Question asked by Tt
“Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.”
― Gautama Buddha
This quote I have founded on the Internet, regardless weather it is true or false quote from buddha, can you explain more a bit about this quote, espiecially the 1st sentence, what do it mean in a buddhist point of view? Long is the night to him who is awake???
Dear Tt,
This quote is from the Dhammapada, Chapter 5, Verse 60. The title of this Chapter is “Fools” or “The Childish Person”, i.e. someone who is not mature spiritually. The verse means that to those who do not know the Dharma, samsara (the round of birth and death) is long. The first line means the night is long for the person who is wide awake. There is a story behind this: Once King Prasenajit came to see the Buddha and told him that he felt that a particular night was long. Another person remarked that on the previous day he felt that the mile was long. The Buddha summed up by adding that samsara is long for those who are ignorant of the Dharma (the sublime truth).