YISUN said,  “Listen, here are three types of looking. Three men make a pilgrimage but despite their best efforts, lose the path. The desert is hot, and the men will soon be dead. They have run out of water.

The first man doesn’t know he has run out of water, nor does he bother to check. He blithely continues onwards until he is shocked to find his own death coming up from the sand to meet him.

The second man checks his canteen and sees immediately he is out of water. He gives up and curls up in a ball, and dies quite piteously, obsessing over his failures. A miserable man.”

Hansa said, “An ominous riddle.”

“The third man,” YISUN said, “checks his canteen, and finds he will soon be a dead man. Yet he is resolute, and presses onwards anyway, looking for his destination.”

“Does he find it?” asked Hansa.

“No,” said YISUN, “Quite plainly. His death finds him at the appointed time. Yet he presses on anyway, until the moment his corpse hits the dust.”

“What an idiot,” said Hansa.

“Absolutely,” said YISUN.

“What a magnificent idiot,” added Hansa.

“Hansa is observant,” said YISUN.

– Spasms