He worried they might become dispirited in the face of this chal-
lenge. A sick monk showing signs of weakness or anxiety, lack-
ing the mindful self-control expected of him, was bound to be
severely rebuked. Ãcariya Mun might actually forbid the monks
in his monastery to care for a sick monk, believing that weakness,
anxiety, and a whining mentality were not the right way to deal
with illness. Sick people react in that way all the time and never
see it as a problem. But a monk, whose status demands that he put
up with difficult situations and investigate them carefully, should
never react like that. It creates a bad example. For if a monk
brings this kind of defeatist attitude into the circle of practice, it
may spread like a contagious disease, easily infecting others.
Think of the mess that might cause: Monks moaning and
groaning, tossing and turning like dying animals. You are prac-
ticing monks, so don’t adopt animal-like behavior. If you begin
thinking and acting like animals, the religion will soon develop
animal characteristics, spreading confusion everywhere – defi-
nitely not the way of the Buddha.
We have all been sick at one time or another, so we are
well aware of what someone else feels like when sick. It isn’t
necessary for you to make a public display of your discomfort. If
mental anguish and vociferous complaints were effective cures,
then conventional medicines would not be needed. Whoever
fell ill could just whine about his plight in a loud voice to make
the illness go way – easy as that. There would be no need
to spend a lot of time and trouble treating the patient. Can
whining really cure your present illness? If it can’t, why dis-
gust everyone else with your useless whining? This is a sample
of the lecture Ãcariya Mun might give a monk whose inability
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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