Perseverance story: Be mindful of distractions or…

There was once a secluded village which was located in a faraway valley. The villagers had everything in abundance and life was easygoing. But because the road to reach the village was long and difficult almost no one ever visited it. Many who had tried to reach the village with the hopes of living there in peace and abundance have turned back after seeing how difficult and dangerous the trip was. The inhabitants of the village were particularly happy with their monk who shared with them all the knowledge he had and provided spiritual and moral guidance. Since the monk was getting pretty old he wrote to his monastery where he came from. The letter was short, “I’m old, send one monk which I will teach everything I know. Send someone who is mindful of distractions!”

The head monk of the monastery called together all of his disciples and read the letter to them. Then he said, “I would like to send five of you to the village. Who will volunteer?” The monks looked at the head monk confused and one finally asked what was on everyone’s mind, “Why do you want to send five of us when the monk is only asking for one?” The head monk replied calmly with a smile, “You will have your answer soon. I will send five of you and even then I’m not certain that one of them will reach the village. The trip is long and there are many distractions the chosen five will encounter…