A Short Story To Calm Your Mind



One day, the Buddha was walking from one town towards another with a few of his fellow disciples. This was in the initial days; as while they were traveling, they happened to pass by a lake. They decided to stop there as the Buddha called upon one of his disciples and said: "I am thirsty. Please get me some water from that lake over there." 


The disciple walked up towards the lake and when he reached it; he noticed that some people were washing their clothes by the riverbank, and it was at that very moment that he also saw a bull cart crossing the lake right at its edge. 


As a result, the water became very muddy & very turbid. The disciple thought: "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?" 


Therefore, he went back to apprised the Buddha and said: "The water in there is very muddy, I do not think it is fit to drink."


"So," the Buddha said: "let us take a little rest here, by this tree." 


As an hour of half passes by; once again, the Buddha asked the same disciple to return to the lake to acquire some water for him to drink.


The disciple obediently went back to the lake. But this time, he found that the lake had absolute pristine & clear water in it. The mud had settled down, and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it back to the Buddha.


The Buddha observed the water and synchronously looked up at his disciple and said: "See...... You let the water be, and the mud will settle down on its own. You have clear water now, and it did not require any effort."


The moral of the story is that in life, our minds are also like that of the lake. When it is disturbed, it becomes cloudy with noise & debris; and in short we lose our sense of clarity. But if we learn to relax & let it be and give it the time it needs to see, it will eventually settle down on its own. For you do not need to put any effort into calming it down, as we can only appraise and make the best decisions in our life ONLY when we learn to stay calm and let the ripples disappear.



Thanks for reading!



Yours Sincerely,

Satori Café







 

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