By Jamal Rahman
There’s a wonderful teaching story about the passage of time conveyed through the iconic mythological figure widely known in many cultures as ‘Mulla Nasruddin’.
Mulla Nasruddin is visiting the London museum, where a learned professor is taking a group on a tour of the museum. The professor points to a particular artifact and says, “Now, this is 1000 years old.”
The Mulla interrupts, “Excuse me, sir. It is 1004 years old.”
The professor ignores the Mulla’s comment and goes on to another artifact. “This one is 5000 years old,” he says.
“Excuse me, sir,” says the Mulla. “It is 5004 years old.”
By now, the professor is a little annoyed but he says nothing.
Then, the same thing happens again, a third time. “This is 10,000 years old,” announces the professor when they come to yet another artifact.
“Excuse me, sir, this is 10,004 years old,” says the Mulla.
Now the professor cannot contain his annoyance. Angrily, he turns to the Mulla and says, “Sir, I see you have a beard and a turban and you come from the mysterious East. But how can you be so accurate about these dates?”
The Mulla replies, “Oh that’s very simple! I was here four years ago, and at that time you mentioned the same number of years as you did today!”
One of the many meanings of this teaching story is that it is later than we think. Life is passing by faster than we imagine.
It is important to take this insight to heart. A sage exclaims, “O travelers, it is late. Life’s sun is soon going to set. In the brief moments of time that you have left, please spare no effort of your wings.”
(Based in Seattle, USA, the author is an interfaith activist, spiritual teacher and co-founder of the Interfaith Community Sanctuary)
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