Encounter with Death

In the long mountain ranges of Asia, there once lived a Japanese samurai.

Having retired early from the military, he lived a slow and laid-back life in his village. He owned a local store and spent most of his time selling tea, talking to people, and telling stories to children who came around.

One night he had a dream.

In his dream, he saw Enma – the God of death, standing outside his store, holding a knife.

Petrified, the samurai got up from his sleep. He sat up, drank some water, and went back to bed dismissing the dream.

Next morning – he woke up, got ready, and reached his store as usual. As he settled into his store, he noticed a tall figure standing outside and staring at him.

A dark silhouette, wearing an unusual mask with a knife in his hand. The samurai’s heart skipped a beat and he looked at him in disbelief. His attire matched with the figure he had seen in his dream the previous night.

It was Enma – the God of Death.

The samurai panicked and began running. He ran past the village, through fields, and deep into the forest – until his legs gave out and he collapsed.

He looked around and realized he was deep inside the woods with no one around. Finally, he felt safe.

He sat down under a tree catching his breath. However, in the next moment, he saw Enma emerging out of the bushes walking towards him.

Disbelief took over the samurai once again. His chest felt heavy, hands trembled, and he stumbled trying to get up. He realized there was no escape now, and his end was imminent.

Somehow, he gathered the courage and decided to speak up.

In an unsteady, broken tone, he asked “Hey Enma, why are you after me? I know you have come to take my life… but why me?

I’m not that old. I’m in good health, and above all I haven’t wronged anyone. Then why me?”

Enma looked at him for a moment.

“That question,” he calmly said, “is not really a question.”

The samurai looked confused.

“It’s a reaction… A reaction to something that happened suddenly and unexpectedly.

Look, I understand this is tough to process. But some questions are asked because people are trying to make sense of something that feels unbearable and unfair.  

You don’t want an answer. You want fairness.

However, answers exist only to question that have order or some reasoning and logic to them. Not to things that happen out of randomness, chance, or fate.

I have been assigned to take younger people while the older nut sitting right beside are exempted. The universe does not always single you out. It does not operate with intention the way you think it does.”

Enma’s words were making sense – he was indeed trying to question fairness.

But the instinct to survive supersedes any philosophy. Seeing that Enma had gotten a bit carried away, the samurai found an opportunity to escape.

Turning back quietly, he began running. He kept running for hours navigating through unknown paths and rough terrain. Finally, he reached the top of a mountain.

There was nothing there. No people, no life, no Enma. Finally, he felt relieved.

He sat near the edge, breathing in the cold air, having a subtle sense of victory. Sitting there, he realized it was only yesterday when he was spending time with his people, telling them stories, and pouring them tea. Now he is running like an animal.

He wondered how quickly life changes its direction… when you least expect it.  

“You think you are fast but are you?” a voice echoed behind him. The samurai froze.

In frustration, he asked Enma again “Why can’t you leave me alone, O God of Death?”

“It’s not for me to decide”

“That’s easy for you to say” the samurai snapped. “Have you ever thought about what people go through? The lives you take. The pain you leave behind?”

He stepped closer.

“Tell me something… what hurts more? Hurting someone or being hurt yourself?”

Enma looked gravely at the sound of this question.

“Essentially, is guilt greater than pain?”

Enma thought for a while.

“You’ll understand the weight of certain feelings only when you have experienced them yourself.”

The samurai listened attentively.

“Both are different types of suffering. Guilt can feel heavier because it comes with responsibility—from knowing that you are the reason for someone’s ordeal. It takes a toll on your conscience because you cannot undo what you’ve done.

But being hurt can cut deeper because it is imposed on you. It happens suddenly, out of nowhere, uninvited. It can change how you see the world and your trust.

So, the question isn’t which is greater, but which you carry longer—and what you become because of it.”

Enma turned back to look at the samurai. But he was no longer there. He had vanished.

The samurai ran like there was no tomorrow. This time he didn’t stop. He ran through dirt roads, stumbled down but got back up, hitchhiked rides from passing travelers – but kept moving.

Eventually, he reached a sea.

There was nowhere left to go.

He collapsed on the shore, gasping for breath. The sound of waves filled the air. For a while, he simply lay there.

After a while he sat up and looked at the vast ocean. It was enormous and all the rocks scattered along the shore.

And there – on one of the rocks – sat Enma.

Sitting comfortably as if he had been waiting for him all this while.

The samurai stared at him. This time he wasn’t surprised.

He didn’t run and started walking towards him.

“Go ahead” he quietly said, “put your dagger through my heart, and get over with it”

Enma stepped down from the rock. But instead of raising his knife, he curiously asked him,
“O Samurai, I have a question for you this time – after running for your life all day… why did you choose to come here?”

The samurai looked confused.

 “What do you mean?” he asked “I didn’t choose this place. I didn’t even know where I was running, I was just trying to escape you.”

Enma smiled to himself.

“Why do you ask?”

Enma replied, “When I saw you this morning at the store I was confused. And you know why… because I was assigned to take a life… here, by this sea.”

There was silence.

The samurai was shocked. He couldn’t believe it.

“Are you serious? I cannot believe this. I ran all day like a mad man for nothing.” The samurai could not control his regret.

He continued, “I’m such a fool. What if I had stayed put in my store? What if I hadn’t ran at all and took all those paths that got me to this place?

Oh God! This sounds like the perfect storm – that I created for myself.”

Enma looked at the samurai and said, “Listen, don’t beat yourself up over this. The “What if” questions is a never-ending loop.

You are just trying to process regret by asking this question.

What you did not choose feels right only because you haven’t seen the reality of those other possibilities.

What if you had stayed put in your store? You could’ve died of fear or stress.

What if you hadn’t hitchhiked? You could’ve died of sunstroke.

Every choice you made… you made it with the best understanding you had in that moment. You didn’t plan to make the wrong choice”

The samurai lowered his gaze.

“Perhaps you have reached where you were meant to reach. Perhaps all those steps you took were meant for you take only because you were destined to be where you are right now.

You did not run away from your fate, samurai. The more you ran away from it the more you ran into it.”