If You Love Me, Then Embrace Me

In a small meditation center, twenty monks and one nun named Un were practicing meditative concentration under the guidance of an old meditation master. Un was a beautiful young woman. Though her head was shaved and she wore plain, simple robes, an air of quiet grace still radiated from her face, and many monks in the assembly secretly admired and longed for her.

One day, one of the young monks could no longer restrain his heart. He wrote a love letter to Un and asked to meet her in private. Un received the letter but did not reply. She simply tucked it into the folds of her robe and continued sitting in meditation as if nothing had happened.

The next day, after the meditation master finished his instruction, Un stood up. She looked straight at the one who had written the letter, then spoke aloud in a calm voice full of quiet power:

"If you truly love me so much, then come and embrace me."

The entire meditation hall fell utterly silent. Every eye turned toward the young monk. His face flushed red, and he bowed his head low, not daring to look up. He could not do such a thing in front of so many people. In that moment, he realized that what he felt was only a fleeting desire, not a true love with the courage to be declared openly. Un looked at him, smiled gently, then sat down and returned to her practice.