Milarepa had searched everywhere for enlightenment, but could find no answer - until one day, he saw an old man walking slowly down a mountain path, carrying a heavy sack. Immediately, Milarepa sensed that this old man knew the secret he had been desperately seeking for many years.

'Old man, please tell me what you know. What is enlightenment?'

The old man smiled at hime for a moment, and swung the heavy burden off his shoulders, and stood straight.

'Yes, I see!' cried Milarepa. 'My everlasting gratitude. But please, one question more. What is after enlightenment?'

Smiling again, the old man picked up the sack once again, lunged it over his shoulders, steadied his burden, and continued on his way.

If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.