被
bèi
被 is an arrow flying at you
The picture An arrow flying in and sticking into you. Not something you chose, but something that happened to you. 被 watches from where the arrow landed; 把 watches from the hand that let it fly. 杯子被他打碎了 and 他把杯子打碎了 are the same scene.
Where the picture shows up in 被
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an arrow into your things
我的自行车被偷了。
wǒ de zìxíngchē bèi tōu le
My bike got stolen.
Where the bike was parked there is only a cut lock left on the rack.
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an arrow someone shot
他被老板批评了一顿。
tā bèi lǎobǎn pīpíng le yí dùn
He got chewed out by the boss.
The boss's finger points at you and the words land like an arrow in your shoulder.
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an arrow that ate it up
蛋糕被孩子吃完了。
dàngāo bèi háizi chī wán le
The kid finished off the cake.
Nothing but crumbs on the cake plate, and cream around the kid's mouth.
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an arrow out of the sky
我被雨淋湿了。
wǒ bèi yǔ lín shī le
I got soaked in the rain.
You walk on without an umbrella and the rain runs from your hair down to your hem.
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an arrow called word getting out
这件事被大家知道了。
zhè jiàn shì bèi dàjiā zhīdào le
Everybody found out about it.
One by one the faces in the office turn toward you, and you are the last to know why.
被 usually carries something unwelcome. For happy news a plain sentence, or 让 and 叫, sounds far more natural.
All of it in one picture
The cut lock is an arrow into your things; the boss's words are an arrow someone shot. Crumbs on the plate are an arrow that ate it up, rain running off your hem is an arrow out of the sky, and the turning faces are the arrow called word getting out. Not one of them is something you chose; all five are things that flew at you. That is why with 被 the sentence belongs not to whoever acted but to whoever got hit.