Zen Stories: Two Monks and a Woman

Two monks happen to come across a woman with a long kimono while practicing their daily walking meditation. The woman tries to cross a very muddy road, but she’s not daring to step into the mud. So, one monk picks her up, carries her across the road through the mud, puts her down.

The monks then continue to walk on in silence for another four or five hours, practicing noble silence.

Then, after four or five hours, while they’re getting close to their destination, one monk says to the monk who had picked up the girl, “You know, you shouldn’t have done that because monks are supposed to not even touch women. You’re not supposed to do that. So, you really shouldn’t have picked up that girl.”

The other monk looks at him and says, “Oh, are you still carrying that girl? I put her down hours ago.”

…..

Moral of the story:

Even though one monk had physically carried the girl, it was the other who was weighed down by the burden.

This little Zen story shows the reluctance of the human mind to let go of the past. We sometimes keep things alive in our minds as if they are still happening. It’s all in the mind and there’s an additive quality to it. So, we need to be aware of our thought patterns and for our own sanity, we need to find ways, like mindfulness practices, to be able to build skills for a resilient and happy mind.