After the long and tedious ‘bee-hum’ meditation, a fruit basket with bright shiny oranges, red plump apples and black spotted bananas was placed in front of the Monastery Monks. The fruits were a small reward for the monks; for having endured the hard meditation.
Many of the monks who had an early chance to choose their fruits avoided the black spotted bananas. They quietly grabbed the oranges and apples and left the black spotted bananas for the monks who reached for the basket later.
After each monk had chosen his fruit, Head Monk asked the monks to examine their fruits. The monks who had chosen plump apples and shiny oranges were taken aback to find that their fruits were artificial and made of wax. Only the black spotted bananas were real!
Sensei clapped once and said, “Even the fruits of your efforts can be deceptive. Choose what you wish to enjoy, very carefully.”
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