This story shared by Zen masters like Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us a powerful lesson about anger and ego. It illustrates how our suffering often stems from our internal reactions to situations, rather than the situations themselves.
A monk who was struggling with anger issues was advised to seek true solitude and practice meditation. So he took a boat to the very center of a calm lake, moored it, closed his eyes, and sat in complete silence.
After an hour of peace, he felt a sudden bump as another boat collided with his own. His eyes closed, the monk felt his anger rise. Somebody had ruined his meditation! “Who disturbed me?” Why weren’t they paying attention?” “How could someone be so careless?” he wondered.
Frustrated, he opened his eyes, ready to shout at the offender. However, he saw that the other boat was empty. It had simply drifted from the shore and bumped into him. There was no person. Therefore, no intention behind it. No disrespect shown to him.
In that moment, the monk realized his anger wasn’t caused by the other boat or any person in it. The anger was already inside him, and the bump of the boat merely triggered it. The story wasn’t only, “This happened.” It was “Someone did this to me!” Thereafter, if anything provoked him, the monk would remind himself, “It’s just an empty boat; the anger is inside me.”
Life is full of empty boats. Stop fighting every collision. You can’t control other people’s moods, their choices, their reactions. But you can control your interpretation, your response, your own boat. Next time you feel anger taking over, ask yourself, “Am I fighting an empty boat?”
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
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