The Archer
Dhanuggaha Sutta (SN 20:6)
Staying near Sāvatthī. “Monks, suppose there were four strong archers—well-trained, practiced, & drilled—standing in the four directions, and a man were to come along saying, ‘I will catch & bring down the arrows let fly by these four strong archers—well-trained, practiced, & drilled—before they have fallen to the ground.’ What do you think? Would that be enough to call him a swift man, endowed with the foremost speed?”
“Even if he were to catch & bring down the arrows let fly by one archer—well-trained, practiced, & drilled—before they fell to the ground, lord, that would be enough to call him a swift man, endowed with the foremost speed, to say nothing of four such archers.”
“Faster than the speed of that man, monks, is the speed of the sun & moon. Faster than the speed of that man, faster than the speed of the sun & moon, is the speed of the devas who rush ahead of the sun & moon. Faster than the speed of that man, faster than the speed of the sun & moon, faster than the speed of the devas who rush ahead of the sun & moon, the force of one’s life span comes to an end. Thus you should train yourselves: ‘We will live heedfully.’ That’s how you should train yourselves.”
See also: SN 2:19; AN 4:113; AN 5:78; AN 6:19–20; AN 7:70; AN 10:15; Iti 23; Sn 4:6
