Sip and Gulp

A popular fast-food restaurant has a drinking cup that reads:

SIP THIS DRINK.
GULP DOWN LIFE.

At first we might think this is very good advice. But is it?
Sure, it is nice to take the time to enjoy the drink, but if we jump back into the caffeine fueled fray of the modern world, we have only a memory. If we think of life as a meal, then gulping it down would be similiar to chewing only once or twice and then stuffing more food into our mouths. We would go from main course to side dish, one after the other, tasting very little, getting in as much food in as little time as possible as our goal.
Isn't there a motto about getting as much done as possible before we die? Cramming it all in.
We don't taste anything. We don't know what we are eating. We didn't chew and therefore we gain less nutrition. We maintain our pattern of excitability. Our meal will mean little more to us than a breathe. Those precious moments of experience are spent scattered.
Those noble one's, live now, not then. They seek never the future nor the past. The perfect moment is always ripening. Only those that listen can see.

So perhaps the cup should read as follows:

SIP THINK DRINK.
SIP DOWN LIFE.

or simply,

SIP.

Philosophy,Religion,Buddhism,Zen,Consciousness,,Weblog,Blog
Philosophy,Religion,Buddhism,Zen,Consciousness,Weblog,Blog