Life’s potential

A famous middle-aged Buddhist monk, who was suffering from a terminal disease, was interviewed by the press.

“How does it make you feel, knowing you are dying?” the interviewer asked.

“How does it make you feel to know you are dying?” the monk replied.

“I mean, soon, before your time,” came the reply.

“Whenever we die, it is not before our time,” he said. “We do not control when we are born, why should we think dying is any different? An acorn does not wish to be any thing other than an acorn, even though it has the potential to become a great tree. If it is chopped down halfway through its life it does not mourn the fact it never reached maturity. It is what it is at every stage of its development and it is always part of the whole. We do not die, as life is eternal and we are a part of that life. Time does not exist, only the present moment exists.”

“So, you’re not scared of what comes next, of not fulfilling your life’s full potential?”

“I am alive at this very moment and have been alive at this present moment and will continue to be alive at this present moment. Thus I have fulfilled my life’s potential.”

The tide will come in and go out, the sun will rise and set and life will go on.