Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

speech, and mind, it’s difficult to say what genuine moral virtue is,
since it’s impossible to separate its practice from the person who
maintains it. They are not distinct entities, like a house and its
owner – the house on one hand, the owner on another. Trying
to distinguish between moral virtue and the person who main-
tains it is very problematic, so I wouldn’t want to do it. Even the
peace of mind resulting from the practice of moral virtue cannot
actually be separated from that moral virtue. If morality could be
isolated in this manner, it would probably have been on sale in
the stores long ago. In such a case, people’s moral virtue would
probably become a lucrative target for thieves to steal and sell off
to the highest bidder, leaving many people totally deprived. Like
all other possessions, moral virtue would then become a source
of anxiety. It would cause Buddhists to become weary of striving
for it, and insecure about holding onto their acquisition. Conse-
quently, the inability to know what precisely constitutes genu-
ine moral virtue is a way to avoid the dangers arising from moral
issues, thus allowing virtuous individuals a clever way to gain
peace of mind. Being very wary of the inherent dangers, I have
never thought of separating myself from the moral virtue that I
practice. Those unwilling to make this separation remain con-
tent wherever they go, whatever they do, for they never have to
worry about losing their moral virtue. Those who see it as some-
thing separate from themselves might worry so much that they
end up coming back as ghosts after death to anxiously watch over
their store of accumulated virtue. It would be like dying people
who fret about their wealth, and therefore, get stuck in a frame
of mind where they return as ghosts to keep anxious watch over
their accumulated riches.”