Last afternoon, candidates who had passed the initial tests of the Monastery appeared for a written exam.
Head Monk seated them in the examination room and placed elegant hourglasses in front of each of them. He said, “When the sand runs out, please come to the meditation hall and give me your papers.”
The candidates began answering the exam. The questions were objective and subjective. This was not an easy exam.
An hour later, many candidates noticed that the sand in their hourglass was stuck, and had stopped flowing. They were at a loss to figure out what to do. Some of these candidates continued writing. They ignored their defective hourglass. Yet, many of the candidates whose hourglasses had stopped working became distracted. They looked at each other and wondered about their next steps. Finally they beckoned each other to leave without completing the exam. They went to the meditation hall and submitted their papers to Head Monk.
Half an hour later, Head Monk went into the examination hall. He noticed that at that time, all the hourglasses had stopped working. He quietly walked up to each desk, gently tapped the hourglass and made sure that it started flowing again. Then he returned to the meditation hall.
The few candidates who had remained in the exam hall had enough time to complete their papers. Eventually, when their hourglasses ran out, they went to Head Monk and gave him their papers.
The candidates who had left prematurely were very disappointed. They had realized their mistake. They gave up their chances of becoming monks just out of impatience.
Sensei clapped three times and said, “Sometimes, even time stops for those on an important mission. Stalled time can be confusing and even disorienting, but if you focus on your job rather than on the time, you will realize later that it was a blessing. When time stops, it is for a reason.”
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