A few months ago, Sensei announced that he would take the monks to visit an ancient temple called the Spiral Temple. The temple was built in a spiral shape and that was its uniqueness. The shrine of the temple was located at the top of the spiral.
Sensei gave blueprints of the temple to the monk and asked them to study its spiral shape carefully. Sensei said, “Completely absorb the map of the temple in your mind. When we reach the temple, you will be blindfolded. Your will have to rely on your knowledge to reach the shrine.”
The monks were excited by this challenge and studied the blueprint very well. A month later, they were served a written test to examine their understanding of the temple map. All of them passed with good marks.
This morning, Sensei and the monks traveled to Spiral Temple. Once they reached its gates, Sensei tied black blindfolds on each of the monks and asked them to find their way and meet him at the shrine.
The monks were initially disoriented, but adjusted themselves to their new environment and began to apply their knowledge of the temple map to navigate the temple.
A few hours passed, but none of the monks could make it to the top. Despite the best use of their memory, they could just not figure how to navigate the spiral and reach the top. Many of the monks hit dead ends and some even felt as if they had been walking around the same place for a while.
Finally, the monks heard Sensei’s three claps and booming voice that said, “Take off your blindfolds and meet me at the shrine.”
The monks immediately acted on Sensei’s advise and made their way to the top.
On reaching the shrine, they were surprised to see Head Monk already there, quietly meditating in a corner.
Sensei greeted the monks and asked them to share their experiences.
Angry Monk growled and said, “Sensei, I am sure you gave us the wrong map. I had done well in the test a few months ago, but could not find my way around with blindfolds. You tricked us…”
Sensei giggled loudly.
Wisdom Monk said, “I learnt that no one and no education can prepare you for a real situation.”
Sensei nodded.
Truthful Monk said, “I became very nervous when I was blindfolded. My fear disoriented my mind. I realized that the mind’s greatest enemy is fear…”
Sensei clapped once in acknowledgement.
Genius Monk said, “I had topped the map test and could manage quite a bit today but failed in the end. I learnt that when put in a very difficult situation, my mind did collaborate with me. It shocked me that minds can be quite mutinous..…”
Sensei closed his eyes and smiled.
Sensei then asked Head Monk to share how he managed to reach the shrine so fast.
Head Monk bowed to Sensei and said, “Sensei, the moment you put on the blindfold and left, I took the blindfold off. I disobeyed you. I felt that the blindfold blocked me from being in the moment. It didn’t allow me to enjoy my awareness. After that, I happily found the shrine and also enjoyed the beauty of the temple as I walked up…”
Sensei laughed, clapped three times and said, “The blindfolds were meant to teach you that what you learn is not always easy to apply. Knowledge is good but its application is best. Being humble, open to circumstances and even disobeying rules, in the right situation is what is required to find the shrine of your life…..”
*****
