The Thief Who Returned
A man who had been a thief for many years decided to change his life. He joined a monastery and began practicing meditation and discipline under a wise teacher. For several months, he was sincere and devoted. He kept to his routines and impressed the monks with his determination.
One night, as he walked past the monastery’s storeroom, he noticed the lock was broken. Without thinking, his hands moved on their own—swift, quiet, and practiced. By the time he realized it, he had taken a bag of rice and hidden it under his robe.
Ashamed, he confessed to the master the next morning. “I didn’t want to steal,” he said. “It just... happened.”
The master nodded. “Your mind has changed, but your hands still remember.”
Then he said: “Stay. Now you know your opponent—it is not evil, but habit. We will train both mind and hands together.”
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