FRAGILE LIFE

The pine tree: The pine tree on the cliff represents money, property, reputation, status, etc. While these things are considered the hallmarks of a successful life, in the face of death they are powerless and without meaning. This insight was realized by the illustrious Chinese emperors Qin Shi Huang and Han Gaozu: when their end came, they could not help but sigh, " Ah, lif is but a dream within a dream!" Thus, they quietly left the world.

Can we cling to our money, property, reputation, and status, as well as greet death with a smile on our face? That is impossible, because when death  comes none of it can come with us.

The Vine: The vine is metaphor for the habitual ways we unconsciously cling to life. If we are young or middle-aged, we automatically assume that we have twenty,thirty even forty more years of life. But should we have this much time or even more, what of it? Think about it: Like a dream, the past 20 or 30 years have gone by in the time it takes to say "impermanence". And it will be the same for the days and years ahead.

The mice: The white mouse and black mouse indicate day and night. Bit by bit, they do away with lifespan. As they say: one day more is one day less. Whether we are hurrying or resting, active or idle, the clock is always ticking the moments of our lives away. Ultimately, the vine is bound to be nibbled away, an then - death 

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A wily fox looked into vineyard and saw endless clusters of plum, delicious grapes on the vines and immediately began to anticipate a delicious meal. But the fox was too fat and could not fit between the slats of the fence. Thus, for three days and three nights it neither drank nor ate so that its body grew thin. 

At last it was able to enter! The fox stuffed itself with grapes and was perfectly contented, but upon trying to exit the vineyard, was again too fat to get though the slats of the fence. 

With no other option for escape, the fox was forced to use the same trick, and for three days and three nights it neither drank nor ate.

As a result, the fox was just as thin and hungry when it left as when it entered.

How is this any different from human life? We are born naked and die alone. No one can taje with then even an hour's worth of bitterly won property or fame.