________________
"Then I will go abroad for further studies and after acquiring degrees I will return home," said the boy.
"What will you do next?" asked the Sage.
This question, "What next?" is of the utmost importance to all of us. We must make it a rule to keep on asking ourselves every now and then, "What next?" It will prevent us from floundering; it will enable us to keep our eyes fixed on the ultimate goal. But except for a very few, people do not pause to ask themselves, "What next?" They just go on existing. They get up in the morning, rush through the day and at nightfall go to sleep. They seldom know the meaning of life. If by chance someone asks them, "What next?" they will not have the patience to hear the question. If they are asked, "Why do you live?" they will get annoyed and retort, "What a foolish question!" This type of people seldom think of “what next,” and when they are asked this question, they have no time to answer it because they have not thought of the question at all. Most of them will try and evade the question.
The sage repeated the question to that student, "What will you do after you come back from overseas with degrees to your credit?" And the boy answered, "Then I will start earning."
When students are studying for their doctorate, they have high ideals of saving humanity and of
57
