Dear Buddhist Monks,

Where are you? People tell me you wander the streets of Gyeongju, but I have yet to see you. Are you phantom monks? I think I heard you chanting outside my school yesterday, although I think this would be strange because it sounded like it was coming from a megaphone of some sort. I guess I just assume you would be more traditional than to preach Buddhism via a modern amplifier. Perhaps this is stereotypical of me.

Do you give advice to those who seek it? Because I would love to meet one of you and ask you some questions, assuming of course that you speak my language. But I would learn Korean in a heartbeat if I knew that the questions I had for you would be answered. Such as:

Are you an egg, a carrot, or a coffee bean? I know this is a strange question, but roll with me here. Assume you were to boil three pots of water. In one pot you put an egg, in another a carrot, and in the third ground coffee beans. After letting the water boil for 20 minutes, you take out the egg and put it in a bowl, you take out the carrot and put it in the bowl, and you ladle a cup of coffee from the coffee beans and put it in a bowl. What do you see?

An egg, a carrot, and a cup of coffee, right?

But if you were to feel the carrot, you would notice that although it went into the water hard, unrelenting, and strong, it was now seemingly weaker and softer than it had been prior to being boiled.

The egg, prior to being boiled, had been fragile and could have broken at any moment, spilling it's liquid interior. But now, if you were to hold it in your hand after it was done boiling, you would notice that underneath the thin, outer protective shell, the liquid had hardened.

But what about the ground coffee beans? They had changed the water entirely.

You see Buddhist monks, each of these things faced the same adversity which was boiling water. But each reacted differently. So which are you?

Are you the egg which has a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Do you have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break up, a financial hardship or any other type of trial, do you become hardened and stiff?

Are you the carrot who seems strong, but when faced with trials and tribulations you become soft?

Or are you the coffee bean? The one that actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

So I ask you again, my dear Buddhist monks whom I will probably never actually have a conversation with: are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Love,
Laura

P.S.
I think I am definitely the egg. But I am striving towards the coffee bean. What are you?

P.P.S.
I have none of these things in my refrigerator and I am craving a caramel macchiato.