The Swift Horse and the Slow Horse: What Truly Makes a Wise Person?

**Summary:** The talk on Verse 11 of the Dhammapada by Venerable Thich Chan Quang opens up the true definition of wisdom: knowing diligence, vigilance, and using time meaningfully, like the swift horse leaving the slow one behind.

Have you ever wondered: In a world full of distractions, what truly makes the difference between a wise person and a lazy one? The story in today's Dhammapada verse will make you look at yourself again.

**The story of two monks and the Buddha's teaching**

Two brothers ordained together, received the same teachings from the Buddha, and went to a secluded forest to practice. Life there was not easy: cold nights, mosquitoes, and long journeys for alms. One monk was utterly diligent; besides alms rounds and observing precepts, he devoted all his time to sitting meditation to attain concentration. The other did the opposite, using the cold as an excuse to light fires for warmth, inviting friends to chat endlessly about worldly matters. When he saw his friend attain deep meditative states, he even mocked him: "Sit long enough and you'll turn into a toad!"

After many years, the Buddha paid them a visit. The lazy monk hurried to boast of his practice, but the Buddha rebuked him immediately. He said the monk was lazy and wasting time, while the diligent friend was truly "a son of mine." And He taught:

Diligent amid negligence, vigilant amid delusion. The wise are like the swift horse, leaving the slow one behind.

**Wisdom is not in words, but in how we use our time**

The Buddha defines wisdom in a very unique way: What assesses a person's wisdom is to see whether their time is used fully, or if they don't know what to do with it.

Many people who are new to the Dharma love to talk about it, enthusiastically sharing, but that is not yet wisdom. A wise person always finds things to do: serving, learning, practicing. They see every hour as precious. If they have a free hour, they use it to pay respects to the Buddha, sit in meditation, visit the elderly or the sick, or create some merit. But if someone feels a 24-hour day is too long, they know right away their mind is... empty.

**Vigilant amid delusion: Not making mistakes, not being indulgent**

Vigilance is different from mindfulness. Mindfulness is the spacious state of mind in meditation, while vigilance is philosophical alertness, comprising two things: not making mistakes and not being indulgent in pleasures.

If someone gave you a hundred gold bars to keep, then vanished for many years, would the thought "They're probably dead, I might as well use it" arise? A vigilant person would think: "Either I continue to safeguard it to return it, or I use that gold to create merit and dedicate it to them." That is not making mistakes.

And when invited out for drinks or entertainment, a vigilant person firmly declines: "I'll go listen to a Dharma talk first, or join a meditation retreat first." That is not being indulgent in pleasures.

**Diligence: Working, learning, and practicing**

Venerable Thich Chan Quang teaches clearly: Diligence means working much, learning much, and practicing much.

For laypeople, this means:

Working much: making a living, building the nation, and furthermore, creating blessings and helping the world.

Learning much: cultivating knowledge daily, from foreign languages to the Buddha's teachings, it is never excessive.

Practicing much: setting aside time to pay respects to the Buddha, meditate, and reflect on oneself.

Unemployment is a lack of merit, while "not knowing what to do with time" is a lack of wisdom. If someone asks "What are you doing tomorrow?" and we answer "I don't know yet," we should go repent immediately. Because from now until Buddhahood, there are countless things to do: visiting the sick, sharing Dharma principles, learning new skills, sitting in meditation.

**Meditative concentration: The pinnacle of diligence**

Diligence in this verse implies meditative concentration. The diligent person spends much time sitting in meditation, calming the mind to see their own faults clearly. Like the story of the monk who was "messy" yet never idle: he maintained a vigilant mind in every moment. Learning from this, we should seize every spare moment to sit cross-legged in meditation, learning to relax the whole body, following the breath without controlling it.

When our mind is restless and tense, yet we still don't set aside time for meditative concentration, we know immediately we are foolish.

You and I, we can each be the swift horse in our own life. We just need to start today: dedicate time to creating blessings, dedicate time to learning, dedicate time to meditation. So that when we look back, we see no empty space wasted. And we will be worthy of being children of the Buddha.