Ven. Acariya Mun - Spiritual Biography + photos

relying on the threat of danger to help the citta attain calm. These
methods were all practiced with the same aim in mind – to tor-
ment the citta, and so forcibly tame its unruly nature.
When a monk discovered that any one or more of these
techniques matched his individual temperament, he used it to
good effect, focusing his mind and strengthening his resolve, thus
achieving his objective and learning many valuable lessons in the
process. For this reason, dhutanga monks actually preferred such
harrowing practices. Ãcariya Mun himself had used them and so
liked to encourage his monks to do likewise, insisting that this
was the way clever people trained themselves. These techniques
have never been abandoned – they are still being practiced by
dhutanga monks today.
The training we undertake to develop our spiritual worth
requires a fair amount of coercion to be successful. The hard-
ships we experience are insignificant when compared with the
good results we gain: virtue, contentment, discipline, and firm
Dhamma principles to supervise and maintain our lives – all qual-
ities that people highly value. Only useless junk and cadavers
require no maintenance. The personal worth we hope to real-
ize will only arise through conscientious self-improvement, so we
should work to maintain this purpose in our lives. By this means,
we will be good, happy, prosperous people now and in the future.
Dhutanga monks therefore deserve a lot of respect for refusing to
allow adversity and hardship to hinder their practice, thus clear-
ing the way for Dhamma to develop in their hearts.
So long as people are interested in practicing Dhamma
properly, the Buddha’s sãsana will last indefinitely in the world.
The sãsana rewards those truly desiring Dhamma who practice