Once an unhappy young man came to an old master and told he had a very sad
life and asked for a solution.
The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a
glass of water and then to drink it.
“How does it taste?” – The Master asked.
“Terrible.” – spat the apprentice.
The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of
salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when
the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake.
The old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the Master asked, “How does it
taste?”
“Good!” – remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” – asked the Master.
“No.” – said the young man.
The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, “The
pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the
same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the ‘pain’ depends on the
container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to
enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”
Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”
