Source: The Internet
There was a person who was terrified of death.
He contemplated in his mind: “Is death in front of me? Or is it behind me?”
He thought: “People always encounter death when they are going forwards, for example, death in aeroplane accidents and death in car accidents. As for animals, they’re caught and killed when they’re running forwards for their lives. No animal has ever died retreating backwards. Therefore, death must be chasing us from behind.”
He reached an important conclusion: “The only way to avoid getting caught by death is to run even faster, with even more haste.”
Consequently, he acted like he was in a rush every day, whether he was eating, working or walking, his speed was three times faster than before.
One day, whilst he was hurrying along, he was suddenly called to a halt by an old man with a white beard.
The old man asked him, “Why’re you in such a hurry, what’re you chasing?”
He replied, “I’m not chasing anything, I’m running away!”
“What’re you running away from?” asked the old man.
“I’m running away from death!”
The old man said, “How do you know that death is behind you?”
He replied, “Because all animals flee for their lives and eventually death catches up with them.”
The old man said, “You’re wrong! Death doesn’t chase you from a particular starting point, but awaits for you at your destination. Whether you run fast or slow, eventually you’ll reach your destination.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’m the Spirit of Death!” the old man said.
The person was shocked and grew pale, “Since you’re here today, could it be that my time has come?”
The Spirit of Death said, “Hey! There’s no need to be afraid, your time hasn’t yet arrived, it’s just that you’re running too fast, my fellow companion ‘Life’ is always complaining that he can’t catch up with you, if you don’t reunite with him, how’s that different from death? He particularly asked me to tell you to slow down!”
“How can I reunite with ‘Life’?”
The Spirit of Death said, “Firstly, you need to stand very still and let your mind settle, then you need to take a good look around you, use your intuition, go with your feeling of benevolence, try your best to appreciate your surroundings; ‘Life’ will then catch up with you.”
When he managed to settle his mind, the old man said, “Turn around and take a look, my fellow companion is here.”
As soon as he turned around, the old man disappeared; instead, he saw the most beautiful image of a road he had ever seen.
Perfect bliss, can only be experienced when you truly recognize the true value of life.
