Theme: Society Law

The young man and the old man

In a small village far away, there used to live a very good young man who was eager to acquire more spiritual knowledge.

One day, he decided to climb a mountain that was not far away from there and look for a man he had heard about since he was little.

This man, when he was still a young man, had also shown interest in getting closer to God. Many years ago, in search of spirituality, he had left the village and climbed the mountain. He started to live there, isolated, in deep contact with nature, cultivating peace and wisdom.

The young man, desirous of following the same path, went to meet him.

After a long walk, the young man searched for some time and found the man, who was now an ancient man.

Very humbly, the young man explained his intentions to the old man and asked him kindly to accept company for a while, so he could get in touch with at least a small sample of the great knowledge there.

The old man, flattered, accepted the proposal. Thus, they began to live together for a few days, in which the young man got to know the way of life that the old man led.

During this period, the two meditated, contemplated nature and collected food. From time to time, the old man looked thoughtful, his gaze far away. At other times, he looked annoyed. He barely spoke. Even so, the boy realized how much the old man knew about the stars, the moon, the sound of animals and many other things and admired him for it.

After a few days, the young man announced his departure.

When it was time to say goodbye, the young man hugged the man who had received him and handed him fruits that he had picked, in gratitude for the opportunity to meet him.

The old man took the fruits, put them in a basket, took a few more things and said:

- We can go. I'll go with you. I hope you can accept my company too, for a while, back in our village.

The young man was very surprised and asked the master why he had taken this decision, abandoning his very special way of life with which he had achieved so much peace.

The man replied:

- Because the peace I got was very fragile. When you arrived, I thought I could teach you to live in peace and harmony as I thought that I lived. But then I felt uncomfortable and sometimes even irritated by your presence, even though there was no problem. I realized that I wouldn't know how to forgive you if you did something wrong. I've also heard you talking about your family members with love and be homesick. Here, isolated, I neither love nor be loved by anyone. I didn't develop patience or tolerance, not even for you, who were kind and humble.

He continued:

- The peace I wish to achieve cannot be shaken so easily. I'm leaving too. I've wasted too much time here already - he concluded.

The young man was surprised by those words, but he understood that they were sincere and true.

The two returned to the village. The old man had to readjust to living among the people, but he did it with great effort. Over time, he became cared and admired by many people. Instead of avoiding his brothers, he started living to help them.

When he was very old, he advised people with what he had learned from life: that true peace comes from following the laws of God and love, charity and working in well are the way to conquer it.

And the old man was able to help, the young man. He followed his footsteps in the village and also became a spiritual and happy man.

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