Sunday, October 4, 2009

A tibetan monk learn english

A few years ago a Tibetan monk was studying English in Dharamasala and one day he met an English woman in a Tibetan restaurant. He requested the woman’s help with studying English. The woman accepted his request willingly and she taught the monk for one hour each day. Yes !, the monk’s English improved. But still he couldn't converse very well and he did not learn how Westerners speak to express their ideas. After a few days the English woman went to Ladakh (it is in the north of India) to travel and then she came back to Dharamasala after almost a week. She called the monk on the telephone so that they could start the English classes the next day at 4:30 PM in Kunga kitchen ( Kungan kitchen is a famous restaurant in town of Melod Ganj ). The monk happily went to the Kunga kitchen cafe at the appointed time. When he arrived at the restaurant the woman was waiting there with some ordered drink and food. They enjoyed the food and she told the monk about how she wondered about travel in Ladakh. The monk didn't understand what she said very well but he pretended to know. He laughed when she laughed. After this sort of talking they started to practice speaking English. So the teacher chose the topic of health. They talked about the subject of health and the woman said to the monk , " Your health is very well " . The monk was happy to hear that comment and he thought to himself that he wanted to tell her something. The monk then said with his poor English to the lady , " Teacher… your health is very well". " You have become fatter ! ". The teacher was surprised. " What are you saying ? , she said. The English woman said this very unkindly. The monk repeated the sentence again to the angry woman and it made the woman feel even more angry. Still the monk didn't know why the woman was becoming more angry with his speaking this way. The English woman then said , " I am sorry. Today I have something to do so we will see about next time." She left straight away and behaved very rudely. It made the monk quite surprised and he did not understand her actions. He was left with an empty mind. The monk did not know the real reason for her anger and dislike. The next day the monk came to the Kunga restaurant to see his teacher and he waited a very long time. She didn't come that day at all so the monk was left with a big question in his mind. After a few days the monk met his friend Tenzin and talked about his English teacher. About how he had waited for his teacher in the restaurant and she had not come. Tenzin asked the monk, " What did you say to your teacher ?". The Monk said " I don't know very well , but she was angered after we talked about our health ". " What did you say to your teacher when you talked to your teacher about her health ? ". Tenzin asked the monk hurriedly. The monk said, " My teacher said to me that my health was very well , so I replied to her, your health is also very well and you have become fatter ! ". " You are a stupid monk " Tenzin said. " You do not have any social experience". Tenzin told the monk. " The word fat is the same as like seeing a ghost for Tibetan people in a Western person’s ear !. Especially a woman’s ear and girls dislike the word of fat. You made your teacher feel very angry and unhappy. So you must go to her and say I'm sorry to your teacher ". The monk thought to himself and said to Tenzin, " You cannot become fat if you do not have enough health and a happy life ! " . Tenzin said to the monk, " You see. You are again debating with me " . Tenzin knew that he couldn't win the debate with the monk so he left him on that day to do his shopping at the small market on the main road side. The next morning the Monk was packing his personal belongings when Tenzin arrived to visit him. " What are you doing ? " . Tenzin asked with hesitation. The monk replied, " I want to go to my meditation cave and I don't need to learn any of the layman's social system. It is too complicated ".

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