The Fleeting Nature of Time and the Path to Awakening

Teacher: Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju

Chief Writer: Venerable HaiZe

31 December 2022

The Rushing Pace of Life

The pace of human life moves in a rush through the ever-changing states of the world. Even when we pause to reflect, the days continue to pass by in haste. How much difference is there between the self of the past and the self of the present? Thoughts spin incessantly, never ceasing.

In the midst of these busy days, have you gained any true realisation? Are you willing to let go of all worldly attachments, and through diligent practice, rediscover your original, cool, and liberated self?

The Unrelenting Cycle of Impermanence

Days pass in a hurry; all things are fleeting, and once gone, they never return. Day and night alternate in haste; the sun rises and the moon sets, the sun sets and the moon rises. In this haste, people breathe without pause, accompanying the steady loss of life. Has your Body-Mind-Spirit made progress, or has it regressed?

As a practitioner, what can you realise in the midst of this haste? Within all these illusions, have you allowed yourself more awakening and less drowsy confusion? Have you allowed yourself more pure clarity and less pollution of the heart?

The Path to True Liberation

Or do the days continue to pass in a rush, leaving you unable to take charge, still ageing, still falling ill, and still drowsy? Is there an awakening that leads you to intensify your diligent practice? Seek to rediscover your original self as soon as possible, and then help more beings find their own true nature, to leave suffering behind and attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

If you do so, then all the haste and all your efforts will be worthwhile! Namo Amituofo