Sunday, April 19, 2009
Just saw this passage i liked on the net. Not the original cos i lost the link but this is how the story goes in my own words. - SH
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One day, a man was driving along a deserted road, when his car broke down all of a sudden right in front of a chinese temple. The head monk came out and offered him a place to stay for the night for free and also to fix his car for free. Then man accepted.
During his stay, he heard this mystical sound that was resonating from behind a large wooden door. It was so amazing that he wanted to know what that sound was. When he asked the head monk, the head monk told him that he was not allowed to know what that sound was or where it came from. Because he was not a monk. The disappointed man drove off in his fixed car after thanking the head monk.
One week later, the man was driving along the same road again when his car broke down once more in front of the temple. The head monk smiled when he saw the man and again offered him a place to stay and to fix his car for free. During this stay, he once again heard the mystical noise echoing from behind the large wooden doors. Determined to know what this sound was, he once again asked the head monk. The head monk once again told him "sorry, I can't tell you because you are not a monk."
The man then asks, "What does it take to become a monk?"
The head monk replies, "To become a monk you must travel the globe to count the number of grass blades and the number of grains of sand that inhabit this planet. Only then can you become a monk."
The man thanks the monk, and sets out the next day to discover how many blades of grass and how many grains of sand there were on this planet. 45 years later, the man returns to the temple, and is again greeted by the now very old head monk. The man tells the head monk, "There are 27,239,299,290,948 blades of grass in the world and 78,209,948,398,094 grains of sand"
The head monk nods his head in approval and says," now you are ready to become a monk"
After shaving his head, the head monk passes the man a set of keys. Wooden keys to unlock the wooden door. Behind it was another pair of metal doors. He used the metal key provided to open this second door. This went on as the doors became made of silver, gold, crystal, many other gems, and as he moved closer and closer the sound became stronger and stronger.
Finally he was at the last door. He put the final key in, and with a swift turn, he unlocked it. As he pushed open the door, they creaked at their hinges, light poured out from the room in front of him. Finally, after 45 years he would know what was behind this door that gave out the magical sound. What was behind this door? What gave out this heavenly tune?
Sorry, I can't tell you because you are not a monk.
12:20