Busy Lives
Monday February 27, 2006
Life seems a bit busy at the moment. I sit in meditation and my mind races ( wouldn’t I be better off doing something else than just sitting here on my backside… I must remember to post that letter… oh, and there’s those e-mails to reply to… ) So here’s a story about busyness, as a reminder to myself and to anybody else in the same predicament. I should warn you first that I’m terrible with stories. I forget where I heard them in the first place, only half remember them, and get all the details wrong when I’m do. As a result the following story may be subject to all the numerous shortcomings and embillishments of my memory. But as I remember it, it goes something like this:
One day a businessman went to see Ajahn Chah. He was, it appears, both successful in business and sincere in his desire to practice meditation. “I’m a busy man,” he said to the monk. “How long should I practice meditation for in the mornings?”
Ajahn Chah sized him up for a few moments. “Hmmm… he said. I would say that around half an hour a day should do you.”
The businessman looked distraught. “Yes! That would be good!” he cried. “But the problem is, I am so terribly busy! What should I do if I do not have time to meditate for half an hour?”
Ajahn Chah gave this some thought. “If you do not have time to meditate for half an hour,” he concluded, “then you should meditate for an hour.”
Image: Paul Anderson
I just came across your blog via blogmad and bookmarked it immediately! I am very new to Buddhism. I am eager to learn about it and it just met the idea in me…
Well, this line, I find it really cruical: “If you do not have time to meditate for half an hour,” he concluded, “then you should meditate for an hour.”
I find this so consisten with Buddhism. Keep the good work. I’ll follow.
— Osman S Borutecene · Mar 2, 08:03 AM · #
