145-The salt of wisdom part 2 - Buddhism in daily life

The salt of wisdom part 2

Arriving at the river, the young man took a deep breath, everything had happened so quickly, what was the monk trying to tell him, that salt tastes "salty", that was already clear to him before, had he fallen for a charlatan?

Around him were many people, some lying stretched out in the grass next to the river, others meditating, still others were just silent, gazing at the water, or simply resting on the shore. The young man wondered greatly, there was a magic about the place, he could feel it.

His family had sent him here, surely his loved ones had thought of something, if he was already here now, then he wanted to go through with the matter, the way here was far, he did not want to leave with "empty hands" again. He opened the small letter, there was written in wonderful handwritten letters the following: "Take the salt from the bowl and throw it into the river, then take a handful of the water and drink it! Afterwards you come again into the hall of the temple, I wait there for you.

Again there was a long line in front of him, he had to wait. This time, however, he watched what was happening closely, he had become curious. He saw how many questioners came to the monk, drank there apparently a glass with water, then got a small letter and went away (like him before). When it was his turn, the master immediately addressed him, "So, how did the water taste?" "Master, it was delicious, clear water from the mountains, very refreshing." "Did you taste the salt?" "No master, not at all, it was completely neutral water, no taste."

Then the white master reached out his hand, put it on the shoulder of the bewildered young man, he spoke, "Your sufferings are like the salt, they are always the same, no more, no less. The pain is the same, the thoughts are the same! But what is different, that is the taste of the suffering, it depends on the vessel in which we put the salt (or the sufferings)."

"If you suffer again, and you will suffer a lot more, there is only one thing you can do. You can change the way you look at the way you let the suffering come to you. To stay with the comparison with salt, you can choose to be a jar or a river, it's just a choice. Which container do you want to choose for your future?

The way is always the goal!

Student, this is the path that leads to wisdom.

- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero

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