Letting go.

[aroraborealis]

Some monks are trying to cross a river. They come to the river and there's a woman weeping at the bank - she wants to cross and although it's not very deep, she doesn't want to get her dress wet so she's waiting for someone to carry her across. She asks the monks for help and one of them agrees to carry her.

A younger monk gets very indignant about this because they took a vow that includes no physical contact with women whatsoever, and he doesn't understand why the other monk would break that. He stews quietly to himself for quite some time after they have crossed the river then eventually explodes and asks the other monk how he could do that.

The monk says, "I carried the woman across the river and left her at the bank. Are you still carrying her?"

Comments

[piemancer]

That's a good story.

[melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com]

Excellent story.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I've always loved that one. I thnk on it often.

[pancua.livejournal.com]

I love that story.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The first time I heard that story, my focus was very much on the last line. Something in this version mostly said "Rules are made to be broken." Heh.

[kcatalyst.livejournal.com]

The moral of this story: If you're going to bawl someone out for something, make sure you do it right away.

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

this is because monks have short memories.

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

I love this story. Also, it makes me snicker that it once sent El Bedbug into the Riverdance of Rage.

[dolphin127.livejournal.com]

Great story!