Master's Wisdom

Priorities

According to legend, God sent an Angel to the Master with this message: “Ask for a million years of life and they will be given you. Or a million million. How long do you wish to live?”

“Eighty years,” said the Master without the slightest hesitation.

The disciples were dismayed. “But, Master, if you lived for a million years, think how many generations would profit by your wisdom.”

“If I lived for a million years, people would be more intent on lengthening their lives than on cultivating wisdom.”

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Recklessness

The Master always insisted that we must learn by ourselves — teach ourselves — rather than depend on other people’s authority. This had its limits, of course, as when a bright young fellow was convinced he ought to try drugs as a means to mysticism — and “take the risk, for one can only learn by trial and error.”

That moved the Master to tell the old story of the nail and the screw: “Here is one way to find out whether what you need in a plank is a nail or a screw: Drive the nail in. If it splits the plank, you know you needed the screw.” 

                                                                                                                                — Anthony de Mello