Anita's Notebook

Here’s a good story about what happened when two very different Buddhist monks encountered a damsel in distress:

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An old monk and a young monk were walking on a path and they came to a great river.

There was no denying that the river was rife with danger. One only had to stand at its edge to see that though it was possible to cross you could very well lose your life in the raging water.

Next to them by the river stood a woman who was staring into the water, she needed to cross the river but was frozen with fear.

The young monk glanced at the woman and went into the river, he battled with the current and after a time was able to get to the ground on the other side.

The old monk saw the woman and scooped her up. Carrying her in his arms he battled with the current and after a time was able to get to the ground on the other side.

The younger monk’s eyes went large, he was horrified but didn’t say anything out of respect for the older monk. They both continued on their way together but the farther they went down the path the more what the older monk had done bothered him and finally the words came bursting out of his mouth:

“How could you have carried that woman? You know very well that as monks we are not allowed to touch women even for a moment, yet you carried her all the way across the river!”

The older monk turned to his friend and was calm. He said simply:

“I left that woman way back at the river, why are you still carrying her?”

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Oh snap LOL. It is a good point though don’t you think?