My grandfather took me to the fish pond on the farm when I was about seven, and he told me to throw a stone into the water. He told me to watch the circles created by the stone. Then he asked me to think of myself as that stone.
"You may create lots of splashes in your life, but the waves that come from those splashes will disturb the peace of all your fellow creatures," he said.
"Remember that you are responsible for what you put in your circle and that circle will also touch many other circles."
"You will need to live in a way that allows the good that comes from your circle to send the peace of that goodness to others. The splash that comes from anger or jealousy will send those feelings to other circles. You are responsible for both."
That was the first time I realized that each person creates the inner peace or discord that flows out into the world. We cannot create world peace if we are riddled with inner conflict, hatred, doubt, or anger.
We radiate the feelings and thoughts that we hold inside, whether we speak them or not. Whatever is splashing around inside of us is spilling out into the world, creating beauty or discord with all other circles of life.
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这是苏语系印第安人部落中流传的一个古老的故事……
在我七岁那年，我的祖父来到田边的一个池塘。他让我丢一颗石子到水中，并嘱咐我仔细观察石子所激起的水波纹。然后他叫我把自己想象成那颗石子。
他说：“在生命的水面上，你也许能激起许多波纹，而你所激起的波纹也会打破别人的平静，”
“要谨记，对你所激起的波纹中所包含的东西负责，因为这些东西会接触、影响到别人的波纹。”
“你应当努力使自己波纹中的平和宁静传播给他人。当然，如果你的波纹中携带有愤怒、嫉妒，别人也会受到你的影响，因此，你要对它们负责。”
这是我第一次了解到，每个人心中的平和抑或不和，都会传播给整个世界。如果我们自己内心都被冲突、仇恨、疑虑或者愤怒所纠缠，自然就不能给世界带来平和宁静。
无论我们是否说出心中的感觉和思绪，我们都在向外界传播它们。无论我们内心激起的是何种波纹，它们都会被传向他人，与别人的生命波纹共同激起美丽，抑或是不和谐。
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