The High Order Monk

Tre is a high-order Buddhist monk who had slowly developed a friendship with a Christian foreigner living in Tre’s majority-Buddhist country. One day the monk asked his foreign friend to go to lunch so he could share his story of how he became a high-order monk. The friend accepted the lunch meeting on the condition that Tre would also let him tell his story about how he became a follower of Jesus Christ. They agreed on equal time for both stories.

The lunch turned into a bigger event than the foreigner expected. Tre brought with him eight junior monks who serve and follow him. His story began at ten years of age when a monk identified him as the child reincarnation of one of the original monks that had brought Buddhism to their country centuries ago. To prove it was true, young Tre was put into a room with several of this country's most important Buddhist leaders. Fifty objects were placed before him, and he was asked to identify the three that had belonged to the original monk centuries before. The reasoning was that if he were the true reincarnation, he would recognize his own relics. Tre quickly identified the three correct objects. When asked how he did it, Tre said, “An inner voice told me.” Since then, Tre has been venerated as a high-order monk.

When it came time for the foreigner to tell his story, he began with, “I too heard an inner voice.” All nine monks drew quiet and listened intently while he shared with them how the Gospel changed his life. They asked genuine questions as the seeds of faith in Jesus Christ were sown deeply that day.