subtle flow of consciousness was preparing to reserve a new birth-
place in the womb of her own niece who lived in the same village
- this despite the fact that she herself was still very much alive.
This discovery shocked her, so she quickly brought her citta back
to its base and withdrew from samãdhi. She was greatly troubled
for she knew that her niece was already one month pregnant.
The next morning she hurried off to the monastery and
related the whole affair to Ãcariya Mun. Listening quietly, many
of the monks overheard what she said. Having never heard any-
thing like it before, we were all puzzled by such a strange tale. I was
especially interested in this affair and how Ãcariya Mun would
respond to the elderly lady. We sat perfectly still in breathless
anticipation, all eyes on Ãcariya Mun, waiting to hear his reply.
He sat with eyes closed for about two minutes and then spoke to
the elderly lady, telling her precisely what she should do.
“The next time your citta ‘converges’ into calm like that care-
fully examine the flow of your citta. Should you notice that the
flow of your citta has again gone outward, then you must concen-
trate on severing that outward flow with intuitive wisdom. If you
succeed in completely cutting it off with wisdom, it will not reap-
pear in the future. But it’s imperative that you carefully examine
it and then fully concentrate on severing it with wisdom. Don’t
just do it half-heartedly, or else, I warn you, when you die you’ll
be reborn in your niece’s womb. Remember well what I’m telling
you. If you don’t succeed in cutting off this outward flow of your
citta, when you die you will surely be reborn in your niece’s womb.
I have no doubt about this.”
Having received this advice, the elderly lady returned home.
Two days later she came to the monastery looking bright and cheer-
