There was once a young man who devoted himself to studying all the great books of spirituality and religion and philosophy. None of them completely satisfied his quest. He heard of a great guru in a foreign land who had all the answers and understood the truth of everything. He spent a great deal of his money and undertook an arduous journey to find this guru and traveled overseas to find him. He endured horrible traveling conditions, cold, heat, sickness, dehydration, dysentery, and finally the difficult climb up a mountain where the guru lived. Upon seeing the guru sitting tranquilly cross-legged on the ground he ran over to him and with a loud voice said, "Oh great guru, I have traveled far to find you. What is the meaning of life!!!???"
The guru smiled peacefully and said, "Life is a flower."
The young man angrily retorted, "Life is a flower??????"
"You mean it's not!????" said the shocked guru.