Salt and the lake

Salt and the lake

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."

                        — Author unknown