The Maha Parinirvana Sutra is a Buddhist scripture that describes the last days of Gautama Buddha. Having prophesised his own pari-nirvana or passing away, three months in advance, the Buddha led his bhikkhus(monks) to Kusavati (now known as Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh). They stopped at a grove of Sal trees and prepared a bed for the Buddha who was tired and wished to rest. The Buddha lay down on his right side, in the lion’s posture, resting one foot over the other. The bhikkhus led by his longtime disciple, Ananda, gathered round him and requested for a final teaching. The Buddha distilled the essence of decades of preaching and told them this:
‘Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!’
By compounded things he meant things related to personality: body, feelings, thoughts etc. These things are impermanent. In Buddhism (as in Hinduism), this is one of the essential doctrines called anicca in Pali and anitya in Sanskrit. Things and conditions of this world are not constant and permanent. They change continuously and finally decline. That is why he asked the bhikkhus to strive with earnestness and not waste time.
This is a great learning that can be applied not just to the religious sphere but also to everyday life. We often take our lives for granted. If we have an opportunity to work towards some long-term goal of ours like entering a career, earning a degree, learning a skill, we sometimes don’t feel enough urgency to work towards it right-away. We postpone tasks to later assuming that we have all the time in the world. But the reality is that the world is constantly changing. It does not wait for anyone. We may have the required conditions to work towards our goals today, but there is no guarantee that this will be true tomorrow. It is better to grab the opportunity in the present and make the most of it. Michael Jackson once said, ‘In the end, the most important thing is to be true to yourself and those you love and work hard. I mean, work like there’s no tomorrow. Train. Strive. I mean, really train and cultivate your talent to the highest degree. Be the best at what you do.’
Just like the monk looking for nirvana risks getting caught in the attractions of the physical world and losing sight of his goal, we, the pursuers of more worldly goals, also risk getting caught in short term diversions and losing sight of our long-term goals. Keep that in mind the next time you find yourself going down the rabbit hole on the internet.