True Peace

Aum Sairam

A long time ago a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists entered the contest. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked. 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.

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.

We were not put in the world to hide in a cave, but to create a life amidst the chaos of the universe and to refine the world in the process, therefore creating true peace.

Allah Malik