Once in India, there was a king who was very warlike and had a bad temper, so all the people in the country were afraid of him and tired of wars. But the king was very strong, so no one could go against him
Meanwhile, the king had a huge palace. The palace was really great, and especially its marble corridor was very tall and magnificent. One day the king ordered the two famous painters to draw a suitable picture for each side of the corridor. The king gave them a month.

One of the painters immediately began to draw a picture on the right wall of the corridor, bringing all kinds of paints and brushes. He said to the other painter that he was going to paint a scene of the Buddha's land to calm down the king's temper.

The other painter said, "I thought the same thing, but if you draw a picture of the Buddha's land, I must paint a different thing." The next day, the other painter began to work, but he didn't start to draw anything. Instead, he brought a whetstone and began to polish the surface of the left wall. The painter drawing the Buddha's Land said to him, "There is no time for such preparation. If you don't hurry, you will severely be punished."

The other painter replied, "It's OK! You don't have to worry about me. You are working so hard, so I must polish the corridor body and soul." Then he was polishing the wall day and night.

One month later, the king came to see the pictures. On the right wall of the corridor, there was a beautiful scene of the Buddha's land. In the middle of the picture, there was a calm and noble golden Buddha surrounded by many Bodhisattvas wearing rainbow-colored clothing. Beautiful deities were all over the picture, and at the bottom, there were all classes of people and all kinds of living beings putting their hands together and worshipping the Buddha. The king just admired it, "Oh! That's great!"

Then he turned his face to the other wall. However, there was nothing. There was nothing but the thoroughly polished marble wall, so the king became very mad and yelled at the painter. The guard came at once and captured him. Yet the painter was smiling, so the king yelled again, "Why are you laughing? Aren't you afraid to die?"

The painter said, "Your Majesty, please put your hands together and see my picture calmly. I'm one of the painters you had chosen by yourself. It may be worthy to try it." The painter was so confident that the king felt deflated, and everyone seemed curious, so the king stood in front of the marble wall, put his hands in prayer and calmly opened his eyes. At that moment, the sunshine came down from the windows on the picture of the Buddha's Land, and it reflected to the thoroughly polished marble of the left wall. Then the king saw the Buddha's land again as its reflection and himself putting his hands in prayer at the bottom of the picture with all people and all living beings.

Somehow, tears trickled down his cheek, and the king said, "Why didn't I realize that I've been living in such a world." Since then, it was said that the king began to avoid unnecessary wars, and nobody had seen him become unreasonably angry again.

Everyone is the king in his world, so if one becomes angry, his world becomes a place of anger, or if one becomes greedy, his world becomes a place of greed, as Nichiren Shonin mentioned, “The world of Hell begins with the hatred inside the mind.” If one’s mind is occupied with those feelings, he cannot realize what this world really is and may lose precious things as the king can destroy his country by his negligence.

On the contrary, the tale above is telling to have the mind of the mirror, which accepts all the phenomena around us as it is calmly. Trying to have it is a good way to seek what we should do to seek happiness. So please try to have some quiet time everyday, and try to keep some distance from your work and emotion for a while everyday. And polish the mind with the whetstone of compassion. That will bring up the mind of the mirror inside you.

As a camera takes a picture of the scene of the moment, please try to be a mirror that takes the picture of people’s minds. And that attitude will lead not only you but also the people around you to the way of happiness.
May the Buddha always be with us, and may we attain the enlightenment immediately!