Ãcariya Mun whether the nãgas who visited him appeared in a
serpent-like form or in some other form. He replied that one could
never be sure with nãgas how they would appear.
“If they come for the purpose of listening to Dhamma, as
they did last night, then they’ll come in the form of a human
being of a comparable social status to their own. A great nãga
will come in the guise of a sovereign king surrounded by a royal
entourage. Its comportment will be very regal in every respect; so
when I discuss Dhamma with it I use royal terms of speech, just as
I would with any royal personage. Its entourage resembles a dele-
gation of government officials accompanying a crowned head of
state. They all behave in a most polite, respectful manner – much
more so than we humans do. They sit perfectly still when listen-
ing to Dhamma, showing no signs of restlessness. When discuss-
ing Dhamma with me, the leader always speaks on behalf of the
whole group. Anyone with a question will refer it to the leader
first. Then he asks me and I give a reply. Once I have answered
all their questions, they all depart together.”
HERE IS ANOTHER INCIDENT that we can take on faith about Ãcariya
Mun’s extraordinary abilities, even though its true nature lies
beyond our comprehension. A certain monk noticed that Ãcariya
Mun liked to smoke a particular brand of cigarettes,^3 so he told a
lay supporter to use some money he had been offered to buy some
for Ãcariya Mun. The lay supporter complied; and the monk then
offered them to Ãcariya Mun. At first Ãcariya Mun said nothing,
probably because he was speaking on Dhamma at the time and
did not have any opportunity to investigate the matter. But, the