In this story,
We can observe two opposing ways of acting.
On the one hand,
We have the youngest monk,
Who is very obedient and dogmatic with the monastic rules,
And on the other hand,
The older monk who allows himself to break the rules for a cause that is significant to him.
I couldn't help but remember what I studied at the university at least twice,
Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development.
This author established some stages where the moral attitude evolves along with age and maturity,
Since not all people reach the last stage,
Called postconventional,
Where moral reasoning is abstract and is based on universal moral principles,
Being independent of institutional laws,
And therefore could even contradict them.
As you can see,
The old man has put this last level into practice,
Doing what he believed was the right thing to do in that specific situation.
He acted spontaneously,
Being in the present moment and letting his heart guide him.
He did what he felt was his duty at that moment.
I like to assume that this monk was very advanced on his spiritual path and could clearly hear his inner voice,
That of his higher self,
And from there he acted with conviction.
The young monk's attitude would be at a previous level,
The one known as conventional,
Where law and authority are seen as the definitive guidelines and complying with their commands is imperative.
But thinking in this way,
Where your own ethical sense is silenced,
Has generated great calamities in the history of humanity.
Let us remember that slavery,
The Inquisition,
Colonialism,
Upper hate,
Among others,
Have been legitimate for many years.
I think most of us agree with the behavior of the older monk,
However,
This story brings us another great lesson.
The young monk could have disagreed,
But that did not imply that he became angry with his companion's action.
It seems that he took it as a personal affront and automatically became a vigilante.
We can easily imagine how he spent the rest of his journey.
He couldn't enjoy a bit of it.
He couldn't stop thinking about what his companion had done.
He had probably imagined himself recounting what had happened to his teacher with excitement,
As well to the other monks,
And also arguing with his partner,
All this over and over again.
This reminds me of the Zen story of the Gates of Paradise.
He was generating dissonant vibrations.
Somehow he was hurting himself,
Both psychologically and physically.
This is something that sounds familiar to all of us,
Right?
In this case,
What would have been the healthiest attitude on the part of the young monk?
Definitely one that would not have caused him discomfort.
It makes sense that given his confusion,
He would have spoken to his teacher about what had happened,
But with a desire to clarify his doubts,
And not to punish the old monk.
Certainly,
This monk felt hurt.
The rules had become an important part of his identity,
And he still had too much appreciation for himself,
For his beliefs.
I'd like you to take advantage of this analysis to investigate how easy it is for you to cross the Gates of Hell,
To generate this kind of discomfort within yourself,
And to figure out which situations are leading you towards this lack of harmony.
If there is any,
See what you want to do to start softening this tension.
Thank you.
