like humans; but this is what devas encounter and have always
experienced with humans.”
When Ãcariya Mun told stories about devas and other
kinds of spirits, the monks were mesmerized: They forgot all about
themselves, the passing time, and their feelings of fatigue. They
wished that, someday, they also would come to know about such
things; and this hope made them happy to practice. This was also
the case when Ãcariya Mun thought it necessary to speak of his
past lives or the past lives of others. His audience became eager
to know about their own past lives and forgot about overcoming
dukkha and attaining Nibbãna. Sometimes a monk was startled
to find his mind wandering in this way and admonished himself:
Hey, I’m starting to get crazy. Instead of thinking about freedom from
dukkha, here I am chasing after shadows of a past that’s long gone.
In this way he regained his mindfulness for a while, but as soon
as it slipped again he would revisit those same thoughts. For this
reason, many monks found it necessary to censure themselves on
a regular basis.ÃCARIYA MUN’S STORIES about the devas and other visiting spir-
its were quite fascinating. In particular, he spoke about how the
ghost world has its share of hooligans just like we do. Bad charac-
ters, who cause disturbances, are rounded up and imprisoned in a
place which we humans would call a jail. Different types of offend-
ers are imprisoned in different cell blocks, and all the cells are full.
There are male hooligan ghosts and female hooligan ghosts. And
then there are the very brutal types, again either male or female.
Ãcariya Mun said that it was clear from the cruelty in their eyes