ghosts fear in this world are the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the
Sangha. Not a single ghost would dare stand against them.”
That morning, just as Ãcariya Mun had foreseen, the hill
tribesmen came to request a magic formula against ghosts. Ãcariya
Mun gave them the formula “buddho, dhammo, sangho” as well as
the method for using it. Assuring them that ghosts were terrified of
this formula, he told them to mentally recite “buddho”, “dhammo”,
or “sangho”, whichever they preferred.
With Ãcariya Mun’s instructions fresh in their minds, they
began what they thought to be a ritual for warding off ghosts,
unaware that, in truth, he had given them a meditation subject.
Using this method, they attained samãdhi before long. The next
morning they rushed off to see Ãcariya Mun and told him what
had happened. He assured them that they were practicing the
formula correctly, and because of that, ghosts in the area were
terrified and bound to run away. Now protected by the power
of Dhamma, they no longer had to fear ghosts. In fact, ghosts
had already begun to fear even those people in the village who
couldn’t yet meditate.
Being inherently good, honest folks, hill tribe people were
easy to teach. When Ãcariya Mun instructed them to meditate each
day, they took up the practice with such sincerity that before long
some of them were getting exceptionally good results. Their hearts
became brightly illuminated and they were able to know the minds
of other people, including those of the monks in the monastery, just
like the man in the previous story about ‘tigers in disguise’.
On visits to the monastery they spoke to Ãcariya Mun about
their meditation practice, describing their extraordinary percep-
tual abilities. Some of the monks were astonished, and worried
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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