that these people might be able to read their thoughts. Though
timid by nature, they nonetheless wanted to find out what the
people knew. They couldn’t resist the temptation of asking for
specific information about their own thoughts. The hill tribes-
men told them the truth. Still unconvinced, the monks chal-
lenged them. Unfazed by a display of their own ignorance, they
cross-examined the hill tribesmen closely to find out if they truly
could read thoughts. It was as though they believed that their
minds were tightly sealed by hundreds of impenetrable layers. The
hill tribesmen answered with the customary frankness of forest
people who are uninhibited by social formalities – answers which
left the monks feeling very vulnerable. After that, they remained
apprehensive that these people might have access to everything
they were thinking.
These same hill tribesmen casually informed Ãcariya Mun
that they knew about the state of his citta, having checked it out
first, before checking on that of the other monks.
“What’s my citta like – is it afraid of ghosts?”
“Your citta is devoid of all traces of conventional reality. All
that’s left is Nibbãna in a human body. Your citta is absolutely
supreme – it fears nothing.”
After that, the villagers made no further mention of ghosts.
Those accomplished in meditation informed the others who grad-
ually came to have faith in Ãcariya Mun and the Buddhasãsana,
thus losing interest in the business of ghosts. Every morning they
gathered together in the village center to offer alms to the monks.
Having placed some food in each monk’s bowl, they received a
blessing from Ãcariya Mun. He taught them to show their appre-
ciation by exclaiming “sãdhu” together in a loud voice, allowing
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
#1