A monk had been commissioned to care for the garden of a beautiful Zen temple. Inside it lived an old and respected teacher.
One day, the monk found out that a very important visit was coming, so he got up early with the intention of leaving the garden in perfect condition.
He was removing the brush, pruning the rose bushes, watering the grass, and finally, spent more than two hours collecting all the leaves that the arrival of autumn had taken from the trees.
When, after several hours of work, he finished fixing everything, he realized that the teacher was leaning out of one of the windows of the temple.
-Good morning teacher! Do you like how the garden looks?
"Well ... yes, but something is missing to make it perfect."
-Something? Replied the puzzled monk. Tell me what it is and I'll fix it right away.
"No, I'd better go over there and show you."
The teacher walked slowly towards the center of the garden, took the trunk of the largest tree there was and began shaking it. Instantly hundreds of leaves began to fall and spread across the ground.
"Now it's perfect."