The Story of the Philosopher and the Monk
Short Stories to Nurture the Soul
It tells an ancient story that, on one of his travels around the world, a philosopher and a monk met. They walked together along a path exchanging ideas and perspectives until they came to a dense forest. When they entered the forest, night fell and, as they could not find their way out, they were forced to admit that they were lost. Soon a storm began and, while the philosopher looked up to the sky to try to understand the origin of the lightning, the monk was simply present observing what was happening around him. When he found himself looking for answers about a natural phenomenon, the philosopher lost the opportunity to leave the forest; in contrast, the monk took advantage of the convenience of the light offered by the lightning bolts to find his way again.
Like the philosopher of history, we sometimes get lost in our thoughts and tend to turn the origin of events over and over again. We forget to be present and pay attention to what is happening around us. Many of the answers cannot be offered by the rational mind because the brain is an organ that works by association. That is, if we have never experienced a situation similar to the one that happens to us, the rational mind will not find solutions because it has nothing to compare against. When the rational mind does not find elements against which it can equate or associate what is happening around us, we are filled with fear, we feel that we have lost control because we do not know how to act and we become paralyzed.
That is why the recommendation of the wise is to live in the here and now, to feel that we are present with all our body, mind and spirit at this precise moment. Life does not happen to you, life simply happens "for you" and each event is an opportunity for growth and transformation. Life does not happen to you but it does happen "for you." Look at each day of your life with new eyes, with the eyes of a child who has not yet built patterns of behavior or mental stories about what is happening around him. Dissolve in the present and I assure you that, sooner rather than later, a flash of light will illuminate the path you must follow.