There was once a monastery in a village, and all the inhabitants of the village were its parishioners. The sermons of the abbot of this monastery, a man knowledgeable both in worldly affairs and in the afterlife, were going to be listened to not only by the surrounding residents, but often by the townspeople as well. And the monastery flourished from the abundance of offerings. Therefore, in addition to the monks, novices and servants, many ordinary lay people lived at the monastery. Among these laymen was a certain Ta Chwe, an old man of more than sixty years old. He never had a family, so he lived at the monastery, although in poverty, but well-fed.
Ta Chwe never fasted, did not know either the ten or eight commandments, and only at the insistence of the monks somehow mastered only five of them.
One day the abbot of the monastery called him and said:
– Layman Ta Chwe, you are already over sixty, and you have neither relatives nor friends. I think it's better for you to become a monk.
However, Ta Chwe did not have the slightest desire to take monastic vows. And, avoiding a direct answer, he said:
- O venerable teacher. This is not a simple question. Let me think for a week.
After a week, the abbot of the monastery started the same conversation with Ta Chwe.
- The deadline you set has passed. Have you thought about your decision?
Ta Chwe thought for a moment and said:
- After all, monks are obliged to keep the Ten Commandments, including the commandment of abstinence, but I will never be able to do this. Perhaps it’s better for me not to become a monk.
– If it is difficult for you to keep all ten commandments, then by becoming a monk you can limit yourself to eight.
- Teacher, let me think for another week.
“Your will, layman,” answered the dissatisfied abbot of the monastery.
After a week, Ta Chwe again came to the abbot of the monastery and said that he could not overcome himself.
Then the abbot resorted to a trick and, sending Ta Chwe, as usual, to the village for alms, as if by chance he handed him the monastery basket.
Ta Chwe, not seeing any trick in this, took the basket and left. And a few days later the abbot addressed the old man with the following words:
– Ta Chwe, it’s unpleasant to look at your hair - it has become thin and grey. Wouldn’t it be better for you to shave your head bald, and at the same time you’ll get rid of lice, “Perhaps,” Ta Chwe agreed.
Without delaying the matter, the abbot of the monastery called the servant, and he shaved the old man’s head.
- How are you, layman? Do you feel any discomfort?
- No, teacher, on the contrary.
Ta Chwe, as before, continued to go with the monks to the village for alms. Having once looked at his torn and dirty dress, the abbot shook his head sadly.
– Your dress is so ugly! Everything is patched and stained. Do you want me to give you a new one?
-Who would refuse a clean dress? - answered the delighted Ta Chwe and gratefully put on monastic clothes.
One day, a bald Ta Chwe in his new vestments with a monk’s basket went to the village for alms, and the children began shouting after him: “Ta Chwe, haven’t you become a monk?”
Hearing this, Ta Chwe thought: “After all, the mischievous people are right. And I’m wearing monastic clothes, and my head is shaved, and there’s a monastery basket on my back. But I didn’t notice it!” And so the saying was born - I didn’t notice how I became a monk.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru