Not a Monk

There was once a man just like me and you. He woke up in the morning, went to work and enjoyed a beer with his friends in the evening. One day the man was walking down an empty street when a young man jumped at him with a knife, stabbed him and took his money. The man thought surely he would die as he lay on the ground bleeding. But then out of nowhere a monk appeared. The monk pocked him up and carried him away. Soon after the man lost consciousness, but when he awoke he was in a small dark room filled with the smells of aromatic spices. The monk was kneeling in front of him reading words from a small book around his neck. The man drifted in and out of consciousness for 3 days until he was healed. He thanked the monk for helping him and asked what was in the little book around his neck. The monk replied "I cannot tell you for you are not a monk" The man took the monks word and left, determined to live a more active and healthy life lest something similar happen to him. He decided to go on holiday. He went to a tropical country with beautiful sandy beaches and sapphire oceans. One day he was swimming in the crystal clear sea when a shark swam out of nowhere and attacked him, leaving him bleeding heavily and drowning. He thought he was going to die, but then who should swim past? It was the monk. The monk carried him to safety and like last time set about healing him. Reading words from the lite book around his neck. When the man was healed he thanked the monk and again asked what was inside that little book around his neck. And as before the monk replied "I cannot tell you for you are not a monk". By now the man is old and so says to the monk "I am old, my life is nearing the end, how may I become a monk?" The monk tells him of the monastery atop a mountain and gives directions. The man thanks him and leaves. The man sets about on his journey up the mountain. It is long and arduous, but he keeps going. But then on a particularly steep but of mountain he slips and falls. Not far enough to kill him, but he is gravely injured. Once again he thinks he will die when who should stop but the monk. The monk carries him to safety and performs the rituals to him all the while reading from the little book. When he is healed the man once again asks what is in the little book, to the same answer "I cannot tell you for you are not a monk". The man tells the monk he wants to become a monk and so the monk takes the man up to the monastery. The man trains under the Abbott for a year to become a monk and one day he calls the man into his office. He tells him he is ready to receive his little book. The man enters the room where the books are hidden and picks one up and reads its secrets. And I'm sure you would like to know what is in the book, but I cannot tell you for you are not a monk.