008 The Drawback of Lacking a Competent Teacher

    Having finished his meal, the Venerable Acharn would proceed to a specially cleared track for walking meditation practice.[9] The remainder of the day was devoted to the eradication of the defilements, which bind all beings to the cycle of endless births and deaths. He never allowed defilements to mock him or to make a fool of him. He steadily increased his practice of meditation and his insight was continually strengthened, both being developed together and in conjunction with each other. Except occasionally, his practice was steadily promoted and he enjoyed the bliss which resulted from it. There were times, however, when he encountered problems which seemed unsolvable and when he seemed to end up in a blind alley. Due to the lack of a competent teacher, he had to depend on his own strenuous struggles. Such struggles caused delays before the problem could be solved and the blind alley forced open, and such obstacles always threatened to breed danger and evil. This confirmed the truth of the importance of a kalyanamitta [a good friend or a competent teacher] to an aspirant in mind-development [which was also mentioned by the Buddha]. Lack of a kalyanamitta, on the other hand, causes both delays and dangers and is a serious drawback for all aspirants.

    Sometimes on his wanderings he accompanied Phra Acharn Sao, his meditation master. When he asked Phra Acharn Sao to solve his problems, however, Phra Acharn Sao merely said that it was beyond his experience and that he could therefore offer no solution.

    "Your mind is so fleeting," Phra Acharn Sao said, "it tends to go to extremes. One moment it soars high into the sky; at another it plunges deep into the earth; then it rushes under the ocean, again darting high into the air. Who on earth will be able to overtake such a mind? You must check it yourself and solve your own problems."

    With advice such as this, it was apparent that he had to rely solely on his own persistent efforts, and how painful it would be before any obstacle which presented itself could finally be surmounted!

    According to Phra Acharn Man, Phra Acharn Sao's character was serene and tranquil. One of his unique abilities during sitting meditation was levitation. While practicing sitting meditation, Phra Acharn Sao would sometimes feel himself floating and this caused him surprise and uncertainty. One time, in order to check out this feeling, he emerged from his meditation and opened his eyes. At that time he was about one meter above the floor, and his sudden emergence from his meditation brought him crashing to the floor with a thud. That incident caused him a painful hip for several days. Next time he was more cautious. When he next felt himself levitating, he slowly opened his eyes with mindfulness, not completely discarding his meditation, and he saw that he really was floating above the floor! To make doubly sure, he put a small article between the nipa leaves of the thatched roof of his hut before beginning his sitting meditation. When he again felt himself levitating, he once again with mindfulness slowly took that small article in his hand, not withdrawing his mind from the state of meditation, and after that he gradually let himself down to the floor. Holding that small article in his hand, he was convinced that he had really been floating above the floor during his meditation. This didn't happen every time, of course, but this material evidence was proof of the fact that it did occur sometimes. In other respects, however, unlike Phra Acharn Mun, the mind of Phra Acharn Sao was not so fleeting and rebellious; nor was his mode of practice spectacular, risky and comprehensive in its resources and results.

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9. See supplementary notes. [Go back]