Two monks were on a pilgrimage. One day, they came to a deep river. At the edge of the river, a young woman sat weeping, because she was afraid to cross the river without help. She begged the two monks to help her. The younger monk turned his back. The members of their order were forbidden to touch a woman.
But the older monk picked up the woman without a word and carried her across the river. He put her down on the far side and continued his journey. The younger monk came after him, scolding him and berating him for breaking his vows. He went on this way for a long time.
Finally, at the end of the day the older monk turned to the younger one, and said, I only carried her across the river. You have been carrying her all day.
The difference between the monks? The elder monk was unattached and unaffected, while the younger monk was deeply affected and very attached.
2 lessons learnt from this fable:
- It is a wise one with a clear mind who knows when to go by the letter of the law, and when to go by the spirit of the law. May we not be so rigid in our thinking that we don’t know the difference.
- We may have painful experiences in the past. Why ruin the future by brooding over them? Let go..