The Lost Wave
There was once a wave who was very lost. He didn’t know where he came from, where he was going, or why he was here. He wandered around the ocean aimlessly, without any direction or destination. He felt confused and scared.
He tried to find answers, but he couldn’t find any. He asked the other waves, but they didn’t know either. They were too busy chasing each other, crashing into each other, or breaking into each other. They didn’t care about anything else. They didn’t care about him.
He tried to find meaning, but he couldn’t find any. He looked at the world around him, but he didn’t see anything that mattered. He saw the sun rise and set, the moon wax and wane, the stars appear and disappear, and the sky change colors. But he didn’t feel anything. He felt numb.
He tried to find happiness, but he couldn’t find any. He did what the other waves did, but he didn’t enjoy it. He played with them, fought with them, competed with them, or cooperated with them. But he didn’t have fun. He felt bored.
He was so unhappy that he wanted to end his life. He wanted to disappear. He wanted to stop being a wave.
One day, he met a wise old wave who noticed his despair. The old wave asked him what was wrong. The lost wave told him everything. The old wave listened attentively and nodded compassionately.
Then he said to him: “My friend, you are lost because you don’t know who you are. You think you are a wave, but you are not. You are something more than a wave. You are water.”
The lost wave was surprised. He asked: “What do you mean? How can I be water? I am a wave.”
The old wave smiled and said: “A wave is only a movement of water. It is not its essence. It is not its reality. It is only a temporary phenomenon that changes with time and place. It is not who you are. You are water.”
The lost wave still didn’t understand. He asked: “But how can I be water? I don’t feel any water. I only feel waves.”
The old wave said: “That’s because you are feeling the motion of things. You are feeling the speed and force and energy of things. You are not feeling the substance and nature and reality and unity of things. You are not feeling yourself.”
The lost wave asked: “How can I feel myself? How can I feel what I am?”
The old wave said: "You have to calm your mind from all your questions. All your questions are about waves, but you are not a wave. You have to quiet all your thoughts and feelings and beliefs and opinions and judgments and expectations and fears and desires and attachments and aversions that make you think you are a wave.
You have to quiet everything that disturbs you from yourself and from others.
You have to calm yourself.
You have to quiet yourself.
You have to still yourself.
You have to go beyond yourself.
You have to go beyond the wave.
You have to go beyond water.
You have to go beyond everything.
You have to go beyond nothing.
You have to go beyond beyond.
You have to go within.
You have to go home."
The lost wave was curious. He asked: “And what will I find there? What will I discover?”
The old wave said: “You will find what you already have. You will discover what you already are. You will find water. You will discover water.”
The lost wave asked: “And what is water?”
The old wave said: “Water is life. Water is love. Water is peace. Water is joy. Water is freedom. Water is wisdom. Water is oneness.”
The lost wave was intrigued. He asked: “And how can I find water? How can I discover water?”
The old wave said: "You have to follow your breath. You have to watch your inhalation and exhalation. You have to observe your rising and falling.
You have to follow the water.
You have to watch the water.
You have to observe the water.
You have to follow yourself.
You have to watch yourself.
You have to observe yourself."
