tree leaves – adi sankara

Does a tree gain or lose anything because its leaf falls in a ditch and not in a river, or in a sacred ground rather than in an open field?  The destruction of the body, the sense-organs, the life-breath and the brain is like the destruction a leaf, flower or a fruit.  The Atma, the tree still stands, unaffected.  | Adi Sankaracharya (Viveka Chudamani)