Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Unwanted Apprentice

'We have no doors in our monastery,' Shanti said to the visitor, who had come in search of knowledge.
'And what about troublesome people who come to disturb your peace?
''We ignore them, and they go away,' said Shanti.
'I am a learned man who has come in search of knowledge,' insisted the foreigner. 'But what do you do about stupid people? Do you just ignore them as well until they go away? Does that work?'
Shanti did not reply.
The visitor repeated his question a few times, but seeing that he got no response, he decided to go and find a teacher who was more focused on what he was doing.
'You see how well it works?' said Shanti to himself, smiling.