I simply love the Buddhist story of the heedless monk.
I suppose it is because I can laugh and relate to the bit about
drinking too much alcohol on occassions in my life.
As the story goes, the Buddhist Monk was making his
morning rounds for his alms, when he was invited into
the house by an attractive woman.
She immediately locked the door and told him that
she would not open it until he had done one of three
things:
1. Kill the goat in the yard and eat it with her or
2. Have sex with her or
3. Drink the jug of wine with her
The monk was bewildered!
As a monk, following the precepts of his Order, he
pledged not to harm any beings. He also pledged
not to have sexual intercourse, and he pledged not
to take intoxicants for the mind.
Eventually, he decided that, if he had to do one thing that
would cause the least harm to beings, it would be to
drink the wine.
So he drank the jug of wine with the woman, became
very intoxicated and, as a result , had sex with the woman,
killed and feasted on the goat! All three!
Sometimes, what you think is the most harmless can
become the most heedless, especially in the case of
mind changing substances!
Ron Young
More at:
http://www.in-love-with-wisdom.com/
