The Book of Hylas
by Peter Caws
FIRST MEDITATION
Hylas said:
The great time passes, the great World remains.
Yours is a small time, and a small world.
The small world can be ordered, the small time controlled.
Control time first by breathing regularly;
second by meditation on the outer;
third by meditation on the inner;
fourth by recent memory and near expectation;
fifth by distant memory and remote expectation;
sixth by a return to the present;
seventh by holding on.
Order the world first by sitting quietly;
second by standing and turning about;
third by clearing and cleaning a proximate space;
fourth by collecting in the middle all that is to be done;
fifth by moving each thing to the right or to the left;
sixth by doing one thing in the middle until it is done;
seventh by keeping on.
SECOND MEDITATION
Hylas said:
The great World has no value, the great Time has no meaning;
they Are, and Become, in and of Themselves.
The small world has the value you find in it,
the small time has the meaning you give to it.
The small world is your portion of the great World,
the small time your portion of the great Time.
The great World and the great Time are called Universe;
the small world and the small time are called life.
To life belongs meaning, to Universe, Being.
Your life is your portion of Universe;
the meaning in your life, your portion of Being.
Your life has sprung from Universe, and will return to it;
make of it what you can, make in it what you must.
Make from necessity, or from true desire —
what is made from idleness may cause harm.
Your life and its meaning will end together.
Do not leave harm behind you, for others to inherit.
THIRD MEDITATION
Hylas said:
Universe is One, and its great World One.
There are many small worlds, one for each life.
Between the great World and the small worlds are middle worlds.
Middle worlds are the worlds of men and women:
they may last longer than many lives,
they may give meaning to many lives.
Your middle world was not first chosen by you,
you were born into it, others told you of it.
Now you can freely choose others: as well, or instead.
No middle world is One,
though to the unenlightened each seems One.
This is the root of War.
The unenligthened belongs to one middle world only,
the enlightened belongs to many.
FOURTH MEDITATION
Hylas said:
Make from necessity, or from true desire —
what is made from idleness may cause harm.
Learn then to recognize your own desire;
yield to it, cultivate it — this is not idleness,
this makes you what you are.
But learn also to recognize necessity:
what Universe compels, what others need.
Necessity is the bridle of desire;
it too can be desired. Learn this well:
desiring what is needful makes us free.
Consider your desires and others' needs.
Be guided by the stars: think how they offer
consideration and desire, the yearning for the infinite
and the calm of order. Stand beneath them
on a dark night, away from the city's lights,
for a long time; contemplate, be at peace.
FIFTH MEDITATION
Hylas said:
The night is a preparation for the day.
The night is peaceful - if you let it be so
The day is stressful - if you let it be so.
Carry the peacefulness of the night into the day.
Where is the stress I was expecting and fearing?
Coming from night into day is called Awakening
This tells me, I am here - but not who I am, nor where here is.
Remembering follows - quickly, as in a flash, or slowly, as in a fog.
This reminds me of who and where I am, of what the day has in store.
Then come in turn Rising, and Resolve.
Do not ask, What must I do today?
Ask, how can I be myself today? for myself, and for others?
SIXTH MEDITATION
Hylas said:
Resolve is the power of the day - direct it wisely.
Practice overlapping: when you have begun the first task
Know what the second will be.
When you come to the second know the next,
And so forward.
Know also that not everything needs to be a task.
There is resting, there are moments of beauty and of meditation.
There is companionship, there is love.
And with all, continual mindfulness.
SEVENTH MEDITATION
Hylas said:
Moment follows moment, in travelling, in waiting, in enduring.
Build on the moment, a small thing, one small thing at a time.
Perhaps these small things will accumulate, perhaps not.
But a small thing is better than no thing.
Between nothing and even the smallest thing a great thing can begin.
Between nothing and another nothing no thing can begin.
Let me be open to some small thing in this moment.
EIGHTH MEDITATION
Hylas said:
Sometimes, through weariness or discouragement, no new thing arises.
Sometimes, through pressure and anxiety, many old things overwhelm.
Learn to wait, for the stirring or for the subsiding.
Learn to wait, for the turmoil to be still, for the stillness to speak.
Let memory recall times of taking refuge, times of setting forth anew.
Bring to mind times of comfort or times of purpose.
You have passed this way before.
You have left markers along the way - look for them.
Go back to where you were, begin again.
Do not lament lost time. There is always time.
Time need not be measured out.
Time need be neither spent nor wasted.
Time is for living, and that is enough.
Look! there is the small thing I was waiting for!