A Zen Parable this Wednesday morning for you with a beautiful message about living in the present moment. Enjoy 💜
A senior monk and a junior monk were travelling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side. The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman.
Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his journey.
The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.
Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could contain himself any longer, and blurted out “As monks, we are not permitted a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?”
The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river, why are you still carrying her?”
The story is a reminder to let go and not dwell on the past especially when it doesn’t serve us in any way. We all go through life with hurts, accusations, resentments, frustrations and all sorts of stuff pitched at us. We can choose to ruminate, weighing us down and sapping our life force or just cross the river and get on with life, savouring the goodness abound with great gusto. Too often we hold and carry around past hurts when the only person we are hurting is ourselves.
I just remembered the story and am glad to be sharing it with you.
With Love Light & Delight, Mahes Karuppiah-Quillen💕💕💕