Attachment

I have reached a point in my life where there is much more behind me than ahead.  Therefore, it’s tempting to spend the short time left to me remembering the pleasant things and dwelling on my high points.  While that can be instructive, it can also be a trap.  Living in the present has been my goal for most of my life, and to abandon that ideal now would be to call my training a lie.  And yet, some days I have as much trouble “letting go” as ever.

Which leads to one of my absolutely favorite stories.

Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening. It had rained and they came across a new, shallow stream that cut across their path.  A beautiful young woman was standing there, unable to continue because it would have ruined her elaborate gown. The elder of the two monks went up to a her, lifted her onto his back, and carried her across.  Setting her down on the other side, he continued on his way to the monastery.

In the evening the younger monk, much agitated, came to the elder and said, “Sir, as monks, were we not taught that we cannot touch a woman?”

The elder monk answered “Yes, that is our teaching.”

Then the younger monk asks, “But Master, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside?”

The elder monk smiled at him and told him, “I did what needed to be done, and then I left her beside the stream.  Tell me, why are you still carrying her?”

When I find myself trapped by old thoughts, I ask myself the same thing: why are you still carrying that?  If the thought makes me smile, I know I am back on the path.