worthy of everyone’s heartfelt respect. He is now revered far and
wide in places where people have heard about his excellent repu-
tation. It’s a great shame that so many Buddhists who were keenly
interested in Dhamma never heard of him while he was still alive.
Although they might have very much wanted to meet a man of
such exceptional virtue, they never had a chance to do so. This
was largely because he did not like to frequent crowded places like
towns and cities. He found life in the mountains and forests far
more satisfactory his entire life.
Many monks who were dedicated to the practice of Dhamma
also experienced great difficulty in reaching him. The dirt roads
were hardly passable in those days – and anyway, there were no
vehicles. They had to hike for days in order to reach the places
where he liked to stay. Those who were unaccustomed to hiking
just couldn’t manage it. Their excuses for not going varied. Some
monks were simply not courageous enough to accept the plain
truth about Dhamma that he taught. Some were afraid that food
and other necessities would be in short supply and of poor quality.
Some were afraid they could not eat just one meal a day as he did.
Where Ãcariya Mun was concerned, monks tended to create any
number of obstacles for themselves, most of them appearing insur-
mountable. Although their aspirations were sincere, such con-
cerns amounted to self-imposed barriers that prevented them from
gaining the benefit of their good intentions. In the end, they real-
ized the kind of monk he really was only long after he had passed
away and they heard the story of his life. He epitomized the sãsana
which has preserved magga and phala from Lord Buddha’s initial
attainment down through the countless number of Arahants who
have maintained magga and phala to this day. The essence of the
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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