tunate inhabitants, all experiencing the grievous consequences of
their previous actions. Watching these events unfold, he often lost
all perspective of the passage of time. In those days, he was still
uncertain whether these scenes were real or imaginary. He said
that it was only later on, when his spiritual faculties were more
mature, that he was able to investigate these matters and under-
stand clearly the definite moral and psychological causes underly-
ing them. Any lapse in concentration as his citta ‘converged’ into
calm created an opening through which it could again focus out-
ward to perceive such phenomena. His newfound proficiency not-
withstanding, if his attention turned outward, his citta would be
off in a flash.
Ãcariya Mun told us that early on, due to inexperience with
the mercurial nature of his own mind, when focusing his citta to
examine the lower half of his body, instead of following the vari-
ous parts down to the soles of his feet, it would shoot out through
his lower torso and penetrate deep into the earth – just as Ãcariya
Sao had so astutely remarked. No sooner had he hurriedly with-
drawn the citta back into his body than it would fly through the
top of his head, soaring high into the sky where it paced back and
forth contentedly, showing no interest in returning to his body.
Concentrating with intense mindfulness, he had to force the citta
to re-enter the body and perform the work he wanted it to do.
In those early days his mind developed a tendency to drop
so speedily into a state of calm – like falling from a cliff, or down
a well – that his mindfulness couldn’t keep up with it. Resting
only briefly in complete stillness before withdrawing slightly to the
level of upacãra samãdhi,^20 his citta tended to venture out so often,
and experienced such a variety of strange things, that he became
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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