Let me tell a story , Once upon a time there was a king who offered a great prize to whichever artist could really capture perfect peace in a painting. Many artists tried. The king viewed and admired all the paintings, but there were only two which he really liked and he had to decide upon one of them. The first was a very peaceful lake. The lake was like a perfect mirror which reflected the placid mountains surrounding it. A blue sky with fluffy white clouds hung above it. Everyone who looked upon this painting thought it captured perfect peace. |
But when the king looked closer, he saw a delicate shrub growing out of a crevice in the rock behind a waterfall. On this shrub was a bird’s nest. There, amongst the roar of the violent waterfall, a small bird was placidly sat on its nest... Perfect peace..? Which painting do you think won the prize? The king chose the second. Do you know why? “Because,” explained the king, “Peace does not mean to be in a place without noise, nor problems, nor hard work, nor free of pain. Peace means that in spite of being amidst all these elements, we remain peaceful in our hearts. This is the true meaning of Peace.” |