Realization

A youthful monk, journeying home, reached the bank of a vast river. There were no visible means of crossing it. Standing there, he pondered for long on how he could get across. No ideas occurred to him; eventually, he gave up and was about to retrace his steps when he spotted an old Zen teacher standing on the opposite bank. He yelled across to the older man, “Oh master, I am stranded here. Can you tell me how I may get across to the other side?”

The aged teacher thought for a few moments, looking up and down the river. He then shouted back, “My good fellow, you are on the other side!”

---