Imagine you have been told that a wonderful treasure exists at the end of a long and difficult journey. Excited by this knowledge you begin your quest for the treasure. It's not long before you find a small jewel lying on the path before you. It's beautiful but it's not the huge treasure you had heard about. Still determined, you toss it aside and go on with your search. As you continue along the path you find and toss away several other jewels of about the same size. Each is beautiful but you cannot be bothered with carrying around such small jewels when there is a much greater treasure in store. Finally, you reach the end of your journey and find that there is no great treasure waiting for you. Suddenly you realize that the treasure you were searching for was really nothing more than the accumulation of all the tiny jewels you found along the way - only now it's impossible to go back and retrieve them.
Onuma Hideharu; Illuminated Spirit, Conversations with a Kyudo Master
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