Become a Lake

by Win Bradley
(Richmond, Virginia)

Original Text: Become a Lake

An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining. One morning, he sent the young man out for some salt.

When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a large handful of salt in a cup of water and then to drink it.

"How does it taste?" the master asked.

"Salty, bitter, just horrible" replied the apprentice.

The master chuckled, and then asked the young man to pick up another large handful of salt. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake. Once there, the old master told the young man to toss it in. After the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped from the young man's chin, the master asked, "How does it taste?"

"The same as always, delicious," remarked the apprentice.

"Do you taste the salt?" asked the master.

"No," said the young man.

At this, the master sat down beside the young man and said, "I want you to see the pain of life as pure salt my son. 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. When you are in pain, the best thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things..."

"Stop being a cup. Start being a lake."

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Revised Text:

An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining. One morning, he sent the young man out for some salt.

When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to pour a large handful of salt into a cup of water and then to drink it.

"How does it taste?" the master asked.

"Salty, bitter, just horrible." replied the apprentice.

The master chuckled, then asked the young man to pick up another large handful of salt. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake. Once there, the old master told the young man to toss the salt in. After the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped from the young man's chin, the master asked, "How does it taste?"

"The same as always, delicious," remarked the apprentice.

"Do you taste the salt?" asked the master.

"No," said the young man.

At this, the master sat down beside the young man and said, "I want you to see the pain of life as pure salt, my son. 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 into. When you are in pain, the best thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things."

"Stop being a cup. Start being a lake."

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