So, there's this man named Jack who loves to ride his motorbike really fast through the mountains past this one really old monastery. Unfortunately, Jack is an unbelievably reckless biker and, one day, he gets in a biking accident in the mountains near the monastery. His bike is absolutely totaled and he is left unconscious and bleeding. Thankfully, the kind, wonderful monks from the monastery come and rescue him. They take him into the monastery, give him a room with a cot to lie on, fix up his wounds, and appoint a monk to look after him.

When Jack wakes up, he's astonished to find himself not only alive, but in this room in the monastery with a monk taking care of him. The monk tells him that, unfortunately, he's going to have to stay in the monastery for several weeks for him to heal. Jack doesn't want to stay because he finds the monastery creepy, but he knows there's no way he'd be able to make it out in his current condition, so he reluctantly agrees.

That night, at around midnight, Jack is lying on his cot in his room in the monastery and he suddenly hears a strange, eerie sound coming from deep beneath the monastery: thump. thump. thump. A loud thumping sound. Jack is seriously puzzled by this sound because he cannot possibly seem to figure out what on earth could be making it. Jack lies awake all night wondering what the thumping sound is.

The next morning, Jack asks the monk who's taking care of him, "Hey, what's that weird thumping sound that was coming from under the monastery last night?"

The monk, who has been very caring and gentle, tells him in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. Only monks are allowed to know."

"Please, you can tell me," Jack insists. "I promise I won't tell anyone. I just need to know."

"I'm sorry, but you have to be a monk to find out," the monk insists. "It is absolutely forbidden for us to tell non-monks anything about the source of the thumping sound."

So Jack spends the next four weeks in the monastery recovering and every single night, starting at around midnight, he hears this strange, inexplicable thumping sound coming from deep beneath the monastery and every night he lies awake for hours before finally finding sleep, puzzling persistently over what the source of the mysterious thumping sound might possibly be. Finally, Jack is all better and the monks tell him he can leave. Jack thanks the monks profusely for their kindness.

Jack decides that he's going straight this time. He determines that he will never ride a motorbike ever again. He is going to drive his car everywhere. Unfortunately, it turns out Jack is every bit as much of a reckless driver as he was a reckless biker. One day, only about six months or so after leaving the monastery, he's driving his car along the exact same road through the exact same mountains past the exact same monastery when, it so happens, he gets in a horrendous car wreck. His car is absolutely totaled and Jack is left unconscious and bleeding out.

Once again, the good, kind, benevolent monks come and rescue Jack. They take him to the exact same room with the exact same cot where he stayed before. They treat his wounds and assign the exact same monk to care for him. When Jack wakes up, he can't believe he's back in the monastery. The monk explains to him that, unfortunately, he's going to have to spend a few weeks in the monastery again to give him time to heal, because there's no way he's going anywhere in his current condition. Jack admits the monk is right. He doesn't find the monastery nearly as creepy as he did before.

Then, that night, at around midnight, just like the first time when he visited the monastery, Jack hears the most bizarre, unearthly, unsettling sound coming from deep below the monastery: thump. thump. thump. The exact same loud thumping sound. Now, the first time Jack heard this sound, he'd been curious what it was, but, by this point, it's starting to really drive him crazy. He absolutely has to find out what this thumping sound is!

The next morning, Jack asks the monk, "Can you please tell me what that thumping sound from under the monastery is? I hear it every night every time I'm here and I absolutely have to know. It's driving me crazy."

The monk sighs.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but you have to be a monk to find out. We have extremely strict rules about this sort of thing. It's absolutely required that we keep the secret," the monk explains.

Jack groans in frustration.

So Jack stays in the monastery for another four weeks and, just like the first time he stayed, every single night, like clockwork, at around midnight, he hears the mysterious, inexplicable thumping sound. Every night, Jack lies there, tossing and turning, fretting over what this sound might be. Finally, all Jack's injuries heal and the monks tell him he can leave.

Jack goes home and he decides that he's never going to get in one of these accidents ever again. He is thoroughly determined this time. He decides that he's never going to drive anywhere himself. He's going to play it safe and take public transportation everywhere, no matter where he's going. A bus. A train. A taxi. He doesn't care, as long as he's not the one driving, because that means his own horrendous reckless driving will never get him in another accident.

Unfortunately, one day about six months or so after leaving the monastery, Jack happens to be riding in a bus with around thirty other people on that exact same road through the exact same mountains past the exact same monastery as before. It so happens that, by pure coincidence, the bus driver is an even more reckless and horrible driver than Jack ever was. The bus driver gets in a horrible accident. For some bizarre, inexplicable reason, though, the bus driver and all the other people riding on the bus come out completely unscathed without even the slightest scratch—except, of course, for Jack.

Jack is left maimed, bleeding, and unconscious and, for some reason that, once again, defies all rational explanation, everyone else on the bus just leaves Jack lying there. Thankfully, though, the monks come back, find him there, and take him into the monastery. They treat his wounds and give him the exact same room with the exact same cot as before and assign the exact same monk to look after him.

Now, when he wakes up, Jack is thoroughly disappointed that he was unable to avert yet another accident. The monk who's looking after him tells him that, unfortunately, once again, he's in no condition to leave and he's going to have to stay in the monastery for another few weeks or so to heal. Jack resigns himself to his fate.

Then, that night, at around midnight, Jack hears the most unearthly, inexplicable sound, the same sound that has left him puzzled and bewildered him on his two previous stays in the monastery: thump. thump. thump. A loud thumping sound coming from deep below the monastery. By now, Jack has become single-mindedly obsessed with trying to find out what on earth is making this sound. He is desperate to know. It has become his whole mission in life. He needs to find out what this sound is.

The next morning, Jack begs and pleads the monk to tell him what the sound is.

"I am so sorry, Jack. You have become almost like a brother to us here at the monastery since you've spent so much time with us, but our vows absolutely prohibit us from telling you what the sound is. If you want to find out what the sound is, I'm afraid you're going to have to become a monk yourself."

Jack lies in bed every night, thinking about the sound, trying to figure out what it could be. He hears it every single night and it's always exactly the same, as elusive, mysterious, and confounding as ever.

Jack stays in the monastery for four weeks to heal, but after those four weeks are over, he doesn't leave. Instead, Jack decides to become a monk.

The initiation ceremony is long and boring. Jack has to participate in over thirty elaborate rituals. There is also much singing of hymns and reading of the scriptures. Finally, though, the ceremony comes to an end. Jack is now finally a monk. He goes to the monk who had been taking care of him and asks him, "Hey, so, now that I'm a monk, do I finally get to find out what that thumping sound is that comes from deep below the monastery every night?"

The monk chuckles slightly.

"I'm sorry, Brother Jack, but there's actually a one-year probation period. We have to make sure a new initiate is truly devoted to the faith and to the decision to be a monk before we can reveal our deepest, most sacred mysteries. Our vows are absolutely very strict about this. Again, I'm terribly sorry, but you're going to have to wait another year before you can find out."

Jack is unbelievably frustrated by this. He stays in the monastery for a full year; the monks give him the exact same room he had been staying in during his previous stays. Every single night, like clockwork, at around midnight, Jack hears that same bizarre, perplexing, eerie, unearthly sound that has now become his only obsession: thump. thump. thump. A loud thumping sound. Jack desperately needs to know what it is.

Finally, a full year passes in the monastery and Jack becomes a very devout monk and the monks teach him all their mysteries—except, of course, for the source of the thumping sound. Finally, on the one-year anniversary of Jack's initiation to the monastery, he goes to the monk who had been taking care of him and askes, "Please, I've waited so long. I need to know what that thumping sound is. I can't go on like this any longer. I need to know! I need to know! Please tell me!"

The monk smiles.

"You are ready to learn the source of the thumping sound. Please, allow me to show you what it is."

The monk leads Jack over to an inconspicuous-looking tapestry and pulls it aside to reveal a secret handle. The monk turns the handle and a hidden door opens in the wall across the room. He leads Jack over to the door and leads him through it. They find themselves at the top of a long, narrow spiral staircase leading down a dark passageway. The monk takes a torch and leads Jack down the spiral staircase. The passage is clearly extremely ancient. The walls are made of stone and are covered in cobwebs.

Finally, they reach the bottom of the spiral staircase and they find themselves in a large, empty room beneath the monastery with a single door at the far end. It is extremely ancient down here, with the walls and floor looking as though they are probably thousands of years old. It's also dark and damp and there are puddles of water everywhere. The monk leads Jack over to the door and opens it. On the other side is… another door. The monk opens the door and, behind it, is another door.

"Wait! I think I know what the thumping sound was! It was the sound of you guys opening all these doors!" Jack suddenly proclaims.

"No," the monk insists. "I'm sorry, but that's not it."

The monk finally opens all the doors. In total, there are over twenty of them. Finally, they enter into another, even larger room with ornate marble columns. At the far end of the room is a large, wooden chest. The monk leads Jack over to the chest.

"Jack, are you absolutely sure you want to know what the source of the thumping sound is? Once you see what's in this chest, there's no going back. This is big. This is something that completely changes you. This will completely redefine everything you think you know about the world. Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it. Are you really sure you want me to open this chest?" the monk asks.

"Yes. Absolutely. Open it. I need to know," Jack insists.

"Very well," says the monk. The monk draws a small key out of his robes and inserts it into the lock. He unlocks the chest and lifts the lid to reveal… another chest inside the chest.

"Ok. I'm sorry. I may have slightly exaggerated how close we were to the actual source of the thumping. There's another chest and a few more. I'll just open these for you."

The monk unlocks and opens roughly twenty chests, all nested inside each other like Matryoshka dolls. Finally, he comes to the last chest, which is no larger than a jewelry box.

"Jack, this is the last chest. I am not joking and I am not exaggerating. This really is the last one. The source of the thumping noise you have been hearing every night is right here inside this chest. Are you absolutely, completely sure you want to see what this is?" the monks askes.

"Yes!!! I need to see it! Just open the chest!" Jack pleads. He is so desperate to find out what the source of the thumping noise is that he's literally in pain at this point.

Slowly, the monk takes the last key, inserts it into the lock, and turns. The monk lifts the lid on the chest and Jack peers inside.

And Jack saw the source of the mysterious thumping noise. It was truly astounding. Jack was utterly amazed and confounded by what he saw. It was something that truly and completely changed him as a person. It explained everything. It was the fulfillment of his whole life up until that very moment.

Do you want to know what Jack saw in that chest? The source of the mysterious thumping noise? The thing Jack had been pining to see for years?

I'm sorry, but you have to be a monk to find out.