Expanding the Container: Embracing Life's Bitterness and Sweetness

Become the lake not the glass

Photo by Tj Holowaychuk on Unsplash

I've written before on the importance of becoming limitless, to expand your sense of self so you become a larger container for all that life presents to you, whether bitter or sweet.

I came across this parable recently, and it was a reminder that you can choose how to hold the events of your life when you pay attention to the container you are. If you feel small, it is easy to be overwhelmed by life. If, however, you can envision being more than your preconceptions of how things should be, you can remain grounded, whether in joy or sorrow.

When I say an expansive life, I don't mean MORE. I mean MEANINGFUL. More stuff does not make you a person who enjoys growing and learning and pushing the limits of your assumptions.

To become more is to enlarge your sense of things.

It is to supersede what no longer serves you and open your heart to what else may be hidden beyond any suffering so you can move through with grace.

Become a Lake - A Parable

An aging master grew tired of his apprentice's complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it.

"How does it taste?" the master asked.

"Bitter," said 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 and explained softly:

"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.

Stop being a glass. Become a lake.