Journey To The Inner

With a kind voice he began telling her the tale of the two brahmans and the woman at the river crossing:
There were two brahmans walking down a country road in India, a young disciple together with an older and much wiser brahman. As they were walking the road reached a river crossing. At that time there were no bridges to cross the rivers, so they had to go through the water. By the river bank there was a woman, and as the water was running high, due to the monsoon season, she asked the two men if they can help her cross the river? The young brahman utterly refused, as women were considered to be impure and it was forbidden for brahmans to come into contact with anything or anyone who was impure. However, the older brahman took the woman on his back and carried her across the river. Afterwards the brahmans continued on their way, the older brahman behaving as if nothing had happened, while the younger brahman was tormented by the fact that his companion carried that woman, as it was against the rules of their cast. For two hour the young brahman dwelled on that thought until he built up his courage and asked the older brahman why did he help that woman? His older companion replied: “I only carried her across the river, after which I ceased to carry her. However, you have been carrying her for the past two hours and you will carry her with you for a long time to come. That was what I had to do at that time, that was why I was there. I served my purpose.”
Finishing his tale-telling, he explained to her that we often carry with us all sorts of feeling related to experiences from the past, cluttering ourselves and not allowing anything new to come into our world. We need to move on, get over old experiences and embrace the new ones that will come. As the old saying goes “Out with the old, in with the new”, as long as we dwell and torment ourselves on old experiences, feelings, resents, nothing newer and better will take their place.
She understood the message behind the tale even before he started explaining it, however, his words served to make her realize the importance of this lesson.