With every breath we
take, it is one less until we die. That should not scare anyone. It should
awaken them. When we breath in, we cannot be certain we will do so again. I
recall the story of the four zen masters who had finished up their meeting at a
temple. The first master says, “I hope to see you all next year”. The second
master says, “Next year? You fool! Who knows if we will be here next week” The
third master says “Next week, we may not see tomorrow”! The fourth and perhaps
the wisest master softly said “Who knows that the next time you breathe out,
you will be able to breathe in again”.