Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

quiet of these virtually unpopulated mountain regions. Though
human contact was scarce, communication with devas, brah-
mas, nãgas, and other spirits from various realms of existence was
normal for him – much in the same way that a person knowing
foreign languages regularly communicates with people from other
countries. Due to his long-standing fluency in this type of com-
munication, his time spent living in mountainous regions was of
special benefit to celestial beings.
It was also beneficial to the local hill tribes, who tended
to be straightforward, honest, even-tempered people. Once they
came to know his character and to appreciate his Dhamma, they
revered him so much that they were willing to sacrifice their lives
for him. Hill tribes and forest peoples such as the Ekor, Khamu,
Museur, and Hmong are generally considered to be rather scruffy,
unattractive, primitive people. But Ãcariya Mun found them to
be handsome, clean-looking people who were courteous and well-
behaved, always treating their elders and local leaders with great
respect. They maintained a good community spirit, and there
were hardly any troublemakers in their villages back then. They
placed so much trust in their elders, especially the village head-
man, that when he spoke everyone paid attention and obedi-
ently complied with his wishes. And they were not opinionated,
making them easy to teach.
Those so-called wild, uncivilized jungles were actually inhab-
ited by good, honest, moral people. There, unlike in the jungles
of human civilization, theft and robbery were virtually unknown.
Jungles consisting of trees and wild animals aren’t nearly so dan-
gerous as the civilized jungles of human society – places teeming
with all kinds of perilous kilesas where greed, hatred, and delusion