The Abbott of the South sent a request to the Great Abbott of the North for a wise and holy monk to train the novices. To everyone’s astonishment, the Great Abbott sent five monks instead of one. To those who enquired he said, cryptically, “We will be lucky if one of them gets to the Lama. “
The group had been on the road some days when a messenger came running up to them and said, “The priest of our village has died. We need someone to take his place.” The village seemed a pleasant place and the priest’s salary was princely. One of the monks was seized with pastoral concern. “I should not be a Buddhist,” he said, “If I did not serve these people.” So he dropped out.
Some days later they were at the palace of a king who took a fancy to one of them. “Stay with us", said the king, “and you shall marry my daughter. And when I die, you will be king.” The monk was drawn to the lustre of the throne, so he said, “What better way to influence the people of this kingdom than to be king? I should not be a Buddhist if I did not seize this chance to serve the interests of religion". He too dropped out.
One night, in a hilly region, the monks came to the solitary hut of a pretty girl who gave them hospitality and thanked God for their presence. Her parents had been killed by mountain bandits and the girl was all alone and very fearful. Next day, when it was time to leave, one of the monks declared, “I shall stay on here. I should not be a Buddhist if I did not show compassion to this girl.”
The remaining two finally came to a Buddhist village and were scandalized to find that the inhabitants had abandoned their religion under the influence of a Hindu theologian. One of the monks said, “I owe it to these people and to the Lord Buddha himself to win them back to the faith.”
The fifth monk eventually got to the Abbott of the South.
I have always dropped out for the best of reasons: to reform the liturgy, to change Church structures, to update the study of scripture and to make theology relevant. Religious activity is my favourite escape from my Creator.
When my son was small he got the dubious part of the Bethlehem star in a Christmas play. After his first rehearsal he burst through the door with his costume, a five-pointed star lined in shiny gold tinsel designed to drape over him like a sandwich board.
“What exactly will you be doing in the play, Son?” I asked him.
“I just stand there and shine,” he told me.
https://youtu.be/jutDWsm60lw Our Student - Jessica's experience
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