Little Monk sweeping fallen leaves

There was a little monk, whose duty was to sweep the fallen leaves in the monastery compounds every morning, but this task alone was very time-consumin. In particular, the huge amount of leaves falling frequently between autumn and winter made his work more difficult.

Everyday he racked his brains to think of a solution to the endless sweeping of fallen leaves, so as to make his work easier. He even consulted his seniors. The abbot soon heard of this matter and he talked to the little monk about it.

The little monk expressed his ideas honestly to the abbot. The abbot said to him, "Tomorrow, before you start sweeping, why don't you shake every tree with some force, so that all the withered leaves drop down, then you will not have to sweep fallen leaves the day after tomorrow.

The little monk was very delighted to hear this. He thought, "The abbot is indeed intelligent. I have thought of all methods, yet i have not thought of this."

The next morning, the little monk work up very early and ran to the backyard without washing his face. He exerted all his strength to shake all the tress, thinking that he could then sweep away at one go all fallen leaves of that day and the day after. Then, he cleared the fallen leaves and went to take his lunch happily.

On the third day, the little monk was stunned when he took a look at the backyard. All the efforts that he had put in the previous day had been wasted, as the backyard was still full of fallen leaves.

The abbot came over and said to the little monk, "Do you know why i gave you that suggestion? That is to make you realise that no matter how hard you shake the trees today, there will still be fallen leaves tomorrow."

The little monk finally understood that there were many things that could not be done in advance.

THE TRUEST ATTITUDE IN LIVING IS TO LIVE EARNESTLY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT.