"Star Zen"
At first, he arrived in broad daylight when the sun was still high. He looked up at the bright sky and asked "where, where can I find it?" "You won't find it anywhere" replied the sun. Its light was so bright, it seemed indifferent. The answer was like a punch, but he took it and, discouraged, left.
In the evening he returned. The sun hovered at the horizon. He asked a new question, "How, how can I find it?" "You cannot find it in any way" the wind answered, his voice as dry and cold as the evening air. This answer struck him deeper than the last, and he left once again.
But at night he returned. It was dark, and the stars only just breaking out. No longer seeking answers from the world around him, he just sat down on the rocks. He closed his eyes. He inhaled in the silence, saturated with the chill of the night, exhaled all his worries and doubts. Again. And again. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
When he opened his eyes, bright stars sparkled above him like precious gems. He realized that he had been wrong. There was no need to search; it had always been here. In his heart, which now beat calmly and confidently. The answer had been right before his eyes all along. But he had been blind, seeking in the outer world what was truly within him.
He smiled at the night, at the stars, at his heart. Peace washed over him like a fresh breeze, he felt it in every cell of his body.
"I found it," he whispered, and the stars twinkled brighter in response.