Peace of Mind

In the early days of walking, Buddha was going from one town to another with a few of his followers.  While they were travelling, they passed a lake.  Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Get me some water from that lake.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he got there, he noticed that people were washing clothes in it and a horse cart started crossing. As a result, the water became very muddy and gross.  The disciple realized this water couldn’t be given to Buddha to drink. So he comes back to Buddha and says, “The water is muddy and unfit to drink.”

After some time passes, Buddha asks the same disciple to go to the lake and get him some water to drink.  Obediently, the disciple goes back to the lake.  Only this time, the lake was crystal clear and looked fit to drink.  The mud was no longer stirred up.

So he collected some water and brought it to Buddha.  Buddha looked at the water and then he told the disciple, “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 like that also.  When it is disturbed, just let it be.  Give it a little time.  It will settle down on its own without any effort from you to calm down.  It happens effortlessly.”