ANOTHER INTRIGUING INCIDENT took place one morning at Ban
Nong Pheu monastery when Ãcariya Mun, rising from medita-
tion, came out of his room and, before anyone spoke, immedi-
ately told the monks to look under his hut and tell him whether
or not they could see the track of a large snake imprinted in the
dirt there. He explained to them that the night before a great
nãga had come to visit him and to listen to Dhamma. Before it
left, he had asked it to leave some marks on the ground as a visi-
ble sign to show the monks in the morning. The monks informed
him that they could see the track of a very large snake trailing
out from underneath his hut and into the forest. There being no
other tracks leading in, they could not tell how it had gotten there.
The only visible track was the one going out from under his hut.
The ground around his hut was swept clean so other tracks would
have been easily noticed; but there were no others; only the one.
Ãcariya Mun told them they need not look for others because they
wouldn’t find them. He reiterated that the nãga left directly from
his hut soon after he requested it to leave a mark on the ground
below.
Had the monks seen the track first and then asked Ãcariya
Mun about it, the incident would not be so thought-provoking.
The intriguing fact is that Ãcariya Mun immediately broached
the subject first, without being prompted; and sure enough, they
then found the track of a large snake under his hut. Which means
that, perceiving the nãga with his inner eye, he told it to leave
some visible mark for the monks to see with their physical eyes,
since their inner eyes were blind and they had no way to see the
nãga when it came to visit.
Later when they had an opportunity, the monks asked
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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