And He Was Glad Of It

Trojan Records Dub Box Set~~Vol. 2






The first words
that are read by
seekers of enlightenment
in the secret, gong-banging,
yeti-haunted valleys
near the hub of the world,
are when they look into
The Life of Wen
the Eternally Surprised.
The first question
they ask is:
Why was he
eternally surprised?
And they are told:
Wen considered
the nature of time
and understood that
the universe is,
instant by instant,
recreated anew.
Therefore, he understood,
there is in truth no past,
only a memory of the past.
Blink your eyes,
and the world you see next
did not exist when
you closed them.
Therefore, he said,
the only appropriate
state of the mind is surprise.
The only appropriate state
of the heart is joy.
The sky you see now,
you have never seen before.
The perfect moment is now.
Be glad of it.
The first words read
by the young Lu-Tze
when he sought
perplexity in the dark,
teeming, rain-soaked city
of Ankh-Morpork were:
Rooms For Rent, Very Reasonable.
And he was glad of it.
--Terry Pratchett
Thief of Time