Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

the phenomenal world is subject to change and therefore unreliable.
Thus, all of samsãric existence is characterized by dukkha.
garuða: A special class of non-human beings characterized by features
that appear part bird and part human. Garuðas are the archenemies
of all classes of serpents, especially nãgas.
kamma (skt. karma): One’s intentional actions of body, speech, and mind
that result in birth and future existence. These actions carry with
them a specific moral content – good, bad, or neutral – and leave
in the ongoing continuum of consciousness a potential to engender
corresponding results in the future. Buddhism holds that all unen-
lightened beings are bound to be born, live, die, and be reborn again
and again in a variety of worlds and circumstances, a perpetual cycle
of existence that is driven by the nature of their kamma and the
inevitable manifestation of its consequences.
kammaååhãna: Literally, “basis of work”, kammaååhãna refers to the “occu-
pation” of a practicing Buddhist monk: namely, the contemplation of
certain meditation themes that are conducive to uprooting the defil-
ing forces of greed, hatred, and delusion from his mind. In the ordi-
nation procedure, a new monk is taught the 5 basic kammaååhãna
that lay the groundwork for contemplation of the body: hair of the
head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, and skin. By extension, kam-
maååhãna includes all 40 of the classical Buddhist meditation sub-
jects. The term kammaååhãna is most often used to identify the par-
ticular Thai forest tradition and lineage that was founded by Ãcariya
Sao and Ãcariya Mun.
khandha: Literally, “group” or “aggregate”. In the plural, khandhas refer to
the five physical and mental components of personality (body, feel-
ings, memory, thoughts, consciousness) and to the sensory expe-
rience in general (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations).
Also known as “aggregates of attachment” because they are the
objects of a craving for personal existence, they are, in fact, simply
classes of natural phenomena that continuously arise and cease and
are devoid of any enduring self-identity whatsoever.