We all have stereotypical answers:
a quiet walk in the woods; a cup of herbal tea while reading a book of poetry; a mother stroking a sleeping baby; a gardener tending his roses…
What is wrong with these pictures?
They are all externalized ideas of peace,over which we have no control, and, even more problematic, they are all transitory. Our much longed-for stroll in the woods is ruined by a sudden storm ; the phone brings bad news to chase away our poetic muse; the baby wakes up with an earache; the roses wilt and die.
Peace does not mean to be in a place without noise, without problems, without hard work, or without pain. Peace means the ability to remain calm within our heart and mind at all times, even in the middle of very difficult situations. In the heart of the raging waters, growing from a cracked rock was a delicate shrub shielding a nest. Unaffected by the violent surroundings was a small bird sitting calmly in its nest.
1 comment:
wow im glad i stumbled upon your blog here...so true and beautifully put-especially the symbolic bird...peace indeed is a state of mind which few people have the discipline to hold onto..similarly is our ability to stand our own ground in the midst of a noisy crowd-i think they go hand in hand...kind of like what one of my favorite writers-Emerson- says 'It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions;it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of a crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.'
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