春天，贪玩的童僧拿着石头，绑在鱼、青蛙和蛇身上，捉弄着小生灵们。老僧（吴永洙饰）发现后，用同样的手法惩罚他，告诫他不可胡来。 　　夏天，十七岁的少僧（徐在京饰）为久居深山的修行日子苦闷不已。有一天，一名患病少女（何丽珍饰）在母亲陪同下，来到寺庙拜佛求平安，并留下疗养。少年开 始忍受不住异性相吸所带来的诱惑…… 　　秋天，青年（金永敏饰）在外面杀人后重返寺庙，请求谅解。老僧命其刻写心经，去掉罪孽，同时，追捕逃犯的警察也赶到寺庙…… 　　冬天，服完刑期的中年男子（金基德饰）回到山中寺庙，重新开始修行苦练。一名妇女突然探访寺庙，并留下了一个男婴，希望能被收留。 　　之后，又一个春天到来。In the midst of the Korean wilderness, a Buddhist master patiently raises a young boy to grow up in wisdom and compassion, through experience and endless exercises. Once the pupil discovers his sexual lust, he seems lost to contemplative life and follows his first love, but soon fails to adapt to the modern world, gets in jail for a crime of passion and returns to the master in search of spiritual redemption and reconciliation with karma, at a high price of physical catharsis...