Let it be

Lord Buddha usually walked from village to village with a few of his followers.

On one such journey whilst travelling, they happened to pass a pond. They stopped there and the Buddha told one of his disciples, I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.

The disciple walked up to the pond. When he reached it, he noticed that, a bullock cart had just started crossing through the pond. As a result, the water became muddy and  turbid. The disciple thought, 'How can I give this muddy water to the Buddha to drink?'

So he came back and told the Buddha, "The water is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink."

After some time, again the Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the pond and get him some water. The disciple went back to the pond again.  This time too he found that the pond was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again the Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the pond and found that the lake-water was absolutely clean. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Buddha.

The Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said,  "Tell me what you did to make the water clean? Nothing. You let it be and the mud settled down on its own  and you got clear water."

Then he turned to all and said, "Mind is also like that!  When it
is disturbed, just let it be. It will settle down on its own. You
don't have to put in any effort to calm it down."


I am grateful to Mr. Arun Yallatikar for these words of enlightenment