A Fable of Peace.

On the path to finding peace, novice Ke'ri decided that she would go into the sacred forest and look for Mau'sean, the reputed master of peace.   She had heard that no other enlightened being had ever reached the level of peace that Mau'sean had achieved.

The following day, she packed her things and took off for the sacred forest.   On the main road going from her village she noticed a middle aged woman bending over trying to give a bone to one of the mongrel dogs of the village.   It growled and bared its teeth, but the woman kept slowly moving the bone closer and closer to the dog.   Finally, the dog took it and began gnawing on it.   The woman smiled and sat down to watch the dog, playing with his bone.

She continued on her way.

After a while, Ke'ri came to a crossroads.   There were several vendors stalls setup selling vegetables and fruits of all kinds.  Immediately, Ke'ri heard a commotion near one of the stalls.   When she rounded the corner, she saw a large, red-faced man yelling at a small, older vendor.   He was holding a bunch of bananas in his hand, screaming at the man that they were too ripe, that the old man was pulling a fast one, and that he would sooner pay for these bananas that he would leap off a cliff.   The old man answered each of the questions and statements of red-faced man in a soft and assuring voice.   The old man said over and over that the other man could take the bananas at no cost since he was dissatisfied with them, or he could leave them and choose another from the stall.   Every time the vendor said this in the soft and reassuring voice, the red-faced man found another thing to complain about, and started yelling all over again.   Finally, the red-faced man threw down the bananas and stalked off in a huff.  The vendor bend down, dusted off the bananas and put them aside, greeting the next customer with a smile on his face and his calm, reassuring voice.

Ke'ri continued on her way down the road.  

There was an overturned wagon up ahead.   A large, burly man was trying to set one of the wheels back on the axle.  He put it on, gave it a spin, and the wheel did not turn.  Suddenly, the man laughed out loud, took the wheel off the axle, picked up a can of grease and greased the axle.  Then he picked the wheel back up, put it on the axle and gave it a spin.  He then righted the wagon, and wiping off the sweat from his forehead, smeared the grease over his face.  He looked at his palm, felt his face with his other hand, and when it came away greasy, he bellowed out another laugh.   Still chuckling, he took a rag from his pocket and cleaned off his face and hands.  Then he packed up the wagon and started on down the road.

It was getting late, but finally Ke'ri made it to the outskirts of the sacred forest.

To her surprise, sitting on a rock, seemingly waiting for her was Mau'sean, the master of peace.  She began begging him to show her the way to peace.   He looked at her for a while and then asked about her journey to the forest.

Ke'ri told him about the three incidents that she came across.  The woman and the dog, the vendor and the red-faced man, and the burly man and the wagon.

"You have asked to be taught the way of peace, but you have already seen the way."

Ke'ri, astonished said "I do not understand Mau'sean.  What way of peace did I see?"

"You saw the way of peace with the world with the woman and the dog.  You saw the way of peace with people in the vendor and the red-faced man.   You saw the way of peace with yourself in the burly man and the wagon."

"But I still do not understand."

"In each encounter, you saw a person making the choice to be at peace.  The woman chose to be loving to the dog, sharing in it's joy and it shared in her joy."

"The vendor chose to respond with peace and understanding to the red-faced man, even though he could have chosen to argue or even fight back with the man.   It was his choice of peace he made."

"Finally, the man and the wagon chose to be at peace with himself.   Even though he had problems, he chose to see the humor of the situation, and to laugh at himself.   Thus he chose to be at peace with himself."

"You do not need my help my friend.   You have now seen that the way of peace is the choices we make to be at peace with ourselves, others, and the world.   Go and continue to make that choice daily."