to face hardship was an annoyance to the whole monastic
community.
On the other hand, when he visited a sick monk, who main-
tained a strong, mindful calmness, showing no signs of agitation
about his condition, Ãcariya Mun invariably demonstrated his
approval. He commended the monk for his fortitude and gave him
some very inspiring words of encouragement. Even after his recov-
ery, Ãcariya Mun continued to praise that monk’s mental tough-
ness, holding him up as an excellent example for the others.“That’s how a true warrior in the battle with pain gets the
job done. Don’t complain about the enemy’s overwhelm-
ing numbers. Just dig in and fight them all to the limit of
your strength and ability without flinching. Never withdraw
your forces, never accept defeat. Never let the enemy stomp
on you while you’re down. We within the circle of practice
must be warriors. It is no use complaining how extremely
painful an illness is – just focus on the pain as it arises and
try to understand its true nature. Regardless of how much,
or how little pain we experience, all pain is a manifestation
of the Truth of Dukkha.”Any monk who was weak and submissive when faced with a pain-
ful affliction heard a different tune from Ãcariya Mun.
“If you want the Truth, but refuse to investigate it because
you are afraid of pain, how will you ever discover where the
Truth lies? The Lord Buddha succeeded in realizing the
Truth by thoroughly investigating everything, not by whin-