On a cold day, Master and his disciple were strolling on the beach by ocean, where wind was blowing strongly over the ocean and high waves were rising.
After walking for sometime, Master stopped and looked at his disciple and asked, “What does this ocean reminds you off?”
Disciple answered, “It reminds me of my mind and its restless thoughts.”
Master said, “Yes, Mind is neutral like water. It is neither good nor bad. As in a stormy ocean wind creates waves, desires and fears produce thoughts..”
Then Master asked, “Ok, tell me, would you like to be on a boat in middle of such stormy ocean?”
Disciple replied, “I wouldn’t.”
Master responded, “Right.. But in real, you are there all the time within this storm.. Most people are on a rudderless boat in middle of a stormy ocean, even if they do not realize it.
Mind of most people is very restless, thoughts of all kinds come and go incessantly, agitating mind like ocean waves..”
Disciple replied, “Yes.. I know that. This is the reason i want to learn from you..”
Master looked at his disciple, smiled and said, “You can’t calm ocean by holding the water and not letting it move. What is necessary is to stop the wind..
Your thoughts, desires and fears are like wind and you need to calm them down.. You learn to control them by controlling your attention, focus and actions and then ocean of your mind would be calm..”
Then Master said, “Suppose it is possible for ocean to disregard the wind. What would happen then?”
Disciple replied, “If it happens then waves would cease..”
Master said, “In real, you can’t control wind in nature but you can calm down the winds in your mind, which makes ocean of your mind restless.”
Disciple asked, “Master, if i can succeed in calming the winds of my mind, would i be able to bring more peace and calmness into world around me?”
Master replied, “Learn to focus on your mind, develop will power and self-discipline and learn to meditate. When you can control your mind and make it peaceful, you will have more control over your life.
However, don’t focus on changing the outside world. Focus on changing and calming your inner world. After you are able to control your inner world, you would be able to control the world around you.”
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