These were the thoughts that moved Ãcariya Mun to such a pro-
found sense of sadness that evening.AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN, where the path to the Sarika Cave
began, stood a vipassanã meditation center, the residence of an
elderly monk who was ordained late in life, after having had a wife
and family. Thinking of this monk one evening, Ãcariya Mun
wondered what he was doing, and so, he sent out his flow of con-
sciousness to take a look. At that moment, the old monk’s mind
was completely distracted by thoughts of the past concerning the
affairs of his home and family. Again, sending out his flow of con-
sciousness to observe him later that same night, Ãcariya Mun
encountered the same situation. Just before dawn, he focused his
citta once again, only to find the old monk still busy making plans
for his children and grandchildren. Each time he sent out the
flow of his citta to check, he found the monk thinking incessantly
about matters concerned with building a worldly life now, and
untold rounds of existence in the future.
On the way back from his almsround that morning, he
stopped to visit the elderly monk and immediately put him on
the spot: “How is it going, old fellow? Building a new house and
getting married to your wife all over again? You couldn’t sleep at
all last night. I suppose everything is all arranged now so you can
relax in the evenings, without having to get so worked up plan-
ning what you’ll say to your children and grandchildren. I suspect
you were so distracted by all that business last night you hardly
slept a wink, am I right?”
Embarrassed, the elderly monk asked with a sheepish smile: