trespasser usually saw some sign of those powers on the very first
night. An ominous dream often accompanied fitful sleep: An
enormous black spirit, towering overhead, threatened to drag the
dreamer to his death, shouting that it had long been the cave’s
guardian exercising absolute authority over the whole area, and
would allow no one to trespass. So any trespasser was immediately
chased away, for it accepted no authority greater than its own,
except that of a person of impeccable virtue and a loving, com-
passionate heart, who extended these noble qualities to all living
beings. A person of such nobility was allowed to live in the cave.
The spirit would even protect him and pay him homage, but it did
not tolerate narrow-minded, selfish, ill-behaved intruders.
Finding life in the cave a very uncomfortable experience,
most monks refused to remain for long; and fearing death, they
made a hurried departure. Generally, no one managed a long stay
- only one or two days at most, and they were quickly on their
way. Trembling and almost out of their minds with fear as they
climbed back down, they blurted out something about a fierce,
demonic spirit. Scared and chastened, they fled, never to return.
Worse still, some who went up to the cave never came down again.
Thus, the villagers worried about the fate that awaited Ãcariya
Mun, not wanting him to become the next victim.
Ãcariya Mun asked what they meant by saying that some
monks went up there never to return: Why hadn’t they come down
again? He was told that, having died there, they couldn’t possibly
come back down. They recounted a story of four seemingly com-
petent monks who had died in the cave not long before. Prior to
entering the cave, one of them had assured the villagers that he
was impervious to fear, for he knew a potent spell that protected
