SPEED HASTE, HURRY AND RUSH
In the modern world, speed has become a symbol of success. Fast
cars, instant food, high-speed internet, and express decisions — all seem
to define efficiency and progress. Yet beneath this worship of velocity
lies a quiet erosion of depth, reflection, and balance. The words speed,
haste, hurry, and rush are often used interchangeably, but they carry
subtle differences that reveal much about the human condition today.
Speed itself is neutral — a measure of movement. When used with
wisdom, it means efficiency, skill, and focus. A surgeon performing a quick
yet precise operation, or a coder writing clean lines rapidly, shows speed
at its best: controlled, directed, and effective. But when speed becomes
haste, clarity fades. Haste is speed without reflection. It is the impulse
to finish before beginning to understand. In haste, one mistakes movement
for progress.
Hurry adds emotional tension to haste. It brings anxiety,
restlessness, and fear of being late — late not only in time but in life.
We hurry to grow up, to succeed, to be seen, forgetting that every stage of
life has its own rhythm. Rush, finally, is haste multiplied. It is chaos
disguised as action — the state in which one runs without knowing why. A
rushed life may appear productive, but it often leads to exhaustion and
emptiness.
The paradox is that our age celebrates this rush. We are told that to
slow down is to fall behind. Yet history shows that true greatness often
arises from patience. The seed must rest in the soil before it sprouts; the
artist must pause before the brush moves. The mind, too, needs stillness to
gather strength.
To live well, therefore, is to distinguish between useful speed and
wasteful haste. It is to move with purpose, not panic; with energy, not
frenzy. As the proverb wisely says, “Haste makes waste.” The art of life
lies not in running faster, but in moving rightly — where every step,
however slow, takes us closer to meaning.
A Dharmic Reflection
In Hindu philosophy, life is not a race but a rhythm. Existence unfolds in
cycles — of birth and death, creation and dissolution, day and night,
effort and rest. The modern mind, however, has grown impatient with this
rhythm. It wants results without process, movement without direction, and
speed without awareness. The four states of speed, haste, hurry, and rush
reveal how imbalance in time perception leads to imbalance in the soul.
Speed and Dharma
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna:
“Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam” — Yoga is skill in action (Gita 2.50).
Speed, when born of kauśalam — skill, awareness, and discipline — becomes
yoga. It is not about moving quickly, but moving rightly. A person who
works efficiently yet peacefully is in alignment with dharma. In such
speed, there is rhythm — like the dance of Shiva, where every motion,
though fast, is perfectly balanced in cosmic order.
Haste — Action Without Reflection
Haste arises when one acts without viveka (discernment). The Gita warns
against the rajasic nature — the restless energy that seeks quick results
without inner clarity.
“Action performed with intense effort, seeking the fruit, full of ego and
selfish desire — know that to be rajasic.” (Gita 18.24)
In haste, man loses his center. He mistakes the external motion of life for
progress in the inner journey. The hasty person may reach his goal sooner,
but often finds it empty when he arrives.
Hurry — The Disturbance of Mind
Hurry is an emotional disorder, born from rāga (attachment) and bhaya
(fear). The Upanishads describe the human mind as a chariot pulled by
senses; when the reins (mind) are loose, the horses (senses) run wild.
Hurry is such a state — when the senses pull the being in ten directions,
leaving no peace within. True śānti comes only when the reins are held
steady by awareness.
Rush — The Loss of Presence
Rush is the final stage — when one is consumed by tamas, the darkness of
confusion. A rushed person moves not towards a goal but away from
stillness. Life becomes mechanical, reactive, and devoid of consciousness.
Hindu philosophy teaches that even the gods move in laya — rhythm and
grace. Nothing divine is rushed. The sunrise, the flowering of a lotus, or
the cycle of reincarnation — all follow time’s sacred pace.
The Dharma of Time
In Hindu cosmology, Kāla (Time) itself is divine. To rush is, in a
way, to rebel against Kāla, forgetting that destiny unfolds only when its
moment arrives. The wise therefore practice kṣamā (patience) and śama
(inner calm). For them, speed is not about swiftness of motion but
sharpness of awareness. When the mind is still, even action becomes
timeless.
The problem is not speed itself, but our ignorance of its purpose. Speed
aligned with awareness is karma yoga; speed born of haste is bondage. The
art of living lies in being swift yet serene, active yet inwardly still —
like Krishna’s charioteer stance: ever in motion, yet untouched by the dust
of war.
* To live without hurry or rush is not to be slow; it is to be awake.*
The Hindu path reminds us: the goal is not to reach faster, but to realize
that the journey itself is sacred.
1. Speed — The Rhythm of Dharma
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna:
योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्
yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam
“Yoga is skill in action.” — (Gita 2.50)
Speed in the dharmic sense is not about rushing, but about performing
actions with precision, awareness, and detachment from results. When one
acts in harmony with dharma, even quick actions are calm within. The
charioteer of life must move swiftly in battle, yet his mind must remain
still — this is karma yoga.
In this way, speed becomes sacred — the movement of energy guided by wisdom
(jnana) and inner order (ṛta).
2. Haste — The Disorder of Rajasic Energy
Haste is speed corrupted by desire. The Gita distinguishes this rajasic
nature of action:
रागद्वेषविमुक्तैस्तु विषयानिन्द्रियैश्चरन्।
आत्मवश्यैर्विधेयात्मा प्रसादमधिगच्छति॥
rāga-dveṣa-vimuktais tu viṣayān indriyaiś caran,
ātma-vaśyair vidheyātmā prasādam adhigacchati. — (Gita 2.64)
Meaning: “The one who moves among objects, free from attachment and
aversion, with self-control, attains peace.”
Haste arises when we lose ātma-vaśyatā — mastery over the self. The rajasic
person acts quickly but without clarity. His movement is outward; his
awareness scattered. The Gita warns that such haste brings restlessness,
not fulfillment.
3. Hurry — The Agitation of the Mind
The Katha Upanishad paints a beautiful metaphor of the human condition:
आत्मानं रथिनं विद्धि शरीरं रथमेव तु।
बुद्धिं तु सारथिं विद्धि मनः प्रग्रहमेव च॥
ātmānaṃ rathinaṃ viddhi śarīraṃ ratham eva tu,
buddhiṃ tu sārathiṃ viddhi manaḥ pragraham eva ca. — (Katha Upanishad 1.3.3)
Meaning: “Know the Self as the lord of the chariot, the body as the chariot
itself; know intellect as the charioteer and mind as the reins.”
When the mind (manas) becomes hurried, the reins loosen and the senses run
wild. Hurry is not physical movement but mental turbulence — the inability
to be present. True śānti arises only when the charioteer — the intellect
(buddhi) — regains control and steadies the reins of the mind.
4. Rush — The Forgetting of Kāla
Rush is the final stage of imbalance, when one defies the natural pace of
Kāla (Time). In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Time is said to be none other than
the will of the Divine:
कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत् प्रवृद्धः
kālo ’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddhaḥ — (Gita 11.32)
Meaning: “I am Time, the destroyer of worlds.”
To rush is to resist Kāla, to forget that all things mature in their own
ordained moment. Just as the sun does not rise before dawn, one’s destiny
too unfolds only when the soul is ripe. Those who rush force the fruit
before it has sweetened — and thus find it bitter.
In Hindu cosmology, even the gods act with perfect rhythm: Shiva’s Tāṇḍava
is fierce, yet never hurried; Vishnu’s steps across the universe are vast,
yet measured. Divinity never rushes — for it is Time itself.
5. The Dharma of Stillness Amidst Motion
The sage Patanjali writes in the Yoga Sutras:
योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः
yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ — (Yoga Sutra 1.2)
“Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.”
This does not mean one must stop acting; rather, one must stop reacting.
When the mind becomes still, action flows naturally and efficiently. True
mastery lies in moving without mental noise — to be fast outside but slow
within.
*Speed, when guided by awareness, becomes karma yoga.*
*Haste, driven by desire, becomes bondage.*
*Hurry, born of fear, becomes confusion.*
*Rush, defying divine order, becomes destruction.*
The dharmic way is not to renounce movement but to sanctify it. Life must
be lived like a veena — its strings neither too tight nor too loose.
Perfect harmony lies in balance.
To act swiftly yet remain inwardly still — that is the essence of Hindu
wisdom.
As Krishna assures:
समत्वं योग उच्यते
samatvaṃ yoga ucyate — (Gita 2.48)
“Equanimity itself is Yoga.”
Speed, haste, hurry, and rush — all dissolve in this one truth:
The fastest way to reach the Divine is to be still within.
ALL ARE A MUST BUT DIRECTIONS ARE PRE-DETERMINED.
K RAJARAM IRS 141025
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZoqHJwDP0fjAMyu4kXAc%2B0kuX5YkRcSEaJbdKwzDkvjABQ%40mail.gmail.com.
