Time

296. BEGIN AT ONCE

“Self-salvation is for any man the immediate task. If a man is wounded by a poisoned arrow, he does not delay extraction by demanding details of the man who shot it or the length and make of the arrow. There will be time for ever-increasing understanding of the teachings during the treading of the Way.”

SAYING OF THE BUDDHA, RETOLD BY CHRISTMAS HUMPHREYS (1901–1983), ENGLAND

297. MOMENT AFTER MOMENT

“There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one only understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do and nothing left to pursue.”

YAMAMOTO TSUNETOMO (1659–1719), JAPAN

298. WONDERFUL WAKING

“Life contains a lot of evils, as fragile as a bubble cast up by a wave, and so how marvellous to wake from sleep still breathing and say, ‘I’m awake! There’s still time!’”

ATISA (982–1054), TIBET

299. EONS

“It was after a very long time, after he had passed through a hundred thousand kalpas in quest of the perfection of enlightenment, that the infinitely precious Buddha appeared in the world.”

THE MAHAVASTU

300. THE BUSY BEE

“Eternity is in love with the productions of time. The busy bee has no time for sorrow. The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom, no clock can measure.”

WILLIAM BLAKE (1757–1827), ENGLAND

301. WISDOM OF THE MOMENT

“Do not chase after what is passed, do not worry over what is yet to come. The past is already thrown away, the future has not arrived. Simply grasp wholeheartedly what is here and now and without wavering, without yielding, look into it directly and realize it. Do today what should be done today, simply and mindfully. Nobody knows if death will come tomorrow, and there is no escaping this invincible adversary. Achieve in this instant what must be achieved.”

MIDDLE DISCOURSES 131 – ONE FINE DAY

302. TIME AND NO TIME

“High above us the myriad stars Glow full as they turn. Yet in you the outliving of stars Has already begun.”

RAINER MARIA RILKE (1875–1926), GERMANY

303. THE PATH NOT TAKEN

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

GEORGE ELIOT (1819–1880), ENGLAND