This is a detective who has no name and calls themselves detective. A bright, smart, but cruel one that everyone knows in this little town of theirs. This detective spends their time solving cases but even though they help others, they can get quite mad easily and become grumpy which causes the towns folk to stay away from them at times. Detective never appreciated people in the town and would ignore them if I didn't help them in anyway. One day they receive a letter at their doorstep and picks it up. Detective immediately thinks that this is another case someone needed their help with and they could later gain more attention. They could already imagine all the cheers and pictures around them, so they open it. Oh no! Detective can longer talk! What could be the cause of this curse? Was it the mysterious witch right next door? Either way, detective wanted to be brave and open it, revealing a riddle with a wheel drawing. What could this be? detective wonders. 

Detective is determined to figure out a way to remove this annoying curse put upon them. They see that the letter reveals a short riddle stating 

    A blend of teachings show the path where healing can begin

    to show the one that pain is but a state of mind

    three keys, three new lessons to find on that quest                                      only the river can answer it

Aha! I have solved the riddle! detective thought, it must be the river of magic peace, the river I have always heard about but never knew why it was so famous.. so this is why! I have to hurry, I have cases to solve and fame to gain! as detective is rushing out of town they become so tired from using all their stamina that they feel like fainting and before they could process it, the bridge connected to the forest breaks! 

What am I looking at right now? the detective wonders as they begin to open their eyes very slowly. It seems like detective had been rescued after falling down and landing at a other village somehow around the river. This is good, people will feel pity for me after I return. detective smiled cheerfully. The rescuer seemed to have returned with a basket of fruit but the detective could not hear that and instead jumped out and looked around the house, finding pictures and a medium sized statue that looked like the Buddha. It was placed on a table with a row of bowls and candles on the right. "This is where I pray to the Buddha and show my devotion to them." A shadow looms over the detective. "Are you from around here?" The little detective was so shocked that they jumped up in surprise. Is this what they call a Buddhist? detective thought warily. They only stood there in silence while the Buddhist was waiting for an answer. 

From the corner of their eye they saw a wheel symbol right next to the Buddhist's praying area. That is the exact wheel in the riddle! detective thought as they looked surprised. It was as if the Buddhist could read the detective's mind because they turned towards the wheel and said, "That is the Dharma wheel. It represents the eight-fold path that Buddhists follow and it means that one can live many lives."(Pluralism) Detective looked back at the riddle and tried to signal a question. The Buddhist was very confused at first and realized that detective could not talk. "Are you asking about the eight-fold path?" the Buddhist asked. Detective proceeded to shake their head violently indicating a yes. "For starters, there is a certain pattern that you must follow for the eight-fold path and it teaches the means of getting perfect peace."(Pluralism) The Buddhist sat down. "It is a set of practices delivered by the Buddha and added or changed for many years to come." The Buddhist began to extend their hand. 

In the Buddhist's hand there was a picture of the Dharma Wheel. Once detective held onto the paper, it sparkled and glistened. You could see detective's face in the reflection, and without thinking, they knew this was important and had a feeling in their stomach, like they had to find another wheel. "In some practices, Dharma means "right way of living" and can be described as existing truth."(Ray) The Buddhist said as they opened the door. "Dharma is anything that upholds right control, behavior, and truth, which is what Dharma is translated to. It guides one's life and how they act. Although it is home to many religions, Dharma in Buddhism is all about the universal truth. It is really is the sense of reality in our lives from this little ball of rock we call Earth."(Ray) The Buddhist stops for a moment and points at a boat with colorful streamers. "If humans follow right view, strong wants, speech, action, support, effort, present mind, and focus, it gives us a better mindset. It calls for us to live by giving to others and kindness."(Rahula)

Once the detective left they started thinking about what the Buddhist said and thought about how they never really showed any kindness or compassion after they moved into that town. A couple seconds passed and they decided to ignore the thoughts and head straight to the boat. A young lady was standing and carrying boxes, but It seemed like she was really struggling with it. The detective took the boxes from her hands without thinking. "Thank you kind stranger, I was tending to my shop and needed more supplies." The lady was smiling warmly and detective felt very good that they did something nice. "I work at a boat shop, it is pretty popular here cause lots of people want to visit other villages and see their friends." Detective pointed at the one with colorful streamers and the lady said "oh my, that one is pretty pricey but since you helped me I could let you rent it." The detective gave a big smile, placed the boxes near the shop, and dashed out of there still thinking about the three keys. 

Detective was unsure of where to go but saw a couple houses in the distance and rowed their way there. Once detective stepped foot into the new village, they started speed walking looking for any possible key and found a shop sign that just glowed in the distance with yellow and red. As soon as they stepped up into the counter, the owner who was dressed in a blue and pink outfit welcomed them with open arms and said " Welcome! Welcome! What kind of sculpture would you like? Seeing your outfit I'm guessing maybe you want something cute like a cat or maybe something mysterious." The detective, already very annoyed did not say anything because they could not talk. "I think you would like some many important historic sculptures. How about this Doctrine of samsara symbol?" The owner walked to a small circle shaped sculpture that detective had their attention on. "Hmm.. do you want to know more about this?" The owner said. Detective actually did study this before from a school they went to.

"I will wait for you, let me know if you need any help." The owner said. The doctrine of samsara sculpture detective was looking at is a concept of one person having another life after their other one is gone. The samsara includes a term called atman, being that it follows rules called Dharma so as a result, one gains good karma.(SaveTemples) The detective wondered if this was another key that they needed to solve the riddle. According to what I learned back at my school, Karma is actions that affect us in our next lives. Dharma on the other hand is about right behavior and gives people duties to finish as best as they can. From what Hindus believe, those who do bad things will be reborn in worse situations that must happen."(Jacksonville) Something clicked in their head. The detective needed to know more about this cycle. They ran out the door without saying goodbye to the owner and stepped on another picture of a wheel. They took it without thought. Detective found a small bookstore that didn't have much people inside.

A couple minutes had passed and detective had found nothing that could help them with the three keys. Where healing can begin.. Those words from the riddle kept playing in their head. A book suddenly dropped and hit the detective. It felt like strange magic because it was the exact thing detective needed. They slowly open it and began reading. What is punarjanma? It means a new or second birth. On the other hand, Samsara means a cycle of living, losing that life, and then having another one.(SaveTemple) That one person traveling in different lives from different times is connected to the Paramatma.(SaveTemple) These are connected to karma. Think of it as a wheel that keeps going round and round without stop. There are four basic truths and these are soul, no understanding, see one's true self, and how every action can lead to a good or bad one for one's next life.(SaveTemple) The detective flipped the page and saw a small sheet of paper that had a location written. Last key to open the riddle, church of the east. 

This is it. Detective thought as lighting strikes and created a sudden lonely atmosphere. They could not hold their excitement of finally speaking again and leaving this crazy journey. Once again they are met with another young lady right as they open the door. They were kind of far away from each other but detective could see what she was holding. Is that a fish drawing? detective wondered. It had the same paper material from all the keys they collected so detective tried to get her attention by slamming the door. It worked and they were now face to face. "Who are you? What are you doing here? What is your name?" the lady said as they approached detective. She looked scared that there was a sudden visitor and was still holding onto the key. The detective pointed at the paper while trying to look scary. Lets get this over with! detective thought slowly losing their patience. "This thing? Are you interested in learning about ichthys?" Detective shook their head trying to show that they needed the paper and wasn't here for another history lesson.