There is this story of two monks going on a days journey. At one point deep in a valley they arrive at a river. Standing beside the river is a woman who is unable to cross the river. One monk picks her up, carries her across the river and puts her down on the other side. The two monks continue on their journey.
After they arrived at a village near the end of the day, the monk who hadn't picked her up said, "Our Master said that we aren't supposed to touch a woman."
The other monk replied, "I put her down on the other side of the river but you have been carrying her all day."
When I first heard this parable, I identified with the monk who put her down on the other side of the river not realizing that I had been carrying a burden for most of my life.
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