The villagers saw Mulla Nasruddin racing through the streets on his donkey.
They asked where he was going in such a hurry.
He told them he was searching for his donkey and rode on.
Source: Anthony de Mello, “The Search for the Ass,” The Song of the Bird, printed p. 11 (PDF p. 29). Retold.
What it argues
We can turn the search itself into a way of overlooking what is already carrying us. Busyness is not evidence that the object is far away.
Use it for: self-knowledge, spiritual seeking, obvious answers, and the blindness created by effort.