Zen Humor: Vow of Silence

Remember that story about the fellow who wanted to become a Zen Buddhist monk. So he flew to Japan and he had an interview with the head Roshi. And the Roshi gave him instructions and accepted him and he said, “By the way, there is one thing I forgot to tell you. We have a vow of silence here. You can only speak three words every ten years.” So he said, “Okay” and he went to his quarters.

Ten years passed. And he had an interview with the Roshi. And the Roshi said, “Do you have anything to say?” And he said, “The food sucks!” And he went back to his quarters.

Ten more years passed. He had an interview with the Roshi. The Roshi said, “Do you have anything to say?” And he said, “The bed’s hard!” And he went back to his quarters.

Ten more years passed. He had an interview with the Roshi and the Roshi said, “Have you got anything to say?” He said, “Yes I quit!” And the Roshi said, “I can’t blame you, you’ve been bitching ever since you got here.”