Ãcariya Mun’s safety, they begged him not to go.
Ãcariya Mun gave the villagers a sympathetic hearing, but
in the end he was still curious to see the cave. Live or die, he
wanted to put himself to the test, and so discover the truth of
those stories. The scary tales he heard didn’t frighten him in the
least. In truth, he saw this adventure as a means to arouse mind-
fulness, an opportunity to acquire many new ideas for contempla-
tion. He possessed the courage to face whatever was to happen,
as befits someone genuinely interested in seeking the truth. So in
his own unassuming way, he informed the villagers that, although
the stories were very frightening, he still would like to spend some
time in the cave. Assuring them that he would hurry back down
at the first sign of trouble, he asked to be escorted to the cave,
which they obligingly did.
FOR SEVERAL DAYS, Ãcariya Mun’s physical condition remained
normal, his heart calm and serene. The environment around the
cave was secluded and very quiet, disturbed only by the natural
sounds of wild animals foraging for food in the forest. He passed
the first few nights contentedly; but on subsequent nights he began
to suffer stomach pains. Although such pains were nothing new,
this time, however, the condition grew steadily worse, eventually
becoming so severe that he sometimes passed blood in his stool.
Before long his stomach refused to digest food properly – it simply
passed straight through. This made him reflect on what the vil-
lagers had said about four monks dying there recently. If his con-
dition didn’t improve, perhaps he would be the fifth.
When lay people came to see him at the cave one morn-