The Life of a Wave The Path to Peace Once upon a time,
A wave was born on the ocean.
She was excited to be alive,
To explore,
To see what's there,
To make friends.
Strangely,
She forgot where she came from.
She didn't even know about the ocean.
She was separate.
She was an individual.
She was unique.
As she looked around,
She saw other waves,
And some were much smaller.
They were not very interesting.
The wave felt pleasure.
She felt superiority.
She enjoyed the difference.
But there were much grander,
Beautiful waves.
She looked at those waves with envy.
She wanted to be like those big waves.
She wanted people to admire her and say,
Wow,
Look at that wave.
But when she felt inside herself,
It seemed like there was something lacking.
Though she didn't understand what it was.
She felt lonely.
She thought another wave would be the answer.
She found a wave she liked,
And they fell in love.
In time,
The other wave changed shape,
Moved away,
And she was back to her loneliness.
With some other waves she met,
She felt anger.
She felt they were the cause of her pain.
So she felt justified to attack and judge those waves.
As time went by,
She began to hear that waves die.
A long way off,
She could see the shore.
And yes,
There were waves crashing against the shore,
And they just disappeared.
So this was death.
And the wave was afraid.
One day she met a wave that was different from all the rest.
She seemed so peaceful,
So calm,
So gentle.
She said something very strange.
She said,
Don't you know you're part of the ocean?
And the wave said,
What's the ocean?
She said,
Look,
She's all around you.
That's where you came from.
That's where you are.
I don't know.
I can't see any ocean,
She said.
Just be still.
Just be quiet and feel,
Said the wise wave.
So the wave tried,
But she couldn't feel this ocean.
But the example of that beautiful wave made her start to look,
Made her start to seek.
And so she started to spend her life looking for the ocean.
She became a seeker.
And she met other fellow seekers.
Other seekers told her she had to work very hard to find the ocean.
So she dedicated her life to this with austere practices,
Long periods of meditation,
Fighting against her imperfections,
And trying to improve herself.
But still,
She could not find the ocean,
And that the shore was getting closer.
Death was approaching.
She had to hurry,
Put in more effort now.
And then one day she came across that beautiful wise wave again.
It said,
What have you been doing,
Young wave?
I've been trying to find the ocean,
She replied.
And the wise wave said,
You can't find the ocean because you are the ocean.
Just relax.
Be still and silent.
Stop trying to change yourself.
Drop all your judgment of other waves and judgment of yourself.
Forgive yourself.
Forgive those waves.
Just be.
Just move into the present moment.
Just let everything be as it is.
This sounded strange to the wave.
Surely I must work very hard to find the ocean,
She thought.
But in time she began to learn.
As the judgments dropped,
The peace increased,
The mind became more quiet,
And she began to sense the presence of the ocean.
One day in a quiet moment,
Suddenly the realization came.
I am the ocean.
I am eternal.
Waves die,
But the ocean never does.
I have always been.
I always will be.
I am at peace.
