The Real Meaning of Peace

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest — in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

從前有個國王，懸賞能畫出最好的寧靜的畫的畫家。很多畫家都試過了。國王看了所有的作品，但他真正喜歡的只有兩幅。一幅畫中是一片寧靜的湖泊，四周群山環繞，而湖泊就是一面完美的鏡子。藍色的天空中白云飄飄，每個看到這幅畫的人都認為這真是一幅表現寧靜的完美作品。

另一幅畫也有山脈，但卻崎嶇不平，而且光禿禿的。上面是烏云密布的天空，而且狂風驟雨、閃電雷鳴，一條白色的瀑布從山的一側傾瀉下來。這看起來一點都不寧靜。

然而當國王仔細地看了看，他看到在巖石的裂隙中長著一顆小小的灌木。在洶涌的水流中間，鳥媽媽安坐在她的巢穴中——如此和諧。

你認為哪幅畫能得到國王的贊賞呢?國王選擇了第二幅。你知道為什么嗎?

國王說：“這是因為，寧靜并不是指在這個地方沒有噪音，沒有煩擾，沒有艱難的勞動。寧靜意味著所有這些因素都存在于你的周圍，而你的心中依然能保持安寧。這才是寧靜的真諦。”