What is the Hurry?
“There are very few things better done by speeding them up, yet we live in a world that is demanding more and more speed, and less and less reflection.”
— Iain McGilchrist
Dear Friends,
If there has been one change over the last ten years, it may be the speed at which we live — we eat faster, walk faster, work faster, about everything is faster.
It is not enough to just go to the bathroom, we need to make it quick and productive, and respond to at least a few emails while we do.
“We are moving at the speed of machines, instead of the speed of life,” author Pico Iyer said some years ago at our annual Wisdom 2.0.
What happens when machines dictate our pace? What happens when we are in a hurry, constantly?
A Zen Story
There is a Zen story about a teacher and his student. As they are talking, a monk brings a letter to the teacher from his family in Korea. The student knows the teacher has been waiting for this letter for some time.
Expecting him to open it immediately, the teacher instead calmly sets the letter aside.
The next day, the student asked the teacher why he did not immediately open the letter, knowing he has been waiting for it for some time. The teacher said:
“I put the letter aside until I had conquered haste. Then when I set my hand on it, I opened it as though it were something precious.”
The Invitation
So as we make our way today, may we all be invited to slow down, to conquer haste, to allow what we want to “happen immediately” to have its own natural course.
When I inquire into this, I notice some part of me that actually believes some new event or accomplishment will satiate a certain drive in me. Yet it never does.
I was talking to a friend who had several books on the NYT best seller list and he said, “Yes, there is certain high for a short time, but it is so fleeting.”
All of our moments are. How do we live in this moment, instead of always looking for a future one?
The Buddha said, “I teach a path that is glorious in the beginning, glorious in the middle, and glorious in the end.”
May your day today be glorious in all the moments, and may you open letters or emails or get on Zooms like the Zen teacher as if they “were something precious.”
Hope to see you at an upcoming in-person or online event soon.
Blessings,
SOREN
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Beautiful reminder. Thank you 🙏
I admit to using Amazon.com for its convenience, and Prime for saving shipping costs - I'm rather old and shopping is neither a pleasure or easy any more. But if I order something I don't need immediately, I resent it when they make a special delivery on a Sunday! I'd love it if they would just send it along and not think I need it tomorrow!