A monk walked into a lively bar. The moment people saw a monk enter the place, everything suddenly stopped! The music stopped playing, and the couples stopped dancing.
The bar owner came over and asked:
“Venerable sir, what would you like to drink?”
The monk replied:
“Oh dear, I am a monk. How could I drink anything in a place like this? Actually, I have something quite urgent. I was wondering if you could let me use the restroom?”
“Well… I’m afraid that might not be possible…”
“Why not? I can pay.”
“Oh no, how could I possibly take money from you! But the problem is that on the way to the restroom there’s a statue of a girl whose only clothing is a grape leaf…”
“That’s no problem. Things like that may affect ordinary people like you, but for me it means nothing. Whether it’s there or not makes no difference!”
“In that case, please go right ahead.”
Five minutes later, the monk came back, thanked the owner, and asked:
“There’s something I’m curious about. When I first entered the bar, all the noise suddenly stopped. Then, when I was walking to the restroom, everything went silent again. Why was that?”
The bar owner smiled and said:
“Well, the first time was because everyone was surprised to see a monk walk into a bar.
And the second time… was because that grape leaf is actually the main power switch for the whole bar.”
