by Patrick Drysdale
Once upon a time there was a man who traveled all over the world looking for Truth, but he didn’t find it anywhere. One day a friend told him that Truth could be found in a secret monastery far away. He told him that the monastery wasn’t easy to reach and that it took a long time to get to, and that only one monk who found Truth lived there.
The news made the man very excited. The whole story about a secret monastery seemed shrouded in thrilling mystery. “If only one wise monk lives there,” he thought, “then he can surely tell me how to find Truth.” And he set off on his journey.
The way to the monastery was rougher than he thought. The streets were narrow and the people who promised to help him were unreliable. A group of men who said they would carry his luggage for him turned out to be robbers who stole the suitcases along with his money. The local guides who said that they alone knew the way through the dense forest turned out to be so superstitious that they ran when a sudden storm occurred, shouting that the spirits were warning them to turn back. The man had to travel all alone.
One difficulty after another arose, and after a while he grew very weary. “It’s just not worth it,” he thought. “Maybe the monastery doesn’t really exist. Or maybe the whole thing was just made up.” He sank into deep despair.
He stopped on a hillside to rest and thought about how gullible he was to believe such a story. After a few minutes he spotted a solitary building behind some trees, and something in him knew that he had found his monastery. He ran toward it.
He reached the door, catching his breath and knocked. It opened right away as if someone were standing behind it, and what the man saw surprised him. He expected to see a bearded monk wearing a long robe, but instead saw a short, clean-shaven man wearing a wrinkled shirt and baggy pants.
“What do you want?” the man asked in a very matter-of-fact voice.
The visitor was dumb-struck, because he wasn’t sure if this was the monk and wondered if this was the monastery. “If this is a monastery, then I’m looking for the monk who lives here,” he said.
“That’s me,” said the short man. “How can I help you?”
The visitor had a hard time believing this. Finally he said, “I’ve traveled all over the world looking for Truth and heard that it could be found here, and I’ve come to find it.”
Without missing a beat the monk said, “When you were traveling all over the world looking for Truth, did you find it anywhere?”
“No, I didn’t,” replied the visitor.
“Then you won’t find it here either,” the monk said.
Patrick Drysdale, Green Valley, Nevada
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