following a path

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

One morning, a young boy came to the sage.

“Master,” he said, “I am tired. People interfere with my life. Some try to create problems in my relationships. Some want me to react. Some try to pull me into their arguments. Sometimes I wonder whether I should fight back.”

The sage looked at him quietly.Then he pointed toward a narrow path leading through the forest.

“Do you see that path?”“Yes, Master.”

“Who made it?”

“I do not know.”

“Then why do you walk upon it?”

The boy thought for a moment.“Because it leads where I want to go.”

The sage smiled.

“Then why would you leave your path simply because someone else is walking in another direction?”The boy remained silent.

The sage continued.“People may walk beside you. They may walk ahead of you. They may shout from another road and tell you that their path is better. They may even try to convince you to abandon your journey and follow theirs.

“But their road is not your road.“

Your responsibility is not to control where they walk. Your responsibility is to know where you are walking.”

The boy asked, “But what if they try to ruin my relationships?”

The sage picked up a small stone and placed it on the path.“If someone throws a stone onto your road, do you spend the whole day chasing the person who threw it?”

“No.”

“What do you do?”

“I move the stone and continue walking.”

“Exactly.”

The sage looked at him deeply.“Do not allow another person’s disturbance to become your destination.“Protect what is yours through discipline, honesty and action.

If a relationship is worth protecting, protect it with your conduct—not with endless arguments about what someone else is doing.“

And when the world becomes noisy, return to your practice.”The boy asked, “What if I cannot see the whole journey?”

The sage laughed gently.“Why must you see the whole forest before taking the next step?”

The boy looked at the ground beneath his feet.“You only need to see the step in front of you.”

“Exactly.”

The sage pointed toward the rising sun.“Yesterday has already become memory. Tomorrow has not yet arrived.“What do you have?”

The boy answered softly,“Today.”

“And what should you do today?”

“Walk my path.”

“And tomorrow?”

“Walk it tomorrow.”

“And when someone tries to pull you onto another path?”The boy smiled.“

I continue walking.”

The sage nodded.“Then you have understood.Do whatever needs to be done—but do it today.Do your sadhana today.Keep your discipline today.Protect your relationships today.Do your work today.Correct yourself today.Do not waste today’s life fighting yesterday’s battles or rehearsing tomorrow’s fears.

Every morning, return to your path.You do not need to defeat every person walking in the opposite direction.You only need to avoid becoming one of them.”

The boy bowed.As he walked away, he heard the sage call one final time:“

Remember—your path does not become wrong simply because another person refuses to walk it.Keep walking.”

And for the first time, the boy understood that peace was not the absence of people trying to disturb him.Peace was the discipline of not leaving his own path because of them.