Story Of monk and prostitute
Long long ago, hundreds of years ago, there used to be a young monk. Nobody knew what religion he followed, but everyone knew that he had decided to become a staunch monk and devote his entire life serving a super human power known as God. He wanted to conquer his desires and reach spiritual mastery.
He was a young man and had abandoned all s*xual and material pleasures. He didn't have his own personal home for he had decided to abandon everything, so he was staying in a temple. Obviously, he used to spend his days in religious activities, talking with his disciples and reciting holy scripttures. They would talk about different spiritual experiences, mysteries, salvation, ecstasy and denounce all worldly pleasures what ordinary humans were busy following.
Just nearby the temple there was a big road and across the road was a brothel. There used to stay a famous prostitute of that entire nation and even kings and princes would come to please their bodies with her. She had to sell her body in order to make a living.
one day there was a devastating flood in the region. Everything was swept away and thousands of people died. The monk as well as the prostitute were also killed.
As a rule, the deceased were taken for a judgement before God. Everyone was sent either to heaven or hell on the basis of their credentials noted by God. Assistants of God were really surprised when the monk was sent to hell and the prostitute was sent to beautiful heaven where angels fly, flowers bloom and everything is perfect.
Reportedly, there was an interesting fact about God's decision. The monk wore a robe, burned incense and recited spiritual texts the whole day, but in the evening when he used to go to bed, his inner world would be completely different. Every night, he would think of that beautiful prostitute across the road and silently curse his monkshood and spiritual affiliation. He would imagine himself being pleased by the prostitute, fondling in her lap and playing with her cute long fingers.
On the other hand, the prostitute would sleep with dozens of of men, please them, drink and dance with them the whole day, but in the evening when she used to go to bed, her inner world was completely different. She would think of that temple, God's residence, which was just across the road and she would think of that monk, who was her age, and wonder what a great human being lived there, just across the road, serving God and renouncing everything. Every night, she would cry and pray to God, she would feel bad herself not being able to go to the temple and spend some moments of silence there. She would curse her profession and wanted to be God's servant in her next life.
Well, the story ended like this. I think this story is highly symbolic and has a special value nowadays because we always run the risk of judging people on the basis of what they do. We make assumptions and form stereotypes with very little outward information available to us and forget to dive into the inner being of every individual we meet. So, how do we dive into the inner being of every individual we meet? I think we all tend to have different personalised techniques.
