Once, a student complained to his teacher about his unhappy life. The teacher decided to teach him a lesson.
One day, he asked the student to get some salt and a glass of water.
The student returned with a glass of clean water and a handful of salt. The teacher asked the young man to put the salt into the glass and drink it.
"How does it taste?" the teacher asked.
"It tastes bitter (味苦的)," the student replied.
The teacher didn't say anything else, but asked the young man to get the same amount (数量) of salt and follow the teacher to a nearby lake.
"Put the salt into the lake," the teacher said. The young man did what the teacher said.
"Now, taste the water from the lake," the teacher said.
As the water dropped down the young man's chin, the teacher asked, "How does it taste?"
"Fresh and a bit sweet," the student said.
"Do you taste the salt?" the teacher asked.
"No," the young man shook his head.
The teacher sat beside the young man and said, "The pain of life is like salt — no more, no less. However, the amount of bitterness you taste depends on the container (容器) you put the pain in." The amount of pain in life stays exactly the same. So when you are in pain, the only thing to do is to open up the mind. Stop being a glass, become a lake.
