Become A Lake

Once a young apprentice, not so happy about the things around, goes to his master to express his bitterness that was developed by discomfort & unpleasant experiences.

The 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. “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.”

After 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 advised the young man, “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 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.”