One quiet morning, the Buddha sat with his students beside a still pond. He picked up a single small stone and dropped it into the water. Plip. Where the stone touched the water, a tiny circle appeared （漣漪）.
一個寧靜的早晨，佛陀和弟子們坐在一個平靜的池塘邊。他撿起一顆小石頭，丟進水裡。咚。石頭碰到水面的地方，出現了一個小小的圓圈（漣漪）。
The little circle grew into a bigger circle, and then a bigger one, spreading out until the gentle ripples reached every edge of the pond. “One small stone,” the Buddha said, “touched the whole pond. Your kindness is like this stone.”
那個小圓圈變成更大的圓圈，接著又更大，一直向外擴散，直到溫柔的漣漪（ripples）抵達池塘的每一個邊緣。「一顆小石頭，」佛陀說，「碰觸了整座池塘。你的善意就像這顆石頭。」
When you help one person who is sad or hurt, that person feels less suffering. Then they are kinder to someone else, and that person is kinder again. Loving-kindness (Mettā) wishes others happiness; compassion (Karuṇā) wishes that no one suffers — and like ripples, even a small act of compassion can change the whole world. Because we are all interconnected, we are one.
當你幫助一個傷心或受傷的人，那個人就少了一些痛苦（suffering）。然後他會對別人更友善，那個人又會對別人更友善。慈愛（Mettā）希望別人快樂；慈悲（Karuṇā）希望沒有人受苦——而就像漣漪一樣，即使是一個小小的慈悲舉動，也能改變整個世界。因為我們彼此相連（interconnected），我們是一體的。