One day some people came to a solitary monk .
They asked him:
"What is the meaning of silence and meditation? "
The monk was just the scooping of water
from a deep well.
He said to his visitors:
"Look into the well. What do you see?"
The people looked into the deep well and responded:
"We see nothing!"
The monk put down his bucket.
After a short while, he urged the people once more:
"Look into the well!
What do you see now? "
The people looked down again:
"Now we see ourselves!"
"You could not see anything," replied the monk,
"Because the water was restless as your life.
But now it's quiet.
This is what the silence gives us : one sees himself "
Then the monk told the people to wait a while.
They asked him:
"What is the meaning of silence and meditation? "
The monk was just the scooping of water
from a deep well.
He said to his visitors:
"Look into the well. What do you see?"
The people looked into the deep well and responded:
"We see nothing!"
The monk put down his bucket.
After a short while, he urged the people once more:
"Look into the well!
What do you see now? "
The people looked down again:
"Now we see ourselves!"
"You could not see anything," replied the monk,
"Because the water was restless as your life.
But now it's quiet.
This is what the silence gives us : one sees himself "
Then the monk told the people to wait a while.
Finally, he asked them:
"And now look again into the well.
"And now look again into the well.
What do you see? "
The man looked down.
"Now we see the stones on the bottom of the well."
The monk said:
"This is the experience of silence and meditation.
If you wait long enough, you can see the reason of all things. "
~ author unknown
