The Human Condition / Stop the Train
The story is told of a man who, being late for a trip, arrived at a railroad
station and jumped onto the first available train. Extenuated, he dozed off
for a while and then upon waking up, saw the train rumbling along at full speed
toward an unknown destination. He began querying everyone, complaining aloud
and finally crying and shouting. He demanded that the train stop to let him
off. The more excited he became, the more the other passengers, eerily silent
and sowncast, seemed puzzled by his behavior. Finally a kind old man told him,
"don't you know, this train has only one destination, the ocean depths
from which no one ever returns." Once we are born, our final destination
is death -- the deep ocean. Why fret and fuss? All we can do is to use our time
on earth to develop the Bodhi-mind, seeking Enlightenment for ourselves and
others.
From Thus Have I Heard, edited by Minh Thanh and P.D. Leigh