Short story: A Zen monk overcomes a crocodile

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There was once a Zen monk, who early one morning, took a boat out into the middle of a large lake, nearby to his monastery. His idea was to meditate in the middle of the lake all alone, without any disturbances at all. He got to the middle of the lake, put down his anchor, and sat quietly for a minute, then he closed his eyes, and began his meditation. After five minutes meditating, he felt something bumping against his boat. He thought to himself, well, what could that be, disturbing my peace like that? Quickly, he opened his eyes, but he saw nothing. So, he closed his eyes once more, and another five minutes went by, and then he felt it again, something was thudding against the boat. Suddenly, the boat was turned over, and he saw that it was a 3-metre-long crocodile, that was now trying to make a meal out of him. It was then that he remembered his master's words, of so long ago, warning him about the monster crocodile that had killed, and eaten, one of the past students here, who also had ventured out into the pond to meditate there too. The master warned all new students about this crocodile, but he never warned them again after that first warning. The Zen monk knew that he was on this croc's menu, tonight. But then, he submerged himself to the bottom of the lake, and lay on the bottom, seemingly already dead to the crocodile, who dived down, but with its poor eyesight, especially so underwater, it never saw him there, lying very still, on the bottom of the lake. It left him, and he swam underwater to the edge then, and escaped. He was lucky, as crocodiles can hold their breath for up to an hour underwater, and this monk had held his for only 5 minutes here, good for an everyday human, but relatively easy for a monk, skilled in such breath control. When he told his master about his adventure, the master said: "You were lucky. That croc usually never misses a meal. You zenned him with zen that time. " "If you live Zen, but forget the ordinary, you are still swimming in life's ocean of delusion.” "Remember that well," the master said, as he walked off again. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com The hungry crocodile went hungry this time.