forests. Spread-
ing out in different directions, either alone or in pairs, each monk
looked for a secluded place to set up camp that was within walk-
ing distance of Ãcariya Mun’s monastery. In that way they could
return to see him with minimum inconvenience. Depending on
individual preferences, some monks lived three or four miles away,
others between five to eight miles, while a few might have lived
as far as twelve to fifteen miles from him. Monks traveling a dis-
tance of twelve miles or more to consult Ãcariya Mun remained
overnight in his monastery before walking back to their respec-
tive locations.
The trails that connected forest and mountain hamlets then
were very different from the provincial roads seen everywhere
today. They were mere dirt tracks that those communities had
used for ages to keep in touch with one another; and all the local
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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