PEACE OF MIND

nce a sage was travelling from one village to another along with a few of his disciples. While they were travelling, they happened to pass by a river. They stopped near it and the sage told one of his disciples, “My throat is parched and I am thirsty. Please fetch me some water from the river.” The disciple walked up to the river. When he reached it, he noticed that the water was not very clean. Some women were washing clothes in the water. A cow was also bathing in the same water and so it had become muddy and murky.

The disciple thought, “This water is very dirty. How can I give this muddy water to my guru to drink?” So, he came back and told the sage, “The water in the river is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.” The sage simply smiled.

After about half an hour, the sage requested the same disciple to go back to the river and get him water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the river with a pitcher in his hand. This time he found that the river had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked clear and fit to be consumed. He collected the water in a pitcher and brought it to the sage.

The sage looked at the water and said, “How did you clean the water?” The disciple smiled and said, “I just let it be.”

My dear readers, I wish that you could also “let it be”. Your mind is similar to the muddy water in the river. When your mind is disturbed or plagued by negative thoughts, just stay calm and let it be.

Do not overthink or put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is an effortless process. You neither find peace by rearranging the circumstances of your life, nor by overthinking a particular problem, but by staying calm, realising who you are and what you desire in life.

I wish that you are able to achieve peace of mind, regardless of the situation around you