×
mobile-logo
  • 31
  • 1
  • Share
Home >> Seeker’s Solace  >> Hasten slowly
 
hasten & slowly

Hasten slowly

By

A young man once came to a venerable master and asked, ‘How long will it take to reach enlightenment?’ The master said, ‘Ten years.’ The young man blurted out, ‘So long!’ The master said, ‘No, I was mistaken. It will take you twenty years.’ The young man asked, ‘Why do you keep adding to it!’ The master answered, ‘Come to think of it, in your case, it will probably be 30 years.’ (Philip Kapleau, Readers Digest, 1983)

A goal can be achieved in the course of ten years, but you want to attain it in just ten days. This means that you want to reach your destination in tremendous leaps and bounds. But there is an old saying: “The more hurry, the less speed.”

Had he proceeded in a normal, unhurried way, he would have reached his destination all in good time.


A traveler who wants to dash straight as an arrow, without allowing time for twists and turns, will collide with many obstacles in his headlong flight. Far from reaching his destination faster, he will surely come to grief and fall by the wayside. He shall then have to retrace his steps to the starting point, heal his wounds and only then set forth again. All of this will take time, precious time—time which should have been spent on the onward journey. Had he proceeded in a normal, unhurried way, he would have reached his destination all in good time.

Just as it is wrong to delay, it is equally wrong to be in too much of a hurry. All work can be completed in due course. To delay work is idle and irresponsible, but to do it with unseemly and unwarrantable haste is a sign of crass impatience. In the world of God, where each event has its allotted time, both extremes are doomed to failure. Only that person can succeed who gives time for his onward journey.

1

Comments

Most pop­u­lar in Seeker’s Solace
Most pop­u­lar across Soulveda




More from Seeker’s Solace

I have always asserted that Hinduism is not a religion, but a way of life. And the Hindu way of life embraces the whole of...Read More

We all carry a connection with our past even as we make more memories each day. The health of that past connection depends on how...Read More

We human beings and other creatures belong to the one brotherhood of life, and we all have claims to the gifts of God—the Indwelling Spirit...Read More

Subscribe to our newsletter
 
 
 
     
Soulvedacycle-logo1

Soulveda is a content space dedicated to achieving holistic wellbeing and spiritual fulfilment.

 
 
 
 
 
 

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER


INTERESTED IN
WELLBEING
ACROSS CULTURES
MYSTICISM
CONVERSATIONS
LONG STORY SHORT
HAPPINESS
PILGRIM’S PAGES
SEEKER’S SOLACE
BOOKS