The real meaning of peace

Once upon a time, a king announced to prize the artist who would paint the best painting depicting peace. Many great painters sent the king several of their best art pieces. One of the pictures among the various masterpieces was of a calm lake perfectly mirroring peacefully towering snow-capped mountains. Overheard was a blue clear sky with fluffy clouds. The pictures were perfect. Most of the people who viewed the pictures of peace from various artists thought that it was the best among all.

But when the king announced the winner, everyone was shocked. The picture which won the prize had mountains too but it was empty and rugged. In this painting, the sky looked very angry, there was lightning. This did not look peaceful at all. It looked like the artist has mistakenly submitted his painting depicting storm rather than peace. But if anyone looked closely at the painting, he could see a tiny bush growing in the cracks in the rock. In the bush, a mother bird had built her nest. In the situation of the rush of angry weather, the bird still was sat on her nest with peace.

The mother bird at her calm, despite her chaotic surrounding indeed was the best representation for peace.

“Peace does not mean to be in a place where no trouble and noise. Peace means to be amid all the anarchy and still be calm in the heart. Real peace is the state of mind, not the state of the surroundings.”