There are two types of people who are not aware of the passage of time. The first type is those who waste each day preoccupied with the trivial aspects of life. They are so focused on mundane matters that they may even lose track of which day of the week or what month it is! Furthermore, they do not even have a clear idea of where they should expend their energies or what they should do during the day. They are merely wasting their precious time, spinning their wheels to get nowhere.

The second type is those people who have transcended the limits of space and time. They do not differentiate between today and tomorrow, but try their best to live their lives in a meaningful way to the fullest every moment. The great Chinese sage, Confucius, was an example of this type of person. He was very studious, so much so that he would often forget to eat his meals or to realize that he was growing old. He worked so hard to reach his aspirations that he went without sleep and food. This is a transcendental and meaningful life.

The Buddha often said: “There is no real, permanent self in this world.” All worries and anxieties arise because all sentient beings are self-centered. Not only must each person let go of time and days, each person must also let go of his or her own egoism.

Most people have difficulty understanding the nature of the “self”. From where does one’s “self” originate? Which part of a person contains the “self”? Does the “self” reside in the head or in the hands? Or does it perhaps reside in the heart, the liver, the spleen or the stomach? 

Come to think of it, all of these organs have their own names; none of them can exclusively claim to contain the “self”. Even so, is there any relationship between the “self” and the head or hands? If I have a headache, does my head take the medicine? If I have an upset stomach, does my stomach take the medicine? No, it is my “self” that takes the medicine on behalf of my afflicted organs. Thus, it can be seen that it is indeed not easy for most people to understand what the nature of the “self” is.

In our daily lives, we need to eat and digest for the body to function well. All the nutrients have to be absorbed by the intestines and the waste matter excreted to keep the body healthy. In view of these, the “self” is just a collective term, meaning “the being that arises when interconnected organ systems work together to make us who we are”. If we can accept this, why should we fuss over it? Instead, we should focus on something more important: is the “self” functioning well enough to exhibit the value inherent in each human life?

Ordinary people are too preoccupied with mundane things to notice the passage of time, whereas sages are too involved in meaningful endeavors to observe the passage of time. The values of ordinary people and that of sages are obviously different, as evidenced by the different activities in which each is engaged. Be it from Buddhism’s viewpoint or ordinary people’s viewpoint, everything in this world comes into being with the accumulation of time. There is no today without yesterday. Every “beginning” is becoming a “past”, and every “past” has led to a new “beginning”. 

As human beings, we naturally have to pass the time every day. If our mind is full of worries, we will not make good use of our time. We will achieve nothing in the end. Our bodies “metabolize” all the time and we age quickly. All too soon and our bodies will soon die. What use is it if we lead a busy but meaningless life? Does it make us any wiser or come closer to our intrinsic nature?

The Chinese character for “forget” signifies the death of the heart. It is easy to be forgetful if one doesn’t use one’s heart attentively. A person that doesn’t use his heart lives his life aimlessly. He fails to learn meaningful things or do meaningful work. Consequently, he squanders his time and life. I hope everyone is energetic with an alert and clear mind. I hope you are able to make good use of your time to cultivate more wisdom. What a shame it would be if we do not take advantage of being born in a human form in this life to cultivate more wisdom.