Seeing the Bigger Perspective

"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 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." Hindu teaching story

The above quote is about a Hindu Master who became tired of the complaints of an apprentice, so he had the apprentice put a spoonful of salt in a glass of water and taste it.  Then he had the apprentice put a spoonful of salt in a lake and to taste that water --- to demonstrate that the salt quantity remained the same; it is by putting the salt in a larger container that minimizes the salt.  For pain too, it helps us to remember that the pain of life is not personal.  Everyone has pain.  By keeping our eyes on the bigger perspective --- our whole life and the goodness of it --- are we able to better tolerate the pain.