that Ãcariya Mun was truly an Arahant. His family were some-
what skeptical, worried that, perhaps, he had miscounted them in
the morning. He refused to accept this, arguing vehemently that
he clearly remembered being given two relics by the senior monk
that morning. He insisted that he had accepted them with great
interest and respect. Even at work he had kept them in mind all
day, repeating to himself “two relics, two relics”, as though it was a
meditation subject. How could he have forgotten how many there
were? He told his family that if they still harbored any doubts,
tomorrow he would take them all to ask the senior monk: then
they would realize that what he said was true. But his family didn’t
want to wait: they were determined to go immediately. So, they all
agreed to go straight away. Upon arriving at the monastery, the
government official asked the senior monk how many relics he
had given him that morning.
“I gave you two relics. Why do you ask? Is one missing?”
“No, none are missing. In fact, they have actually increased
by one, so now I have three! The reason I ask is, when I returned
home and opened the bottle to remove the relics and place them
in a reliquary, there were three instead of the two I expected to
see. This made me tremble with joy. I quickly told my wife and
children what had happened, but no one believed me. Afraid that
I had miscounted them, they insisted that I come again and ask
you to make sure. Now that we know the truth, I feel even hap-
pier. Well, what do you say – do you believe me now?”
His wife smiled and said she was worried that he may
have miscounted them, or that perhaps he was just kidding her.
She just wanted to make sure. Since it was obviously true, she
believed it; she had no intention of denying the truth. At this the
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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