One day, Shanti was especially happy because he had pulled a prank on one of the older monks. He had slipped one of his father's goats into the monks temple room. Shanti had hidden outside of the building so he could see the monks reacton when he found the goat. As he was hiding behind a statue he overheard a conversation. "Oh, that Shanti. Always messing around and goofing off." "I agree. If he keeps it up he will never achieve wisdom and find true inner peace."As Shanti herd this, his heat sunk. He was very upset and he had never meant to harm anybody. At that moment, Shanti decided that he would stop all his foolishness and become a wise monk just like the rest. But how would he do that? Just then, Shanti remembered a story that his grandmother used to tell him when he was younger. In the story, it is said that if you want to solve a problem, you must trek the whole Himalayan Mountain range and along the way, you must find an offering to give to the Sacred God. Then the Sacred God will solve your problem. Shanti knew what he had to do.
The next day, Shanti set out on his journey with his robe, his straw sandals, his neighbors yak and a statue of a dragon that his mother had given him before she had passed away. As Shanti reached the base of the mountain, he thought "Why am I doing this? This isn't going to work, it was only a child's story anyways." But Shanti knew that he wasn't only doing this for himself, but also for his mother who would have wanted him be a wise monk one day. So, he started on the trek. He was walking up the snow covered mountain when suddenly he fell into a deep crevasse. At first he panicked, but then he thought "What would a wise monk do?" Luckily for him, his yak was in front of him , so maybe he could figure out a way to get his yak to pull him out. If only he could reach the rope. He slowly stepped onto a rock and then a higher one, until the rope was only a few inches above his fingertips. Shanti was a bit frustrated, but he knew that if he kept trying, he might be able to reach the rope. He then leaped off the rock, anticipating the rope in his hands, but it never came. He felt himself falling down to the bottom of the crevasse. Shanti was thinking that he was surely a goner, when he realized that the dragon statue in his hand, had caught on a ledge and was somehow holding him up. Not only had it saved his life, but it was also glowing and lighting up the dark crevasse. He knew that it was his mother's spirit coming to save him.
Slowly, Shanti found a small hole in the rock and then another. He was able to climb out of the crevasse. When he finally got out he picked up his yaks rope and kept trudging up the mountain. He hadn't been walking that long, when he heard a loud roar. At first Shanti was afraid, but then thought that a wise monk would face his fears. Shanti slowly crept around a ledge and saw what he was hearing. In front of him stood a a saber-toothed tiger and it looked hungry, too. The tiger leaped at him and yet again he anticipated the pain, but he never felt the sharp claw. He looked up and saw a dragon holding the tiger down in the snow. The funny thing was that the dragon looked just like his statue.
He said "Thank you, Dragon," and she replied with a familiar sounding voice. Shanti didn't know where he had heard that voice. Then he realized it sounded just like his mother's voice. Once again her spirit had come to help him. They walked together for a a while, talking and catching up on the time that they had lost.
Many days had past and Shanti was quite tired. He didn't know where the dragon had gone, but he wasn't really worried. He thought he would never make it to the top of the mountain, when suddenly he saw a peak above the clouds in front of him. He was almost there! Even though Shanti could see the peak, his body needed a break and he collapsed in the snow. He was cold, tired, miserable and thought he couldn't make it. Shanti wondered where his mother's spirit was when he really needed her, but she didn't appear.
As he was lying on the ground, Shanti thought of his mother and how maybe the dragon spirit was guiding him in his mind and his heart. All that he needed was to think that she was there, and she was. Slowly he got up and kept trudging up the mountain. As he reached the last little bit of the mountain, he realized that he had forgotten to find an offering to give to the Sacred God. Sadly, he walked up to the top, doubting that the God would solve his problem. He cried out "Sacred God. I am here to achieve wisdom." He couldn't think of anything to offer to the God, when he realized that he could give his mother's dragon statue. He held it out in his hands and closed his eyes for a while. He thought of his journey and all of his experiences. He wanted just to be home and over with this whole journey. A loud "BOOM!" took him away from his thoughts. He opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer holding the statue, and in a flash, he was back in his room
Shanti wondered if he had even gone on a journey. He thought of how his mother's spirit had come and guided him. He walked outside and noticed that his village was very different. He wondered how long he had been gone. He asked a street merchant if she had heard of a young monk named "Shanti". She replied saying that Shanti had wandered off into the mountains over ten years ago and never came back. Shanti was very shocked to hear this and said "I am Shanti the monk!" The woman gasped and quickly told all the villagers. They crowded around him and everyone rejoiced at Shanti coming back. He asked if anyone knew were his father was and they told him that sadly, he had died of old age. Shanti walked back to his room and suddenly, his eye caught something glimmering on his shelf. It was his dragon statue!
Shanti, later fell to sleep and had a dream. His dragon spirit was there and she was telling him that he did achieve wisdom, but not by reaching the Sacred God. He had achieved it by going on a magical journey and taking on new challenges. In other words, the journey was more important than the destination. Now Shanti was a wise monk and knew that his mother's spirit would always be with him no matter what.
Shanti awoke and knew that he had reached his goal of achieving wisdom and that his journey was over.
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