Taoist monks have long been revered for their empirical study of the best ways for humans to exist in harmony with the natural world. They were also known for their great feats of physical strength gained through many years of devoted practice to self-improvement and understanding.

Once, a group of you student monks posed a question. “What are the limits of human strength and ability?” They posited many tests and decided to see how high they could jump off a cliff without injury.

The first student to volunteer climbed to a height of ten feet and jumped without hesitation! He landed and rolled into a somersault and arose without injury.

The next student said, “That was quite easy! I will climb to twenty feet!” And he did. The student looked down from his perch to see the other students cheering him on. Though he had trepidations, he knew he could not back down. So, he took a deep breath and jumped! He hit the ground and went into several somersaults and came to an abrupt stop. He lay in the dirt for a moment then arose. He brushed himself off and said, “See, that was not so bad!”

Since he was visibly shaken, no other student was willing to try going higher. The other students mumbled in their small crowd, all too scared to try. Finally, a third student came forth and declared, “I will climb to thirty feet and jump!” The other students were taken by the statement and mumbled again as they could not believe what was about to happen.

The third student confidently climbed to thirty feet. Looked down at the other students with a sense of grandeur, and without hesitation, jumped! The student landed on the ground with a thump. He did not roll. He did not move. Realizing what had happened, the students ran to their Master and brought him to the base of the cliff.

The students explained their experiment to the Master. They explained that the first student jumped from ten feet without hesitation, landed, rolled, and walked away without injury. Then, the second student climbed to twenty feet, hesitated, jumped, rolled many times, lay on the ground for a moment, then arose slightly shaken but without injury. The third student was most confident when he climbed to thirty feet. He stood on the edge of the cliff and looked down upon us as a King over his subjects. He jumped without hesitation and landed with a thump and did not move.

The students were quite shaken by the events of the day and pleaded to the Master for his wise counsel.

The Master looked upon the bewildered students, then up at the cliff, then upon the lifeless body of the young monk. He looked back to the bewildered students who were eagerly awaiting his wise counsel and replied, “Thirty feet is too high!”

Testing our limits is an important part of human growth. Pushing our limits beyond reason is a sign of underdevelopment. The need to be seen as greater than others is a recipe for disaster. A true and wise leader approaches these situations directly and calmly bringing peace and understanding to the situation.