Was just sharing this fake monk story with my mother as she's quite a devout Buddhist herself. With much less than an indifference, she told me this episode that happened in Buddha's time somewhere in India.
A powerful Indian king saw a monk walk past the palace. The king was immediately filled with good will and asked his trusted minister to offer some alms and follow the monk to see which monastery he is from.
The minister followed the monk. After some distance, the monk walked into a small hut, changed clothes, and had lunch with his wife and kids.
The minister upon seeing this knew very well that this monk together with his family would be executed should he report this to the king. Also, the king's sense of content and positivity would instead be filled with negative rage and anger.
The minister went back to the palace. When the king asked about the monk, he simply answered: "My king, after some distance, the monk disappeared from my sight", to which the king thought "wow, I did indeed offer alms to an enlightened monk!".
Outcome:
1. The king gets to feel good about his good deed.
2. The "monk" and his family is spared. His karma will come eventually.
3. The minister didn't lie either. The monk that is represented by the robes disappeared the moment the fake monk took off the monk's robe when he changed back to normal clothing. So the
monk disappeared.
Just thought I'd share this story