There was once a young monk who was deeply passionate about his chosen path. He traveled town to town searching for answers and enlightenment.

He met many teachers who told him about the paths they had chosen and ordeals they had faced. The young monk tried many of the paths and yet could not find what he seeked.

One day he arrived at a small town after hearing about a local revered holy man. The holy man was kind enough to give him an audience. On hearing his tale, the holy man told him the story of another monk,

“This monk was told about a cave deep in the mountains where if one had to meditate a mantra. By continuously doing that, at one point one would attain nirvana. They would understand the universe and everything in it. They could attain the highest achievable point by a human. But in doing so the very next moment they would die.”

“The monk was determined to do it and traveled far to the mountain and sat down to meditate. Few weeks passed and a some of the other monks were worried for him. They retraced his steps and found the cave. Inside the cave they found the lifeless body of the monk.”

Realizing the story was done the young monk asked “So did the monk attain nirvana before he died?” The Holy man replied “What do you think?”