Ācariya Mahā Boowa Ñāṇasampanno - A Spiritual Biography of Acariya Mun Bhūridatta Thera

Venerable cariya Mun Bhridatta Thera

A Spiritual Biography

by

cariya Mah Boowaasampanno

Translated fromthe Thai by

Bhikkhu DickSlaratano

THIS BOOK MUST BE GIVEN AWAY FREE & MUST NOT BESOLD

Copyright 2004 byVenerable cariya Mah Boowa asampanno

All commercialrights reserved.

First Edition: 2003

E-book edition:November 2011

This book is a free gift ofDhamma, and may not be offered for sale; for as the Venerable cariya MahBoowa asampanno has said, Dhamma has a value beyond all wealth and shouldnot be sold like goods in a market place.

Reproduction of this book forsale or material gain, in whole or in part or in any form, or by any mechanicalor electronic means, is prohibited. Permission to reproduce, in whole or inpart, by any means for free distribution as a gift of Dhamma, however, ishereby granted, and no further permission need be obtained.

Any questions orconcerns can be addressed to:

Forest Dhamma Books

Wat Pa Baan Taad

Ampher Meuang

Udon Thani, 41000Thailand

www.forestdhamma.org

Venerable cariya Mun Bhridatta Thera

Bone fragments collected after the cremationof cariya Muns body have since transformed into crystal-like relics invarious hues of translucency and opacity.

Venerable cariya Mun Bhridatta Thera is a towering figurein contemporary Thai Buddhism. He was widely revered and respected during hislifetime for the extraordinary courage and determination he displayed inpracticing the ascetic way of life and for his uncompromising strictness inteaching his many disciples. During the 50 years since his death, he hasassumed an exalted status in Buddhist circles and thus remains an overshadowingpresence whose life and teachings have become synonymous with the Buddhasnoble quest for self-transformation.

Although cariya Mun (pronounced to rhyme with sun) left nowritten record of his own, this biography, compiled by one of his closedisciples some 20 years after his death, is largely responsible for introducinghis life, his achievements, and his teachings to a broad section of Buddhistsociety. Through the widespread popularity of this book, many Thai Buddhistshave been given fresh hope that the spiritual liberation which the Buddhaproclaimed to the world over 2,500 years ago, and which has been attained by somany aspirants over the succeeding centuries, is still accessible in todaysmodern age. Many Thais have expressed the view that they had lost confidencethat magga, phala, and Nibbna were still relevant today. But, byreading cariya Muns biography, they realized that accounts of these exaltedattainments are not mere fragments of ancient history, dead and dry but aliving, luminous legacy of self-transcendence accessible to any individual whois willing and able to put forth the effort needed to achieve them. They havecome to understand that Buddhist monks, with their distinctive robes andmonastic vocation, are not merely clerical figures representing the Buddha,Dhamma, and Sangha: some of them are indeed living proof of the Truth presentedin the Buddhas teaching.

The noble aim of spiritual liberation must be accomplished bythe appropriate means: the Middle Way as taught by the Lord Buddha. Althoughthe Buddha forbade the use of self-mortification as a means to gainenlightenment, he nevertheless authorized and encouraged those specializedascetic practices, known as dhutangas, that harmonize effectively withthis noble effort. The true Middle Way is not the smooth path of leastresistance negotiated with easy compromises and happy mediums; but rather, itis that path of practice which most effectively counters the mental defilementsthat impede progress by resisting the aspirant every step of the way. Thespiritual path is often arduous, being full of hardship and discomfort, whilethe inner forces opposed to success are formidable, and even intimidating. Thusthe work of the spiritual warrior requires potent counter measures to subvertthe inertial powers of laziness, craving, pride, and self-importance. So theBuddha encouraged monks, who were truly keen on extricating their hearts fromthe subtlest manifestations of these insidious defilements, to practice the dhutangas.Such ascetic observances are specifically designed to promote simplicity,humility, self-restraint, vigilance, and introspection in a monks everydaylife, and the Buddha was known to praise those monks who undertook theirpractice.

For this reason, the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk is foundedon the ideal of life as a homeless wanderer who, having renounced the world andgone forth from the household, dresses in robes made from discarded cloth,depends on alms for a living, and takes the forest as his dwelling place. Thisideal of the wandering forest monk intent on the Buddhas traditional spiritualquest is epitomized by the dhutangakammahna way of life.

Like dhutanga, kammahna is a termdesignating a specific orientation shared by Buddhist monks who are dedicatedto maintaining an austere meditative lifestyle. Kammahna (lit. basisof work) denotes an approach to meditation practice that is directed towarduprooting every aspect of greed, hatred, and delusion from the heart and thusdemolishing all bridges linking the mind to the cycle of repeated birth anddeath. Kammahna, with its emphasis on meditative development, and dhutanga,with its emphasis on the ascetic way of life conducive to intensive meditation,compliment each other perfectly in the noble effort to transcend the cycle ofrebirth. They, along with the code of monastic discipline, are the cornerstoneson which the edifice of a monks practice is erected.

Both the letter and the spirit of this ascetic life ofmeditation can be found embodied in the life and teaching of cariya Mun. Fromthe day he first ordained until the day he passed away, his entire way of life,and the example he set for his disciples, were modeled on the principlesincorporated in these practices. He is credited with reviving, revitalizing,and eventually popularizing the dhutangakammahna tradition inThailand. Through his life-long efforts, dhutanga monks (or kammahnamonks, the two are used interchangeably) and the mode of practice they espousebecame, and still remain, a prominent feature of the Buddhist landscape there.

cariya Mun was especially gifted as a motivator and teacher.Many of the monks who trained directly under his tutelage have distinguishedthemselves by their spiritual achievements, becoming well-known teachers intheir own right. They have passed on his distinctive teaching methods to theirdisciples in a spiritual lineage that extends to the present day. As a result,the dhutangakammahna mode of practice gradually spreadthroughout the country, along with cariya Muns exalted reputation. Thisnationwide acclaim began to escalate during the last years of his life andcontinued to grow after his death until he came to be considered a nationalsaint by almost unanimous consent. In recent decades, he has gainedrecognition beyond the confines of his native land as one of the 20thcenturys truly great religious figures.

cariya Muns life epitomized the Buddhist ideal of thewandering monk intent on renunciation and solitude, walking alone throughforests and mountains in search of secluded places that offer body and mind acalm, quiet environment in which to practice meditation for the purpose oftranscending all suffering. His was a life lived entirely out of doors at themercy of the elements and the vagaries of weather. In such an environment, a