There was once a man who was a devoted disciple of a holy man. He served this holy man well, after serving the holy man he would go for long walks in the beautiful countryside and he would get so much pleasure from doing so.

One day after serving his master, he decided to go for a walk using a different route. While on this new route he came across a town. He thought to himself "this looks like an interesting place," he proceeded to walk through the town. As he went through this town he saw things that he had never seen before.

He saw luxurious clothing and furniture, he smelt foods that he had never smelt before, he saw priceless jewelry that shone like the stars. He also saw beautiful women that were dressed in fine clothing, they were very friendly towards him. He was amazed by what he saw and he also liked what he saw. Eventually, he passed the town and proceeded to find his master, all the while he was thinking about what he had seen. A strange feeling of guilt came over him.

Upon reaching his masters house, he ran up to him and told him what he had seen, he said that he was feeling guilty that he found these things pleasurable, but at the same time he couldn''t stop thinking about them. He asked his master what he should do.

The master said "I want you to go through this town again, but this time I want you to take this candle. I want you to walk through this town with this candle without spilling one drop of wax onto the floor. If you spill one drop, my servant here (he pointed to a big man holding a long sharp, sword) will chop your head off!! Now go!"

He obeyed his master and set off. He got to the town and proceeded to walk through holding the candle, the big man was right behind him watching his every move. The servant walked through the whole of the town careful not to spill a drop. He successfully completed his mission, he did not spill a drop. He went back to his master and told him the news.

The master said, "WELL?" The servant replied "Master, I did not spill a drop!"

The master said, "As you walked through the town, did you see what you saw before?"

The servant replied "No master, I was too worried about my life, if my sight wondered from the candle I would have spilt a drop and he would have chopped my head off!!"

The master smiled and said to his disciple...

"This is how you should live your life my friend, Death is following you around wherever you go, it is easy to forget and get distracted, as soon as you forget- you could be dead!! That candle is your focus, if you focus in life then death cannot harm you. Realise this my child and you will have the key to immortality."

The servant realised the lesson he had just learnt and broke down in tears, ever grateful to his master for showing him the way out of distraction...