THESTORYTELLINGMONK
The Red Hairy Monster
Another day, and more drudgery. The woodcutter was getting old and very tired. Spending each day in the forest cutting wood and selling it in the market place was exhausting, and left him bitter and sad. With a wife, aging parents and four children to support at home, all his hard work barely kept the wolves of hunger at bay.
He was staggering out of the forest after one particularly arduous day when he saw a monk sitting under a tree. He touched the holy man’s feet to seek his blessing.
“Why the sad face and heavy steps, my son?” lovingly inquired the monk.
“Ah holy one… I have worked so hard all my life, and I can barely put food on the table each day to feed my family. If only I had a helper…” he lamented, tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I can provide you with a very vigorous and strong worker,” said the monk.
“Thank you very much,” said the poor woodcutter, “but I am not in a position to pay a salary to anyone… not even to myself!”
“My son, this helper will work for free all your life.”
The woodcutter could not believe his good fortune. Before he could stammer out his gratitude however, the monk added, “But you should know that you must always keep him busy. If you let him idle even for a moment, he will kill you.”
The woodcutter knew that there was more work than any man could do in the vast forest, and he was confident that he could keep this helper busy forever.
“Go home my beloved child—your aide is already waiting for you,” concluded the sage with a knowing smile.
A huge, hairy, red monster with an enormous axe in his hand greeted the old woodcutter when he returned home. The monster bowed respectfully and asked whether there was any work for him. The woodcutter told the creature to go into the forest and return with 200 pounds of wood.
The monster disappeared in a blur of red light. A few minutes later the blur reappeared and with it the monster and a huge pile of freshly chopped wood. The woodcutter was overjoyed and thought that this was much better than he had originally imagined.
He commanded his red friend to cut down the best trees in the forest and build a huge house for him, thinking that this would occupy the creature for at least a week. The old man went to bed but when he awoke in the morning and looked out the window he found before him a huge house. At first he thought he was dreaming but when he touched the wooden walls it seemed real enough.
The monster was again ready with his axe. This time he had to build a wooden fortification around the village to protect it from thieves. The monster had completed a beautiful fortification after only working for half a day and once again was demanding more work.
In a matter of days he had rebuilt the church to the design of the wood cutter, had mended all the dilapidated houses in the village, built bridges and created fences for every field. The monster was demanding more work but the woodcutter had nothing to give him. He began to worry, remembering the monk’s words that the monster would kill him if he was unemployed.
Fear got the better of the woodcutter and he ran frantically towards the forest in search of the monk. The monster, never one to miss a bit of exercise, followed him with his huge gleaming axe. The woodcutter tore through the wood screaming and wailing for the monk and finally, by the grace of God, found him. On his knees he pleaded, “Please take back this monster!”
“My son, I told you the condition, and you accepted it.”
“But I did not know he worked that fast!” cried the poor man.
“Once a wish is granted it can never be taken back” declared the monk.
Eventually the old man’s miserable wailing persuaded the monk, who took pity on the woodcutter. He said that he knew a job which would keep the monster busy.
“Is this all I need to do?” queried the old man when he had listened to the monk’s instructions.
“Do exactly as I told you and all be well. Go in peace.”
He returned to the village, followed by the monster, who was constantly asking him what work he had for him and muttering that the sharpness of his axe shouldn’t go to waste.
The woodcutter told him to go to the deepest part of the forest, find the tallest straight tree and bring it back after polishing it clean. The red smudge returned in a couple of seconds with a huge tree trunk, smooth and cleanly polished, which he planted firmly in the ground. Thereupon the woodcutter told him to go up and down the trunk. The moment he reached the top he had to come down and when his foot touched the ground he must go up again. He told the monster to continue until he received further instructions.
Thus the woodcutter’s life was saved.
The mind is like the Red Hairy Monster. In its mad quest for sensual gratification, it may bring our downfall… or we may learn to harness its power for spiritual elevation.
The nature of the mind is movement—always galloping from thought to thought, like a wild horse. The question is, ‘How do we control a wild horse?’ The Indian spiritual master Meher Baba (1894-1969) advises, “If you get nervous or angry, you cannot control the horse. If you have control over your mind, the animal will become quiet. If control is lost, both the rider and the horse are lost. The horse is just like the mind; it is good if controlled, but dangerous if it becomes the master.”
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