Two Monks, A muddy stream, A beautiful woman (a story about letting go)
My lesson for today, thanks to Paul Kaufman:
A senior monk and a junior monk were traveling together. At one point, they came across a muddy stream. As the monks were preparing to cross the stream, they saw a very young and beautiful woman dressed in white also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.
Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the stream, getting himself muddied, but she landed pristine. He placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his journey.
The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. She left without thanking him or anything. After rejoining his companion, the younger monk was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.
Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could not contain himself any longer, and blurted out "I can’t believe you helped that woman, she just walked away without even as much as a thank-you!”
The older monk looked at him and replied,
“Brother, I carried her across the stream, why are you still carrying her?”
