A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?"
The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound; a sound like no other that he has ever heard. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."
The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way. However, he can't stop thinking about the strange sound he heard. For years afterwards he would find his mind returning to it every now and again, and each time he would wonder what had caused that bewitching noise.
Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery.
The monks again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car. Again, this means staying the night. And once again, in the night he hears the exact same strange mesmerizing sound that he had heard years earlier.
The next morning, he asks what the sound was, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."
The man says, "All right, all right. I absolutely HAVE to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was, is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?"
The monks reply, "you must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk."
The man sets about his task. Some forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, "I have travelled the earth and devoted my life to the task demanded and have found what you had asked for. There are 371,145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth."
The monks reply, "Congratulations, you are correct. Now you are a monk."
And the man says, "Can you please tell me that the strange sound was?"
The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "the sound is behind that door."
The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He sees an inscription carved into the door which reads 'if you would have my key, answer this question : what is strength?'
"Do you know the answer?" say the monks.
"Yes," the man says. "True strength is not mental, but spiritual. Strength is the will to do your best, when all around you tells you that it is useless."
"This is a wise answer," say the monks, and give him the key.
Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. Inscribed upon it is an inscription which reads 'if you would have my key, answer this question : what is love?'
"Do you know the answer?" say the monks.
"Yes," the man says. "To love is to care about another more than you care about yourself. And to care about God above all."
"This is a wise answer," say the monks, and give him the key.
Behind the stone door is another door made of iron. Inscribed upon it is an inscription which reads 'if you would have my key, answer this question : what is honesty?'
"Do you know the answer?" say the monks.
"Yes," the man says. "To be honest is to be willing to accept the death of all you know and care about rather than compromising your own integrity.."
"This is a wise answer," say the monks, and give him the key.
Behind the iron door is another door made of silver. Inscribed upon it is an inscription which reads 'if you would have my key, answer this question : what is mercy?'
"Do you know the answer?" say the monks.
"Yes," the man says. "To be merciful is to stay your hand from justice, recognising that just because a person deserves punishment, that does not mean that you deserve to give it to them."
"This is a wise answer," say the monks, and give him the key.
Behind the silver door is another door made of gold. Inscribed upon it is an inscription which reads 'if you would have my key, answer this question : what is God?'
"Do you know the answer?" say the monks.
"No," the man says. "God is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. But we are as flyspecks in the face of his magnificence, and we cannot comprehend him. No man knows the nature of God, and no man ever will."
"This truly is a humble answer," say the monks, "and the true test here was not one of your wisdom, but of your humility." And they give him the key.
The man unlocks the door. He is relieved to see that there are no more doors. His quest has finally ended.
There, in the room beyond the door, is the cause of the noise which has enchanted him so. And it is truly the most amazing and unbelievable sight he has ever seen.
But I can't tell you what it is. Because you're not a monk.