A young student of Zen happened tobreak a precious vase belonging to his teacher.
When he heard his teacher's footsteps,he quickly held the broken vase be- hind him. As the teacher walked up to him, he asked, "Why does one die, master"?
"It's natural," said the teacher. "Everything has a beginning and an end. Everything has just so long to live and then has to die.”
The student held out the pieces of the bro- ken. vase and said, "The time for your vaseto die had come."
