Two monks were walking back to their monastery, an older monk and a younger one. They had taken vows never to touch a woman.
They came to a river swollen from the rain. On the bank stood a young woman in fine clothes, afraid to cross.
Without a word, the older monk picked her up, carried her across the water, and set her down on the other side. She thanked him and went on her way.
The two monks kept walking. The younger one was silent, but inside he was burning. An hour passed. Then two. Then three.
Finally he could not hold it in.
"How could you do that? We are not even supposed to look at a woman, and you picked her up and carried her!"
The older monk looked at him calmly.
"I set her down on the riverbank hours ago," he said. "Why are you still carrying her?"
What the two monks story teaches
The older monk did one thing and finished it. The younger monk did nothing, and carried it for hours. That is usually how resentment works.
- The past only weighs what you keep picking back up.
- Replaying something is a way of carrying it. Every rerun is another mile with it on your back.
- Letting go is not saying it was fine. It is deciding not to carry it any further.
The moral in one sentence
Put down what is already over; carrying it changes nothing except how tired you are.
Questions to sit with
- What are you still carrying that someone else set down long ago?
- What would it feel like to leave it on the riverbank today?
Keep going with our quotes about letting go or the story of the empty cup.
