Although most seekers turn with relief to the ideas and practices of the Short Path when these are presented to them, others find it most difficult to do so. The thought of abandoning what has filled so many of their years and so much of their aspiration seems more than they can bring themselves to obey. But the old Chinese Ch'an Master Shu-chou reprimanded this attitude in sarcastic words: "There are only two diseases: one is riding an ass to search for an ass; the other is riding an ass and being unwilling to dismount." By this he meant that in the Long Path work the ego's search could only end in the ego itself, that the mind would only get another thought. "You yourself are the ass," he added. "Why do you ride on it? If you ride, you cannot cure your disease."
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 4 : The Changeover To the Short Path > # 89
