A Zen Story about Obsession
There were two monks who were forbidden from having contact with women. Whilst out walking one day a woman approached them and asked if they could help her across a river.
One of the monks hesitated, but the other one picked her up and carried her across the river and put her down on the other side. The monks continued on their way.
After a few hours, the monk who didn’t assist the woman was unable to hold his silence any longer and spoke out in anger. “Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women. What you did has bugged me for hours and I can’t stop thinking about it. You shouldn’t have done that, you know it is forbidden”.
In reply, the monk said “I put that woman down hours ago, why didn’t you?”
Filed under: Ponderisms |
Teresa, November 9, 2007, at 9:24 pm
The obsession arises from a belief that the 2nd monk holds. Surely a better reply would have been to encourage the 2nd monk to identify his belief - because in the moment he did that, the obsession would disappear. Sounds more like the 2nd monk was supposed to ‘overcome’ something - what’s the point in that? he’d be missing an opportunity to see the truth (which is what you see in the moment you acknowlege the belief or misconception).