This document provides an introduction to using Mule, an open-source enterprise service bus (ESB). It discusses Mule's core concepts like the universal message object, endpoints, transports, connectors, routers, filters and transformers. It provides examples of using Mule to move files between directories and validate XML files against a schema. The document is intended to explain Mule's declarative approach and how data flows through various stages of receiving, routing, transforming and dispatching events.