(inspired by Chapter 1 of Ki in Daily Life by Koichi Tohei)
Once upon a time, there were two siblings named Kiro and Lina who wanted to set sail across the Great Ocean of Mankind. Their teacher and father, Dadsei, gave them each a little boat.
“Make sure there are no leaks,” Dadsei said. “Leaks? Like drippy plumbing leaks?” asked Kiro. “No,” said Dadsei, “like holes in your focus. If you don’t patch them, the waves of society will slosh right in and sink you before you even get to lunch.”
So the siblings inspected their boats. Lina noticed hers had a crack shaped like a banana. “Banana leak!” she yelled. Kiro laughed so hard his boat tipped, and he almost became a soggy pancake.
But they fixed their leaks and set off.
Out on the water, the waves were huge. Some were waves of fear (“What if I fail?!”), some were waves of distraction (“Oooh! Shiny droid parts!”), and some were waves of anger (“HEY, you splashed me!”).
Kiro shouted, “How do we steer through this?!” And Lina remembered what Dadsei had told them: “You are not separate from the Ocean. The Ocean is like the Force — flowing as you, through you, around you, always. There is no division.”
So instead of fighting the waves, they relaxed and steered with the current. Suddenly the ocean didn’t feel scary — it felt like dancing with water.
But just as they were getting the hang of it, they saw a traveler standing on a cliff, looking ready to jump. “Don’t jump!” Kiro shouted. The traveler turned and said, “I was afraid I was alone. But now I see — I am the Ocean too. There’s no escaping it, because it’s not apart from me. It is me.”
And with that realization, he stepped back from the edge, climbed down, and began building his boat again.
The siblings sailed on, laughing about banana leaks and pancake flips. They knew that as long as they cared for their boats, relaxed into the current, and remembered they were not separate from the Ocean-Force, they would never truly sink.
Moral of the fable:
Tend to your boat (yourself). Relax completely. Flow as the Universal, like the Force. And when fear comes, remember: you are not separate — you are already whole.
⛩️🌿
