A young monk had spent twenty years in solitary meditation, living in a cave beside a wide, rushing river. Through intense effort and severe discipline, he finally attained the supernatural power of levitation.
One day, a Zen master happened to come walking along the riverbank. Eager to show off the fruit of his decades of hard work, the monk walked out onto the water. With great composure, he stepped lightly from wave to wave until he reached the center of the roaring river, turned around, and walked back to the shore without getting his robes wet.
He looked at the Zen master with immense pride, expecting to be praised for his miraculous feat.
The master sighed, shook his head, and asked, "How long did it take you to master this skill?"
"Twenty years of intense meditation and practice!" the monk replied proudly.
The master pointed to a wooden ferry boat docked just a few yards away and said, "What a pity. The ferryman over there will take anyone across this river for just a small coin. You have wasted twenty years of your life to achieve something that is worth no more than a dime."