The Teachings of Phra Ajaan Paisan Visalo

The Teachings of Phra Ajaan Paisan Visalo

Once there was a young monk, who was always irritable and easily annoyed. Even during meditation hours, he wasn't satisfied because sometimes he would hear devotees or other people talking and whispering. 

Even while sweeping the temple compound, he would get annoyed. Because he would complain that there are endless numbers of leaves falling each day. When writing in a book and if his pen gives him problems, he would throw the pen away angrily. 

The Luang Phor of the temple noticed this, and told the young monk to take a pack of salt from the kitchen and bring him a glass of water. He poured half the pack of salt into the glass and let the young monk taste it. The young monk replied, “The water is very salty, Luang Phor

Then Luang Phor brought the monk to the clear stream and dumped the rest of the salt into the water. He had the young monk taste the water, and the young monk replied that the water tasted normal as usual. 

The young monk asked Luang Phor what he was trying to convey. Luang Phor told the young monk, “Suffering is like the salt. Whether the water ends up turning salty depends on whether your mind is like a glass of water or wide and flowing like a stream.

The suffering that we receive everyday in our lives is like that. Whether we perceive it as heavy or light depends on the broadness and freshness of our hearts. If our hearts are like a small glass of water, when we encounter something dissatisfying, resentment and anger will fill our hearts fully.

This only goes to show that our hearts are small and narrow like a glass of water so what happens affects us tremendously. 

However, if there are many problems from work or colleagues, or the weather being nasty, it cannot make us suffer if our hearts are as big as a river. Happiness or suffering depends on the quality of our mind. 

People who are narrow-minded and small-hearted only think of themselves. If they come across something that affects them, they will become sad, angry and dissatisfied with everything. 

But people with big hearts, even if something major happened, they will still be able to keep their hearts normal.”

Phra Ajaan Paisan Visalo

Wat Pasukato, Chaiyaphum

22 May 2023