By Volunteer Writer | Posted: March 01, 2019
There is a story about Lord Buddha.
One disciple came to Buddha and said, ‘My mind is full of turmoil. I feel so guilty, I feel so bad, I feel so this and that,’ and he named a lot of emotions and problems. And Buddha just told him to go and get some water from a pond. So he went there and saw the pond was so muddy. He said, ‘Lord the water is so muddy, I can’t get it.’
Buddha smiled and said, “Why don’t you try again?” So this man went back and again found the water muddy. A little while later, Buddha told him again to go get some water.
The disciple said, ‘But it was all muddy.’
Buddha said, ‘No, go and get the water.’
So when Buddha insisted, he had no other choice but to just go.
By that time the water had settled and it was clear. He brought the glass of water and gave it to Buddha. Buddha looked at the disciple and smiled and the disciple got the answer.
So when your mind is muddled, just give it some time and it will settle, it will become clear.
There are so many books written, so many concepts on how to love yourself, make the guilt go away, calm your mind, and so on.
Trying to repair the emotions, correct the emotions, brings to mind a saying in Sanskrit: suppose you have a wound and you go on scratching the wound, it’s not going to get better. Every time you scratch it you make it worse.
This is exactly what you’re doing; you try to get rid of this thing or that thing or feel better about yourself, love yourself or not love yourself. Instead, the best way to overcome mental and emotional turmoil is to do yoga, meditate, become hollow and empty, and everything else gets taken care of.
This article was originally published on the Wisdom by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar website.
