ZenStory3

Benjamin walked to the secret place in the forest to meet with Miranda again. "Hi, Benjamin," said Miranda. "What's up? I see that there is something bothering you. Maybe you need some tea and cookies today?"
"Mmm! Those cookies look delicious. Thank you, that is just what I need."
"You are welcome," she replied. "I baked them myself. Take your time telling me about what's on your mind."
"It's not very important," he said, "but I feel a bit frustrated. - Well, here is the story. I was riding my motorcycle to school last week. Then on my way home, Katie came up to me and asked me for a ride, because she wanted to be home as soon as possible. With the motorcycle it is much faster than with the bus. Since I had some extra time, I made the little detour and brought her home. Guess what, now her boyfriend John is mad at me and smirks at me every time he sees me. First I do her the favor, and she is not even my type of girl, and now I have to put up with her boyfriend acting funny. He is so irrational about it. Couldn't Katie make it clear to him that it was all her idea? I haven't done anything with the girl, nor did I have any intention!"

"I believe you. His jealousy only shows his insecurity about her love. Maybe Katie tried to tell him that there was nothing, or maybe she doesn't even feel so close to him? By the way, there is a great Zen story that fits to your experience. Shall we look at it, and then talk more about it?"

"Yeah, I would like to watch another story. Zen sure seems to have a story about all kinds of experiences."

The crystal ball lit up, showing two monks who came to a river on their journey. A lovely woman in a short dress two walking monks

was sitting at the river and she begged the men to help her across the raging river. The younger monk remembered that he was not to touch any woman and so he declined to help. He even said to her, "I shall never touch a woman." The older monk offered to carry the woman to the other side. The woman looked relieved that he didn't reject her like the first monk had. When the older monk reached the other side with the woman, she hugged him briefly and expressed her thankfulness. The monk just bowed to her and said, "It was my pleasure to be of help to you. Peace be with you." Both the monks continued on their walk in silence. It seems like many hours had passed and it was getting darker. At this point the younger monk took the courage to confront the older one about his violation of touching a woman, and on top of that an attractive one like that. "Why did you touch this woman?" he asked reproachingly. "I have left her at the river long ago," replied the older monk, "but you are still carrying her in your mind."

"Wow, that's a powerful story," said Benjamin. Then he added,"What we see on the outside is not always what happens on the inside of people's minds. I wonder if the younger monk stayed a monk or if he noticed that his life without a woman made him unhappy and jealous. You are right; it fits well with my experience. John thinks all kind of things about my giving Katie a ride. In reality there was nothing, and it is all just happening in his mind. I think he should read some Zen stories."

"That's right, Benjamin. The person who sees all kind of bad intentions in the other one is often the one who projects his own problems. Just like the older Zen monk, you have not done anything wrong, but your jealous friend doesn't want to see your innocence."

"I understand," said Benjamin. "The older monk has grasped the deeper meaning of the law and followed it perfectly. On the other hand, the younger man took the law only on a literal level and used it to judge others, since he had a hard time following it. Isn't that right?"

"I couldn't have said it any better," she replied. "It appears to me that you do not need many more lessons. I have brought some gifts for you which will help you to learn more about Zen on your own. One is called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - yeah, since you are riding a motorcycle - and the other one is about Zen meditation. This one will guide you slowly into meditation and I think that you will enjoy both books. Let me know the next time how you liked them."

"Thanks, Miranda. I will read them before I come back to see you again. Also, I really have the feeling that Katie may not stay with John much longer and he just tries to blame me rather than himself."

"That is very well possible. Good bye for today and keep me updated on how things are progressing."

"Good bye, Miranda. That was a great story. It made me feel a lot better for helping Katie."

Author's note:
This is another classic Zen story and it shows that what we see is not representative of the truth. The older monk did break the law in a literal sense, but actually he had transcended this particular law about not touching any woman. The deeper meaning of the law is obviously to help the possible weakness of the monks, to keep them from engaging with a woman, or from getting tempted to give up their monkhood for a relationship with a woman. The older monk was not "in need" of that law, at least not at that moment, because he only saw someone who needed help, rather than an attractive woman. The younger monk however did indeed see the attractiveness of the woman and so it may have been the best for him not to touch her. After the incident, the younger monk could not get his thoughts of the attractive woman and how touching her was wrong out of his mind. In his case, it was probably best not to touch the woman, since it would have driven him even more crazy. I let Benjamin grasp the essence of the story by himself rather than Miranda doing all the explaining. This also fits well with the concept of Zen, which doesn't so much try to lecture, but rather helps people find the truth that is already within themselves. The content of the original Zen story is basically the same.