You're not a Monk

[oBakasan]

This is a very inspirational story, which I heard several years ago and I still feel the impact that it left on me. Read it and tell me what you think.

A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a
Buddhist monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on
the door, and says, "My car broke down. Do you think I
could stay the night?"

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even
fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a
strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what
the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not
a monk."

The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes
home.

Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the
same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, even
fix his car. That night, he hears the same strange noise
that he had heard years earlier.

The next morning, he asks what it is, but the monks
reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

The man says, "All right, all right. I'm dying to know.
If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to
become a monk, how do I become a monk?"

The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us
how many blades of grass there are and the exact number
of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers,
grasshopper, you will become a true monk."

The man sets about his task. Some forty-five years later,
he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He
says, "I have traveled the earth and have found what you
have asked for. There are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass
and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth."

The monks reply, "Welcome. You are now a monk. We shall
now show you the way to the sound."

The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head
monk says, "The sound is right behind that door."

The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked.
He says, "Master, give me the key."

The monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind
the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man
demands the key to the stone door. The monks give him the
key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby.
He demands another key from the monks, who provide it.
Behind that door is another door, this one made of
sapphire. So it went until the man had gone through
doors of emerald, silver, topaz, amethyst, and
gold.

Finally, the monks say, "This is the last key to the last
door." The man is ready. He unlocks the jade door, turns
the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the
source of that strange sound.

But I can't tell you what it is, because you're not a
monk.

[Angela]

How exactly did this story inspire you?

[Lil Chris]

Nobody can just tell you what it is... You have to see for yourself...

That's what I got out of it anyway...

[marinik]

Is it worth all the counting? Imagine 45 years of traveling just to have your head in the sand and medow?

[backpocket]

Uhm...I think that inspiration part was just meant as the setup for this joke. At least I think so, because I laughed at the end.

[JimOfferman]

Sheesh, I was expecting some kind of "the journey is the reward" type of conclusion to this business while reading the story... not some lame joke!

Count me out on the 45 years of counting grass blades. I have much funner things to do

[Angela]

ahhh, a joke. I overlooked the forum it was in.

[Andrew Brunelle]

This is like one of those Zen koans I read from time to time. I enjoyed this one, but what if I am a monk? Can you tell me?

[Zwynd]

A strange sound at night, eh?

When the joke paused at the end the first thing I 'saw' on the other side of the door was that it opened up to the front of the monastery and people were there knocking on it at night hoping the monastery was still open.

With that in mind, I took the joke as;

"You don't need to have a thousand keys to go through a thousand doors. You only need to knock."