Everyone in the Monastery noticed that in the recent days, Lazy Monk always seemed to be hurt somewhere or the other. A few weeks ago he had his hand in a plaster; a couple of days back he had a large bandage tied around his forehead. As was customary, Lazy Monk would get special privileges to skip some of the daily meditations and all the monks would pray to Buddha for his speedy recovery.
This morning, when Lazy Monk entered the Meditation Hall, the monks were shocked to see him. Both of Lazy Monk’s legs had plaster packs on them and he was walking using crutches. He slowly limped towards his seat.
Honest Monk got up to help him and all the monks became concerned about him. Everyone agreed that when Head Monk and Sensei would arrive, the morning session could begin with a special prayer service for Lazy Monk.
Just then, Head Monk, Laughing Monk and Sensei arrived in the hall. The moment Laughing Monk saw Lazy Monk limping, he began laughing! Laughing Monk kept laughing and just couldn’t control himself. This really angered Honest Monk who sternly requested Laughing Monk to keep quiet. Laughing Monk laughed even louder.
After a few minutes when he settled down, Head Monk asked Laughing Monk in a gentle tone, “Laughing Monk, why are you laughing at Lazy Monk’s injury? Why are you making fun of someone’s pain?’
Laughing Monk managed to keep a straight face to answer Head Monk and said, “Lazy Monk is not hurt. He has never been hurt. All these cuts and bruises and sprains and fractures are all made up. If his legs indeed are hurt, I agree to be banished from the Monastery forever.”
That statement stunned everyone. Sensei looked at Lazy Monk whose head had begun to hang low. In a moment, it was clear to everyone that Lazy Monk had been pretending to be hurt all this while!
Sensei showed kindness to Lazy Monk and asked him to explain his actions. Lazy Monk said, “I wanted to receive the deep and heartfelt blessings of Buddha without making any efforts myself. Hence I kept pretending to be hurt so that the other monks would pray for me. This morning, I had prepared this special costume, hoping that Sensei and Head Monk would pray to Buddha for me.”
Sensei laughed loudly, forgave Lazy Monk, clapped three times and said, “We always to go Buddha when we have pains or difficulties. Sometimes we invent these problems just to get his attention. But we should also remember Buddha when we don’t have problems! And never forget that Buddha does not trade blessings for anyone. If you want his grace, only you will have to pray to him.”
*****
