But life in the monastery, and life in general, does not bring wisdom to the lowly monk solely through thoughtful meditation, but also through communicating and communing with fellow sisters and brothers.

I have been scrabbling away at a project for a couple of weeks now (VC++, not perl) and had thought I was nearly finished, when I was rudely introduced to the fact that I didn't know what the hell I was really doing. It took me many days to work up the courage to ask my senior (and much more daunting) developers for help. But when I did they happily spent time with me and showed me that I did know what I was doing and that I was only missing a small piece to finish off the puzzle. What a revelation that I'm not sure I would have EVER figured out!

I think it's important that we, as monks, realize that though we like to struggle with puzzles and challenges alone (for therein lies the ultimate sense of accomplishment) valuable knowledge may also be gained from communicating with our fellow monks. I hope that when a brother or sister approaches me for help that I can remember the dignity and grace I was shown in my own quest for knowledge.