A father was walking from one town to another with few of his sons. This was in the initial days. While they were travelling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and the Father told to one of his son, “I am very thirsty. Can you get me some water from that lake there?” The son said yes, and walked up to the lake.
When he reached there, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and obscured. The son thought, “How can I give this muddy water to my Father to drink!” So he came back and told his Father, “The water in there is very muddy and turbid. So I don’t think it is fit to drink.” After about half an hour, again the Father asked the same son to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink.
The son obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely 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 to his Father.
Father looked at the water, and then he looked up at the son and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be … and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water… Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”
Having ‘peace of mind‘ is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside. It spreads around you and in the environment, such that people around start feeling that peace and grace with full of smile.
The other stories:
Optimist and pessimist
Blind man wish
by
Rushalli
