What Am I Learning?

I needed a break from poor Mittavinda, so this story is a bonus intermission.

A long time ago in China most of the families that lived in the small towns and in the countryside were poor. They worked very hard to keep everyone fed and sheltered. In a few places there were monasteries where monks lived. They grew their own food, made their own clothes and were totally self-sufficient. These monks learned philosophy as well as physical disciplines such as martial arts.

The father of a poor farm family who had too many children and not enough grain in the field decided to take one of his boys to a monastery to ask the monks if they would accept him as an apprentice. The father promised that the boy would work very hard and assured them he would obey the monks and work extra hard to repay their kindness through his labor and his contributions. It was not easy to for the monks to accept a child as an apprentice. There were many poor families and only a few children could be chosen. Later on, when the apprentices became monks they were able to help their families. The monks agreed to accept this child and the boy came to stay with them, leaving his family behind in their village.

On his first day the monks gave him a simple robe to wear. The boy then had no other possessions. They immediately put him to work. An old monk instructed the boy, "Take that cauldron over there, fill it with water and place it on that large stone there."

The boy did not understand the purpose but he obeyed. He was a little afraid of what would happen if he didn't. There was no fire in the room so he wasn't sure what the cauldron was for. Then the monk said "Now splash the water out of the cauldron with your hands like this." He showed him how to splash the water out.

This seemed very strange but the boy obeyed. After awhile the stone floor was wet, the cauldron was empty and the child's arms were stiff. At that moment the monk came back and said "Now fill up the cauldron again."

So, three times the first day the boy did this, and three times the next day and three times every day after that. After a month the boy was regretting his father's decision greatly but he was still afraid of disappointing his family and of talking back to the monks. Finally, after three months the boy was offered a chance to go home and visit his family.He was very excited and relieved to be able to spend a few days without the cauldron.

At home everyone was full of questions: "Do you like it?" "Is it hard?" "What did you learn?" "Can you break a board with your hands?". The boy felt uncomfortable because he hadn't really done anything. He had filled the cauldron and emptied the cauldron. That was about it.

He just said, "I haven't really learned anything yet. It's coming."

But still the questioning persisted: "Surely they showed you something, show me one thing." they pleaded.

The boy was getting anxious now, irritated he said: "I learned nothing."

But still, one more time a relative walked into the kitchen where he was sitting and said, "Please, I know you can't tell everyone, but tell me, what did they teach you?"

The boy became so angry that he yelled "I didn't learn anything!" then he jumped up from his chair and slammed his hand down on the thick wooden table, which broke instantly in two.

Only then did he realize what he had learned.

Be at Peace little beans.
Lalo