A powerful Buddhist-inspired story based on one of the most difficult attitudes to face in life: Do nothing and let things flow and happen by themselves, practice mental stillness.
Below we share a story that, in its simplicity, contains a great life lesson.
WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, DO NOTHING
-A Buddhist story-
Buddha and his disciples undertook a journey through various territories and cities. One day when the sun shone with all its splendor, they saw a lake in the distance and stopped, besieged by thirst. Upon arrival, the Buddha addressed his youngest and most impatient disciple and said: -I’m thirsty. Can you bring me some water from that lake?
The disciple went to the lake, but when he arrived, a bullock cart began to cross it and the water gradually became cloudy. At this, the disciple thought, “I cannot give the teacher this muddy water to drink,” so he returned and said to the Buddha: -The water is very muddy. I don’t think we can drink it.
After some time, Buddha again asked the disciple to go to the lake and bring him some water to drink. The disciple did so. However, the lake was still choppy and the water disturbed. He returned and with a conclusive tone he said to the Buddha:-The water of that lake is not drinkable, it will be better that we walk to the town so that its inhabitants give us something to drink.
Buddha did not answer him, but neither did he make any movement. He stayed there. After some time, he asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and bring him water. This one, as he did not want to challenge his teacher, went to the lake; he was furious, because he did not understand why he had to return, if the water was muddy and he could not drink.
Upon arrival, he observed that the lake had changed its appearance: it looked good, it looked calm and crystal clear. She picked up some water and brought it to the Buddha, who before drinking it looked at her and said to his disciple: What have you done to clean the water?
The disciple did not understand the question. He hadn’t done anything, it was obvious. Then, Buddha looked at him and explained: –You waited and let her be. This way, the sludge settled on its own and now you have clean water.
Your mind is like that too! When she gets disturbed, you just have to let her be. Give it some time. Do not be impatient. Quite the contrary: be patient! Your mind will find balance on its own. You don’t have to make any effort to calm her down. Everything will pass if you don’t hold on.
Patience is the secret.
The art of knowing how to wait, of respecting times and taking a break when the situation warrants it, especially with our thoughts. In fact, the more overwhelmed we get, the more we feel our minds gaining and dominating us, jumping from thought to thought until we are worn out and confused, is when we most need to stop.
Because if we let ourselves be carried away by impatience, fatigue, frustration and stress, in addition to feeling bad, we will surely end up making hasty decisions, the result of our impulses.
That is why it is much better to take a few minutes to breathe, take emotional distance from what has happened and get in touch with yourself. Because only in this way will we be able to reach that state of mental stillness, as indicated at the end of the Buddhist story.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used correctly. However, if used incorrectly it becomes very destructive. To put it more precisely, it’s not so much that you use your mind wrongly: usually you don’t use it at all, but it uses you. That is the disease. You think you are your mind. That is the deception. The instrument has taken over you.” -Eckhart Tolle