A renowned designer of the country decided to spend three months in the monastery, as a monk. The designer was recognized for his world famous Tee Shirt designs. He created and wore a new Tee Shirt everyday!
The monks were excited to have a famous person join them, and to see world class creativity amidst themselves.
On the first day, meditation began when it was still dark. After dawn had broken, the monks looked at the designer excitedly.
He had worn his Tee Shirt inside out!
The monks were disappointed and attributed it the challenges of hurriedly wearing clothes in the dark.
The next morning, when the monks stared at the designer, they saw that his Tee Shirt was new but the design was not visible. He had again worn his Tee Shirt inside out..!
A month and half passed by and the Monks could not understand why the designer was wearing all his new Tee Shirts inside out.
They requested him for the reason.
The designer chose to speak in the morning assembly. He bowed to Sensei and said, “All my life I created designs that delighted the world. But with each new design that I made, I realized that everything was short lived. People would forget my creativity easily and just want more and more. When I met Sensei for an answer, he asked me to try wearing my new Tee Shirts inside out…”
All the monks looked at Sensei for the answer to this riddle.
Sensei giggled, clapped three times and said, “By asking the designer to wear his clothes this way, I am motivating him and you monks to wonder where beauty is hidden. After long introspection you will realize that real beauty lies inside; not outside. So, learn to live, think and ‘be’ inside out, not outside in…”
*****
