There is a symbolical picture known in the philosophical world of China that represents a sage with one shoe in his hand and one on his foot. It signifies the hereafter, that the change that death brings is to a wise man only the taking off of one shoe. The body of the philosopher in the picture represents his soul, or his person; the one shoe still on his foot represents his mind, which exists after death; and the withdrawal of the soul from the body is like taking one foot out of the shoe. For the mystic, therefore, the physical body is something he can easily dispense with, and to arrive at this realization is the object of wisdom. When, by philosophical understanding of life, he begins to realize his soul, then he begins to stand, so to speak, on his own feet; he is then himself and the body is to him only a cover.