Have you ever seen a film clip of a parachutist landing in a circle on the ground? Sometimes they film it from top, with his feet showing on screen and the circle wavering beyond. During the travel down, beautiful sceneries pass beneath his feet -- rolling mountains, wandering rivers; birds fly around him and the billowing parachute is so colourful against the sky. The parachutist loves it all -- it is why he goes skydiving.
But he never loses sight of that circle on the ground. While enjoying all this, he ensures that the aim of his feet keep coming back to that circle drawn far away, but getting bigger all the time.
The only truth of life is death. The only purpose of life is managing death well. Life is there to distract and to give enjoyment. But death, like gravity, has its inexorable pull. The single-pointed mind, intensely focussed on retaining poise and landing with light feet in the circle, is ever ready to pass through death.
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