Carrying a Woman, A Short Zen Story

Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening. It had rained and there were puddles of water on the road sides. There was a beautiful young woman standing there, unable to walk accross because a large puddle of water. The elder of the two monks went up to a her lifted her and left her on the other side of the road, and continued his way to the monastery.

In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and said, “Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman ?”

The elder monk answered “yes, brother”.

Then the younger monk asks again, “but then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside ?”

The elder monk smiled at him and said, “Brother, I left her on the other side of the road, but you are still carrying her.”

image via flickr

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The first time I read this short zen story, I just smiled for ten minutes straight. I think we often times let rigidity and religious doctrine become an impediment to our spiritual growth. Here are the two principle lessons I found in this story:

• Kindness is almost always the answer
• Live in the present moment, the past is in the past (even two minutes ago is the past)

It’s a great story too, because it can be interpreted in a number of different ways.

What are your impressions of this zen story? There’s no wrong way to interpret this, we’re curious to see what you think!