Do you think finding peace within yourself is difficult? If you are like me, who often thinks about how to find inner peace, then today’s short post might interest you.
Many people think that finding peace within us often takes a long time.
With most of us leading busy lives, it’s hardly possible to find time for our family and dear ones, let alone the time find inner peace.
However, both are myths and not true. You can search for peace within yourself easily and in no time, though you need to work for it and want it too.
Let me try to explain about how you can find peace within yourself from this short story that I had recently read.
“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.” ~ Peace Pilgrim
A Story About Finding Peace Within
Buddha was once travelling from one town to the other with some of his followers. While travelling, they happened to pass a lake.
They stopped a while and Buddha told one of his followers, “I am feeling thirsty. Please fetch me some water from that lake.”
The follower went up to the lake. He noticed that some people were washing their clothes in the water. And at that moment a bullock cart started crossing the shallow lake, thus turning the water very muddy.
The follower thought, “How can I give this dirty water to Buddha to drink!” So, he returned to Buddha and said, “The lake water is very muddy, and not suitable to drink.”
After sometime, Buddha again asked the same follower to go back to the lake and bring him some water to drink. The follower went back, and this time he found that the water was crystal clear.
The mud had settled down and the water looked clean and good enough to drink. So, he collected some water and brought it to Buddha.
Buddha looked at the water, and then at the follower and said, “Look what you did to make the water clean. You let the water be…and the mud settled down on its own, and you got clean and clear water.”
He further told his follower, “Your mind is also like the water. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time and it will settle down on its own. You don’t have to do anything, nor put in any efforts to calm it down. It is effortless and it will happen on its own.”
“First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.” ~ Thomas Kempis
Lesson Learnt From the Story to Find Peace Within
If you try to recollect as to what Buddha said – he said, “It is effortless.” Similarly, having peace of mind is not a strenuous process. Instead, it is an effortless process.
So, don’t look for external things and ways to find peace that exists within you. Whenever you are in a disturbed state of mind, just relax and try to be at peace.
Give yourself some time. Spare a few minutes or more, or even a few hours or days, depending upon the turmoil in your mind.
Pull out your mind from all engagements and let it rest from the turmoil. Eventually the disturbance will fade or settle, and very soon you will find yourself in a peaceful state.
When there is peace within you, it permeates to the outside too. It spreads all over, around you, and in the environment. It affects people, such that they also start feeling that peace and grace.
“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
May peace be with you!
Over to you –
What do you do to find peace within yourself? Do you think it is easy or tough to find peace? Share stories and views about finding peace within yourself in the comments below.