There was an old monk at a young monk who lived in a temple. One day, the old monk said to the young monk, we don’t have much rice left. Go to the market and buy some more. The young monk agreed and set out the next day. But he returned soon after leaving. He told the old monk that the bridge over the river on the way had rotted and was impassable.
Apply This to CHANGE Your Life — A Simple Zen Story
The old monk asked, can’t we take another route?
The young monk replied. The other way would take much longer. I heard from nearby villagers that the bridge will be repaired soon. We should wait for it to be fixed before going to the market. The old monk fell silent. A few days later, the old monk sent the young monk to buy rice again. After a few hours, the young monk returned with a bag on his back. Seeing the old monk, the young monk immediately said, master. The bridge is still being repaired. Let’s wait for them to finish before buying rice. I think the bridge won’t take too long to repair.
The old monk looked at the nearly empty rice container and sighed. Okay, we’ll wait like you said. The estimated time for the bridge to be repaired had passed and they had eaten all the rice in the container. The old monk said, go quickly now or we’ll go hungry. The young monk packed his things and set out. But this time, he returned quickly as well. As soon as they met, the young monk urgently told the old monk master. It’s not good news. The bridge was repaired, but it was destroyed again by a sudden flash flood from upstream. Even the detour is now underwater. We’ll go hungry. The old monk sighed, in fact, this situation was destined from the beginning. When the bridge was broken, if you had made the decision to take the detour, although it would have taken more effort, we would have had rice already. But you didn’t want to exert yourself and hoped for the best. As a result, time and again, we ended up in this situation.
Who can we blame?
The young monk couldn’t help but lower his head. In life, we often seek shortcuts and quick fixes to our problems. We want to avoid the hard work and effort required to achieve our goals. We may even believe that we can rely on luck to get us where we want to go. But the truth is, there are no shortcuts to a meaningful and fulfilling life. Just like the young monk in the story, we may find ourselves facing difficulties and challenges that could have been avoided if we had taken the longer, more difficult path. It is important to remember that every choice we make has consequences and the choices we make today will shape the future we create for ourselves.
So I ask you, what path are you taking in your life?
Are you taking the easy road or are you willing to put in the effort and make the sacrifices necessary to achieve your goals?
Remember that true success and happiness are not found in shortcuts but in the journey itself. May you find the strength and determination to choose the path that will lead you to a fulfilling and meaningful life.