with vegetation. You’d have to be a wild boar to penetrate that
thicket. And yet, you still insist on walking there. You’re really
weird, you know. When we ask you what the path is for, you say
it’s a place to search for buddho – I’ve lost my buddho. When asked
why you sit still with your eyes closed, again you say you’re look-
ing for buddho. Here you are a supreme master, yet you don’t tell
anyone about it. You’re the strangest person we’ve ever known,
but we like you just the way you are. Your bed is a carpet of moldy
smelling leaves strewn over the ground. How could you stand it
all these months? It looks like a pig’s lair. Looking at it now, we
feel so sorry for you we could cry. We were very stupid, all of us.
We didn’t realize what a wonderful person you are. Worse than
that, a few of us accused you of having sinister motives, convinc-
ing the rest to dislike and distrust you. Finally now the whole vil-
lage trusts and reveres you.”
Ãcariya Mun said that, when hill tribe people decided to
trust and respect someone, their belief was heartfelt and unequiv-
ocal. Their loyalty was unconditional – they would sacrifice their
lives if they had to. They took what they were taught to heart,
conducting themselves accordingly. As they became more famil-
iar with the method and more proficient in their practice, Ãcariya
Mun taught them to steadily increase the amount of time they
spent doing buddho meditation.
Ãcariya Mun stayed with those people for over a year –
from February of one year to April of the following year – until
he finally left. However, because of his great compassion for them,
taking leave of them was very difficult for him. They were very
reluctant to see him go. They assured him that, were he to remain
there until he died, the whole community would arrange for his
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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