was offering them again. Ãcariya Mun took them without saying
a word and the matter was never mentioned again.
Later, that monk told some of his fellow monks how he first
tried unsuccessfully to contradict Ãcariya Mun, only to discover
in the end that Ãcariya Mun was exactly right. Some monks were
puzzled as to how he could possibly have known whose money
was involved in the cigarette purchase since he had never been
informed about it. One monk at this informal meeting spoke up,
protesting vigorously.
“Were he simply like the rest of us, obviously he wouldn’t
have known a thing. But it’s precisely because he is so very
different from us that we respect him and admire his superior
wisdom. All of us gathered here under his tutelage realize
that his capabilities are as different from ours as day is from
night. Although I don’t know much, I do know for certain
that he is wiser and more knowledgeable than I am in every
way. I see he is truly above reproach, which is why I have
entrusted my life to him and his training methods with self-
effacing humility. My heart is still full of kilesas, but those
kilesas are very afraid of him, so they don’t dare show their
faces in his presence. I believe this is due to my willingness
to surrender to him out of fear and respect, an attitude far
more powerful than these vile kilesas, which naturally tend
to oppose the teacher. Confronted by Ãcariya Mun, they
give up completely, not daring to display the same reckless
abandon they do when I live with other teachers. If we feel
we cannot submit wholeheartedly to his judgment, then we
do not belong here under his guidance. Should we persist