A River of Coolness, a River of Peace

The baiji told this story:

Once there was a man who was peacefully going about his simple life. One day several men approached him and began mocking him. Their leader took particular joy in making fun of this simple man.

How did the man react to the taunts? He listened to them, and he kept listening. Most people would be deeply wounded by these words that were meant to cause great pain. Some might be moved to commit violence, but this man appeared unaffected.

After a time, the simple man spoke. "I'm sorry, but I have somewhere I have to go right now. If you like, I can return afterward and you can continue saying these things to me."

The leader looked at him harshly, then left in disgust.

The man watched him for a moment, then turned to go on his errand.

One of the others ran up and stopped him, saying, "Why did you not react to his nasty words? He was trying to hurt you, but you seemed to not even care!"

The man looked at him plainly. "You could say his words were like fire, right? And when fire meets water, what happens? It's extinguished."

"What do you mean?"

"There is a river in my heart. A river of coolness. A river of peace."

And at that moment, the men were instantly transformed. Not because the man tried to force them to change, but because of who he was, because of who he was being.

Now, they had the knowledge.

Without the knowledge, Baiji said, we react without thinking, too quickly to respond from our heart.

This knowledge must be taken to heart, so we can come from there in all our interactions. This will help provide the life of peace and bliss we are looking for.