You are Not a Monk

monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and

says, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the

night?"

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix

his car.

As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound.

The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but

they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes

about his merry way.

Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the

same monastery. The monks accept him, feed him, even fix his

car. That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had

heard years earlier.

The next morning, he asks what it is, but the monks reply,

"We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

The man says, "All right, all right. I'm *dying* to know.

If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to

become a monk, how do I become a monk?"

The monks reply, "You must travel the Earth and tell us how

many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand

pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a

monk."

The man sets about his task. Forty-five years later, he

returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, "I

have traveled the Earth and have found what you have asked

for. There are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and

281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the Earth."

The monks reply, "Congratulations! You are now a monk. We

shall now show you the way to the sound." The monks lead the

man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is

right behind that door."

The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He

says, "Real funny. may I have the key?" The monks give him

the key, and he opens

the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of

stone. The man requests the key to the stone door. The

monks give him the key, and he

opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He asks for yet

another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door

is *another* door, this one made of sapphire. So it went

until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver,

topaz, amethyst . . .

Finally, the monks say, "This is the last key to the last

door."

The man is relieved to no end. He unlocks the door, turns

the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the

source of that strange sound.

But I can't tell you what it is because . . . you're not a

monk!