She smiled again at the lucky young man. Soon her father arrived, looking very angry. Timidly the young man asked for permission to marry his daughter. The old man looked at his daughter and when she said yes, he gave his consent. The young couple were married the same night and lived happily for many years.

They had four children who grew up and prospered. But one sad day, the beautiful and still-young wife said to her husband: “Now I must go and leave you here, for I am not a mortal woman. May you live on in good health for a long time.”

After these words she suddenly disappeared. But sometimes, in later years, when the now-old man was walking in the woods he would think that he fleetingly saw her. Perhaps it was only a reflection of the moon in a mountain stream; perhaps it was only the rising sun shining on a lake, but from time to time he caught a glimpse of her beauty. And, when he saw a bluebird perched on a branch above his head and heard its beautiful song, then, once again, he saw her smile.

The Old and the Young Monk

After three years of obedience to his master and rigorous monastic discipline, the young pupil received a revelation of his past life and failures and realized the debt he owed to his former pupil.

More than one thousand years ago there lived in the famous abbey of Bumusa an elderly monk, called Dong-ji, and a younger, called Yung Wun. Dong-ji was rich and each day went to the city to transact business and become yet richer. And each day Yung Wun observed his master busily earning money instead of accumulating spiritual merit.

“Master,” Yung Wun asked one day, “is it a good thing to concentrate the mind on material things all the time? Is it not true that the body will decay before the gold you are collecting? You have often told me about those beautiful Diamond Mountains. Why don’t we go there, find a good place to settle down, and spend our lives in prayer and mediation?”

Dong-ji was deeply moved by his pupil’s words, knowing them to be true as well as polite. He repented of his life of materialism and agreed that they should move to the mountains there and then. However, his spiritual devotion was not strong enough. After an hour’s climb his heavy body was tired, and he decided to go back to the easy life of wealth and food in the city. He left Yung Wun in the mountains and returned to his abbey, where he lived in luxury until he died.