The master had preached for many years that life was but an illusion. Then, when his son died, he wept. His students came to him and said, “Master, how can you weep so when you have told us so many times that all things in this life are an illusion?”

“Yes,” said the master, wiping away his tears while they continued to course down his ancient cheeks, “but he was such a beautiful illusion!”

-Chang-tzu

 

Photo source: The Passage of Light by Kazuhito “Kai” Hirai