faculties cease to function at that time, meaning they are totally
unaware of all external sense impressions. This monk’s citta was
one such case: when it fully ‘converged’ in samãdhi, all awareness
of external phenomena ceased as a consequence. As the monk
explained it, the moment his citta fully ‘converged,’ everything
that was involved with it in any way vanished instantly. Only
when he withdrew from that state did his normal awareness of
things return. But, he found it difficult to attain this state unless
he was under duress by some external threat. A real threat of
danger forced his citta to ‘converge’ very rapidly – in a split second
it reached its true base. He said this was the reason he liked to
seek out frightening places.
“I find this the most convenient way to develop my medi-
tation: practicing in places that arouse fear. I actually prefer wild
mountains that have caves frequented by tigers, and tend to shy
away from those that don’t. As you can see: tiger-infested areas
are perfectly suited to a rough character like me – that’s what
makes me so fond of them.
“I had other strange experiences while living in that cave.
Besides realizing my goal to attain deep meditative calm, I
also developed several unusual kinds of psychic awareness. For
example, terrestrial devas came some nights to visit and con-
verse with me. Even stranger still, when someone in the local
village died I always knew about it immediately, though I’m not
sure where this knowledge came from. It simply arose spontane-
ously in my heart. And it was invariably correct – never did I find
reason to doubt it. My cave was located about five miles from the
village, yet those people still insisted on coming to request my
help in performing the funeral rites, which was very troublesome
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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