The Salt

Once an unhappy young man came to an old master andtold he was very sad and asked for a solution. The old Master instructed the unhappy young man toput a handful of salt in a glass of water and then todrink it. "How does it taste?" the Master asked."Awful," spat the apprentice. The Master chuckled andthen asked the young man to take another handful ofsalt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silenceto the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled hishandful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Nowdrink from the lake." As the water dripped down the young man's chin, theMaster asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarkedthe apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked theMaster. "No," said the young man. The Master satbeside this troubled young man, took his hands, andsaid, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. Theamount of pain in life remains the same, exactly thesame. But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends onthe container we put it into. So when you are in pain,the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense ofthings ..... Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"