Two monks.

 The Lesson from the Story of the Two Monks and the Woman:

Two monks were travelling from one monastery to another. These monks were not even allowed to directly straight their gaze at any women. After a long walk, they came to a river, which they had to cross. The river flooded and there was no way that they cccould get across without getting wet. A woman was also at the banks of the river, also wanting to cross to reach the other side. she was weeping helplessly because she was afraid to cross on her own.

The Monks decided to cross the river by walking through the relatively shallow part of the river. Since the lady also needed to get to the other bank, the older monk, without much ado, carried her on his shoulders, and soon they reached the other bank the opposite side of the river. There he put her down. The lady went on her own way and the two monks silently continued their walk. The younger monk was upset, finding the other monk’s act disturbing and against the rule. As per their injunctions, they were not allowed to look at the woman, let alone touch a woman, and yet the other monk carried her on his shoulders and all the way across the river.

After a few hours, the younger monk couldn’t stand the thought of what had happened which kept filling his mind, and so he asked the other monk, “We are not allowed to look at other women, not touch them, but you carried that woman on your shoulder.”

‘Which woman?’ replied the older monk.

“The woman you carried on your shoulders across the river just a few hours back. "

The other monk paused and with a smile on his lips he said, ‘I set her down after we crossed the river, why are you still carrying her?’

This story illustrates the way we choose to hold onto the past and continue to carry our baggage (negative emotions, pain, judgment, hurt, criticism, blame, self-pity, etc.) when it is no longer necessary; the parable illustrates that we are responsible for the choices we make in our innerselves that reflect and stay in our lives.

-Adapted and retold from Zen stories by Essam Shawky