An aging master
grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some
salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of
salt in a glass of water and then drink it.
“How does it
taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” said
the apprentice.
The master
chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put
it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the
apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, 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?”
“Fresh,”
remarked the apprentice.\
“Do you taste
the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the
young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, and explained
softly,
“The pain of
life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly
the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container
we put the pain in. 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.”
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