How much time do you spend dwelling on events from your past?

Yes, I’m sure there are memories of events that serve you well, but what about the ones that are no longer of use to you, the ones that bring you pain or even hold you back?

Here’s a beautiful short tale of two monks and a woman that is a well-known Buddhist parable about living in the present and leaving the past behind.

The story goes that two monks were traveling together, a senior and a junior. They came to a river with a strong current where a young woman was waiting, unable to cross alone. She asks the monks if they would help her across the river. Without a word and in spite of the sacred vow he’d taken not to touch women, the older monk picks her up, crosses, and sets her down on the other side.

The younger monk joins them across the river and is aghast that the older monk has broken his vow but doesn’t say anything. An hour passes as they travel on. Then two hours. Then three. Finally, the now quite agitated younger monk can stand it no longer: “Why did you carry that women when we took a vow as monks not to touch women?”

The older monk replies, “I set her down hours ago by the side of the river. Why are you still carrying her?”

The story is a wonderful reminder of how you can leave what happened in the past in the past and not dwell on it.

Memories from past events can and will affect how you behave today, it’s just normal, but the choice of whether or not to ruminate on certain events that no longer serve you is yours. I understand that what I’m suggesting is easier said than done, but if freeing yourself from past events allows you to be more present today and can improve your future, then, just maybe it’s worth the effort to do so.

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