Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

Here the perpetual journey from the higher realms of existence to
the lower ones and back again, through the repetitive cycle of birth,
ageing, sickness, and death, totally ceases. Why does it cease here?
Because those hidden, defiling elements that normally permeate the
citta and cause it to spin around have been completely eliminated.
All that remains is the pure citta, which will never again experience
birth and death.
Rebirth is inevitable, however, for the citta that has yet to reach
that level of purity. One may be tempted to deny that rebirth follows
death, or one may doggedly hold to the nihilistic viewpoint that rejects
all possibility of life after death, but such convictions cannot alter the
truth. One’s essential knowing nature is not governed by specula-
tion; nor is it influenced by people’s views and opinions. Its preemi-
nence within one’s own being, coupled with the supreme authority of
kamma, completely override all speculative considerations.
As a consequence, all living beings are compelled to move from
one life to the next, experiencing both gross incarnations, like the
creatures of land, sea and air, and the more refined incarnations of
ghosts, devas and brahmas. Although the later are so ethereal as to be
invisible to the human eye, the citta has no difficulty taking birth in
their realms. The appropriate kamma is all that is required. Kamma
is the determining factor; it is the power that propels the citta on its
ceaseless journey in saÿsãra.
The citta is something so extremely subtle that it is difficult to
comprehend what actually constitutes the citta. It is only when the
citta attains a state of meditative calm that its true nature becomes
apparent. Even experienced meditators who are intent on under-
standing the citta are unable to know its true nature until they have
attained the meditative calm of samãdhi.
Even though the citta resides within the body, we are never-
theless unable to detect it. That’s how very subtle it is. Because it is
dispersed throughout the physical body, we cannot tell which part