Imagine a small pond in a quiet garden. When the water is still, you can look down and see everything clearly — the stones, the fish, the sky reflected like a mirror. This is the mind that is calm （平靜的心，像平靜的池塘）.
想像一座安靜花園裡有一個小池塘（pond）。當水靜止不動時，你往下看就能把一切看得清清楚楚——石頭、魚兒，還有像鏡子一樣倒映的天空。這就是平靜（calm）的心（平靜的心，像平靜的池塘）。
Now imagine a child throws a stone into the pond. Splash! The water jumps, ripples spread everywhere, and the surface becomes messy. Suddenly you cannot see clearly at all. A strong feeling — anger, stress, or being overwhelmed — is just like that stone. It makes the mind react, and everything becomes cloudy.
現在想像一個小孩朝池塘丟了一顆石頭。撲通！水花跳起來，漣漪向四面散開，水面變得一片混亂。突然間你什麼都看不清楚了。一個強烈的情緒——生氣、壓力，或是招架不住（overwhelmed）——就像那顆石頭。它讓心起反應（react），一切都變得模糊。
But here is the secret: you do not have to throw another stone back. You can stop. You can inhale slowly, and exhale slowly. You can focus on your heartbeat and wait. Little by little the ripples fade, and the water becomes still again. This waiting — not reacting — is called nonreaction （不反應）. With the steady power of Right Effort (Vīrya), you choose calm, and you see clearly once more.
但這裡有個祕訣：你不必再丟一顆石頭回去。你可以停下來（stop）。你可以慢慢吸氣（inhale），慢慢吐氣（exhale）。你可以專注在自己的心跳上，靜靜等待。漸漸地，漣漪退去，水面又恢復平靜。這種等待——不去反應——就叫做不反應（nonreaction，不反應）。憑著正精進（Right Effort，Vīrya）那份穩定的力量，你選擇平靜，於是再次看得清清楚楚。