CARRYING A GIRL ACROSS A RIVER - a Zen
Buddhism Koan
One day, a Buddhist Monk named I-hsiu (literary, "One
Rest") took his young student to go to town to do some
business. As they approached a small river, they saw a very
pretty girl walking back and forth looking very concerned.
"Lady", asked I-hsiu, "you look very concerned.
What is troubling you?"
"I want to cross the river to visit my dad who is very
sick, but the bridge had fallen. Where is the next nearest
bridge?"
"The next closest one is many miles away. But, don't
worry, I will carry you across the river."
So I-hsiu carried the girl on his back and walked across the
river stream. Once they reached the other side, he put her down
and, saying farewell to each other, went on their ways
separately.
Observing the whole thing, the young student was rather
uneasy. He thought, "the Master taught us that women are
man-eating tigers (see the story "Women are Tigers" in
this site) yet today he carried a pretty girl on his back across
a river! That does not make any sense. Isn't the Lord Buddha
teach us to keep a distance from a stranger girl?"
Over the next couple of month, the whole thing was still
bothering him in his mind. Finally, the student could not stand
it any longer and raised the issue with I-hsiu.
Upon hearing this, I-hsiu bursted into laughter: "I had put down the girl ever since I had crossed the river. You must be very tired carrying her around for the last two months!"
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