A Buddhist Story Of Patience And Mental Peace

We have a bad habit of wanting almost everything immediately and doing things immediately. We prefer to change our decisions instead of having patience. It is more common for people to give up than to put in some effort. However, this Buddhist story will teach you the importance of patience to achieve mental peace.

It usually bothers us to have to postpone it to satisfy our desires and to have to wait. When we have to wait, our state of mind will bombard us with worries and expectations. This means that we try to make the time we have to wait to go faster.

That is why we live fast lives with many internal and external distractions. We wander from one place to another, with no other direction than that which leads to our immediate satisfaction. In addition, we need to add the hassle of our inner voice, because our worries tend to be present in everything we do. It’s like we were addicted to it. We love to think, make hypotheses and be caught up in labyrinths and vicious circles in our faith.

But perhaps we ignore the most important thing: How to get out of these self-imposed traps. How do we free ourselves from mental traps? Perhaps the following Buddhist story gives us the answer.

The Buddhist history

The Buddha and the disciples decided to make a journey where they had to cross different territories and cities. One day they saw a lake in the distance. They decided to stop there since they were thirsty. When they got there, the Buddha said to his youngest and most impatient disciple, “I am thirsty. Can you give me some water from that lake? ”

The disciple went to the sea, but when he got there he noticed that a cart of oxen was crossing it. Little by little the water became cloudy. After this happened, the disciple thought, “I can not give the teacher this clay water to drink.” Thus he went back and told the Buddha, “The water is very muddy, I do not think we can drink it.”

After about half an hour, the Buddha asked the disciple to return to the sea and give him some water to drink. But the water was still dirty. When he returned, he said to the Buddha, “We can not drink that water. We should go to town to get something to drink ”.

Patience gives mental peace

Buddha did not answer. However, he made no movement either. He just sat there. After a while, the Buddha asked the disciple again to return to the sea and bring him water. When he did not want to challenge his master, he went to sea. But he was furious because he did not understand why he had asked him to go back. Since the water was muddy, they could not drink it.

When he arrived, he saw that the water now looked crystal clear. Thus he collected water and brought it to the Buddha. He looked at the water and said to the disciple, “What have you done to purify the water?” The disciple did not understand the question. It was obvious that he had not done anything.

The Buddha looked at him and explained, “You waited and left. Therefore, the sludge stopped on its own, and now the water is clear. Your mind is like that too! When it is muddy, leave it alone. Give it some time. Do not be impatient. On the contrary, be patient. It will achieve a balance on its own. You do not need to do anything to calm it down. Everything will pass by itself as long as you do not hold on to it. ”

The art of having patience for mental peace

Patience is the key to this Buddhist story. It’s about the art of knowing how to wait, respecting time and taking a break when the opportunity demands it, especially when it comes to your thoughts. In fact, the more overwhelmed you are, the more you need to stop thinking before your train of thought grows.

Doing nothing, giving things time and waiting are good options to calm your upset mind. In fact, Buddhists call a mind that jumps from thought to thought in an agitated way until you are exhausted and confused, a “monkey mind.”

If you are carried by impatience, anger, stress or frustration, you will eventually make hasty decisions. Therefore, it is better to take a few minutes to breathe. Feel emotional from what happened and get in touch with yourself. Only then will you achieve mental peace, just like at the end of Buddhist history.

Sometimes it’s not so much about doing something fast. Rather, it is about being calm and not being led away by the disturbance of immediacy and joy. In other words, you have to set your mind and wait as long as necessary. When you calm your mind and reach mental peace, the emotions will be in line with your thoughts. This will allow you to take on different perspectives and views.