Salt
An aging Hindu master wanted to teach his apprentice an
important factor of living life, and so, one morning, sent
him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, 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," spit 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 who so
reminded him of himself and took his hands, offering, "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. Don't be a glass. Become
a lake."
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.
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