THE DRUNK

A drunken man falls out of a cart, though he may suffer, does not die. His bones are the same as other people’s; but he meets his accident in a different way. His spirit is in a condition of security.

He is not conscious of riding in the cart; neither is he conscious of falling out of it. Ideas of life, death, fear, etc. cannot penetrate his breast; and so he does not suffer from contact with objective existence. And if such security is to be got from wine, how much more is to be got from God. It is in God that the sage seeks his refuge and so he is free from harm.