“Reason is an excellent tool when used correctly. When misused,
it becomes highly destructive. To be more precise, it’s not even that
you often use your mind incorrectly – more often than not, you don’t use
it at all. Instead, he uses you. That’s the problem. You believe that
your mind is you, when in fact it is not. Your mind is just an
instrument that has taken control of its master. ”-
Eckhart Tolle.
We have one bad habit – if we want something, we want to get it instantly and immediately. We would rather change our minds than be patient. We give up what we have planned much more often than we patiently and persistently work to achieve it. That is why it is worth reading this Buddhist parable, which teaches the importance of patience in achieving peace of mind.
As a rule, we do not really like to postpone “for later” the satisfaction of desires and the need to wait for something in general. Moreover, when we realize that we still have to wait for what we want, the brain literally boils, bombarding us with an endless stream of anxiety and expectations. He mainly does this in order to while away the time we spend waiting.
That is why we live our lives at a frantic pace, constantly being distracted either by external or internal stimuli. We wander in zigzags, and we have no direction other than the one that leads to our momentary pleasure.
Added to all this is the murmur of an inner voice because our worries and concerns are somehow present in everything we do. Sometimes it even seems that we are addicted to anxiety, like some kind of drug. We love to think about the unfulfilled, to hypothesize, and also to wander through the labyrinths and vicious circles of our beliefs.
But more often than not we ignore what is perhaps most important … How, in fact, can we get out of this trap, into which we have driven ourselves? Perhaps the parable that you find below will be able to give you the answer.
Buddhist History
Once the Buddha and his disciples decided to go on a journey, during which their path ran through many different cities. One day they saw a beautiful blue lake in the distance. They decided to stay with him to rest because they were very thirsty. When the travelers reached their destination and settled comfortably under the shade of the trees, the Buddha said to his youngest and most impatient disciple, “I am thirsty. Could you bring me some water from the lake? “
The disciple went to the lake, but when he approached him, he saw that a cart pulled by oxen was wading across it. With each step they took, the clear lake water became more and more turbid and opaque. Seeing this, the student thought, “No, I cannot bring such dirty water to the teacher.” He went back and said to Buddha: “The water in the lake is very muddy – I don’t think we should drink it.”
A little time passed, and the Buddha once again asked his disciple to go to the lake and bring water. The disciple obediently obeyed, but the water in the lake remained muddy. When he returned, he said to Buddha: “We cannot drink this water. If we do not want to die of thirst, we need to go to the nearest town and ask for water there. “
The Buddha did not answer the disciple, but he did not budge either. He just sat in the shade of trees and smiled mysteriously. And when a little more time passed, he once again asked the disciple to go to the lake and bring water. The disciple did not want to argue with the great teacher, and for the third time, he went to the lake. But inside he was literally seething with indignation. He did not understand why Buddha was driving him back and forth – does he really not understand that the water is muddy and cannot be drunk?
But when he approached the lake, he was surprised to see that the water in the lake was as clear as glass. He collected some water in a vessel and brought it to the Buddha. He looked at the water and asked the student: “Do you know what you did to clean it?” The student did not understand the question and blinked in confusion. He did not try to purify the water in any way – it was more than obvious to him.
The Buddha explained, “You just waited without touching the water. Over time, the mud raised from the bottom settled again, and the water cleared up. Your mind is like this water! When it is cloudy, it just needs to be left alone. Give him some time. Don’t be impatient – on the contrary, be very patient. And over time, he himself will restore balance. You don’t need to make an extra effort to calm him down. Anything that worries him will go away on its own if you don’t try to keep him. “
The art of patience to calm the mind
Waiting patiently to let things take their course is the best sedative for your agitated mind. Buddhists even have a separate name for the state of mind, when it jumps excitedly from one thought to another until its master is completely confused and tired. They call this state “the mind of the monkey.”
If you are driven forward by impatience, anger, stress, or irritation, do not follow these feelings, otherwise, you may make hasty decisions that you will regret later. Instead, stop for a moment and take a deep breath. Emotionally detach yourself from what is happening in the outside world and look into your soul. Only then will you be able to achieve true peace of mind – the same that the student found in the finale of the Buddhist parable that you just read.
Sometimes you don’t need to rush to be successful. In other words, you must stop muddying the waters of your mind and wait as long as it takes. Why? Because when you calm your mind and finally find peace of mind, you will realize that your emotions are in harmony with your thoughts, and thanks to this, you begin to look at life in a completely new way.
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