An old man sat under a tree. Plucked a fruit and started eating.
A young man came from a house beside the tree and said, “How dare you pluck the fruit from my tree without my permission?”
The old man smiled and spoke softly, “Is this your tree?”
“Yes”, said the young man.
The old man asked, “Who turned it’s seed into a sapling? and the sapling into a tree? Who made it’s flowers blossom? Who, my friend, turned it’s fruits ripe?
“But this is on my land,” said the young man hastily.
“Whose land was it before it was yours? Whose was it before it was theirs? Whose was it before it was anybody’s?”
The young man felt a pinch in his inner world.
The old man further asked ,”What else is yours?”
The young man looked at his body and said, “this.. this body is mine.”
“Had you any command over the first breath you breath? Have you any command over the last breath you will breathe?”
He realised the wisdom of the man in front of him. Falling onto his knees with tears running down his cheeks. He said, “old man I am in great pain. This life has been a suffering to me. Please enlighten me, why do I suffer? What is my mistake?”
“In chasing ownership, you missed the play”.