Your Inner Voice Is Like Dirty Apple Juice

I came across this story and want to share it with everyone, especially those on a path to discovering their intuition. This story resonates with me deeply. It helps me see how essential daily meditation and sitting still is for developing, learning, listening, and trusting my intuition.

I hope you gain insight, hope, and awareness during reading.

Enjoy.

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==>Your Inner Voice Is Like Dirty Apple Juice.<==

This story is about Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist Monk, Zen Master, and world-renowned religious leader who spread the practice of mindfulness throughout his life. A version of this story was initially described in the book, “The Sun My Heart,” by Thich Nhat Hanh.

A monk who spent much time meditating learned a clarifying lesson from his five-year-old niece. His niece was staying for the summer, and she would play just outside his meditation room. For the most part, the community took turns watching her while he was occupied.

One day, he heard this minor knock on the meditation room door.

When he answered, his niece stood on the other side of the threshold, looking up at him with big, wide eyes. “Uncle Monk, Uncle Monk, my friends and I are VERY thirsty,” she said with all the urgency of a five-year-old on a dire mission.

“Will you give us something to drink?” she smiled at him.

Of course, the monk followed her to the refrigerator to accommodate her request. He opened the door and found a jug of homemade apple juice prepared the day before. The monk placed four glasses on the counter and poured each full of juice—one for his niece and one for each of her friends.

Homemade apple juice differs from processed juice, which you can buy from the store. When the monk poured, the first three glasses came from the upper portion of the jug. The juice came out clear. The fourth glass, though, came from the lower part of the jug. It glugged into the glass full of sediment and pulp and appeared murky.

The three friends quickly grabbed the clear glasses that looked like familiar juice.

That left one last glass of juice for the monk’s young niece.

"I don't want that apple juice! That's dirty apple juice!" The little girl wrinkled up her nose and crossed her arms. "No, honey. It's not dirty apple juice. It's delicious apple juice. This apple juice is even better than the others because it has all the apples in it," the monk explained.

“I don’t want THAT apple juice. It’s dirty apple juice.” This went back and forth for a few minutes. The little girl stubbornly stood her ground, as very sure five-year-olds are apt to do. Finally, the monk returned to his meditation room, leaving the glass on the counter in case his niece changed her mind.

About thirty minutes passed, and the monk was deep in meditation when another minor knock made him smile and shake his head. He went to the door and opened it to the same big eyes. This time, her face wore a pronounced pout.

“I’m only a little girl, and I’m VERY thirsty. Can you please help me get something to drink?”

The monk took her hand and walked to the kitchen. He explained that he had helped her and that her apple juice would still be good to drink. She was steadfast in refusing the terrible, dirty apple juice.

When they reached the counter, the apple juice still sat in the glass where he left it. But after thirty minutes, it no longer looked dirty. The sediment had all sunk to the bottom of the glass, and it appeared as clear as the first three glasses he poured earlier.

"Are you sure you don't want the apple juice? Look at it now," he motioned to the glass. "Wow! What happened to it? Did you clean it?"  "No," he laughed, "It just sat still for thirty minutes." 
She nodded, reaching up on tippy toes to grasp the glass. "Now I know why you sit still so much," she said.  

When you sit still and quiet yourself, you allow the chaos and noise to settle and experience a cleansing—gaining greater clarity to make room for that soft, all-knowing inner voice within.