Stilling the Mind

An old monk was visited by a disgruntled young aspirant. The young man complained that although he had devoted his whole life to doing good deeds, he had still not attained peace.

The old monk told the young man to bring him some water from a nearby shallow pool. The water was turbid.

“Let it remain still”, said the old man. After a while, the mud and sand settled at the bottom of the vessel, and the water was perfectly clear.

Then the monk said…