--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One instant is eternity; / eternity is…" description: "\"One instant is eternity; / eternity is the now. / When you see through this one instant, / you see through the one who sees.\" — Wumen Huikai" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/wumen-huikai-42554_eternity_one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the_361909.jpg" --- # One instant is eternity; / eternity is the now. / When you… ![“One instant is eternity; / eternity is the now. / When you see through this one instant, / you see through the one who sees.” quote by Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/wumen-huikai-42554_eternity_one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the_361909.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/wumen-huikai-42554_eternity_one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the_361909.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/wumen-huikai-42554_eternity_one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the_361909.jpg) > “One instant is eternity; / eternity is the now. / When you see through this one instant, / you see through the one who sees.” [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Highlights the unity of present moment and eternity, suggesting insight arises from perceiving the instant. **In simple terms:** The now is eternal; seeing it reveals deeper truth. Key Takeaway Recognize the timelessness of each moment. Themes mindfulness spirituality impermanence Mood contemplative calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation practice - daily mindfulness - stressful situations - creative work Key Concepts Zen Buddhism philosophy of time consciousness Questions to Reflect On - What does “one instant” mean to you? - How can you apply this insight in daily life? A Different Perspective May be abstract for those unfamiliar with Zen concepts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [One instant is eternity; eternity is the now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the-now/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [I wish to die knowing that I took a fleeting instant of eternity and fashioned from it a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-wish-to-die-knowing-that-i-took-a-fleeting-instant-of-eternity-and/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/i-suddenly-understood-that-a-photograph-could-fix-eternity-in-an/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [There is no end and there is no beginning. There is only eternity. Eternity can be warm. eternity can be cold and ruthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-no-end-and-there-is-no-beginning-there-is-only-eternity/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-pr-vert/millions-and-millions-of-years-would-still-not-give-me-half-enough/) [Jacques Prevert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-pr-vert/) > [We two With life forever old yet new, Changed not in kind but in degree, The instant made eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/we-two-with-life-forever-old-yet-new-changed-not-in-kind-but-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Your soul fountain will never drain until the instant of eternity will halt before it to drink the water of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/your-soul-fountain-will-never-drain-until-the-instant-of-eternity/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [Time is given us that we may take care for eternity; and eternity will not be too long to regret the loss of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-fenelon/time-is-given-us-that-we-may-take-care-for-eternity-and-eternity-will/) [Francois Fenelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-fenelon/) > [Never start with tomorrow to reach eternity. Eternity is not being reached by small steps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/never-start-with-tomorrow-to-reach-eternity-eternity-is-not-being/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“He was on the ballroom floor of eternity, and eternity was black.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/he-was-on-the-ballroom-floor-of-eternity-and-eternity-was-black/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The world is a grain of sand on the beach of Eternity. Eternity is a grain of sand on the beach of Infinity. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-world-is-a-grain-of-sand-on-the-beach-of-eternity-eternity-is-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“You may have eternity. I have only now.” “But this is eternity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/you-may-have-eternity-i-have-only-now-but-this-is-eternity/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“On the Promise of the Present The eternal self dwells in eternity, and eternity intersects linear time at only one point: the present. Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/on-the-promise-of-the-present-the-eternal-self-dwells-in-eternity-and/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“Eternity to eternity , God is God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/eternity-to-eternity-god-is-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We have eternity, beloved." "You may have eternity. I have only now." "But this is eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/we-have-eternity-beloved-you-may-have-eternity-i-have-only-now-but/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) ## More by Wumen Huikai > [Spring comes with flowers, autumn with the moon, summer with the breeze, winter with snow. When idle concerns don't fill your thoughts, that's your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/spring-comes-with-flowers-autumn-with-the-moon-summer-with-the-breeze/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [The enlightened man is one with the law of causation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/the-enlightened-man-is-one-with-the-law-of-causation/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [The Great Way has no gate; / there are a thousand paths to it. / If you pass through the barrier, / you walk the universe alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/the-great-way-has-no-gate-there-are-a-thousand-paths-to-it-if-you/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [Search back into your own vision- think back to the mind that thinks. Who is it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/search-back-into-your-own-vision-think-back-to-the-mind-that-thinks/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [If you seek, how is that different from pursuing sound and form? If you don't seek, how are you different from earth, wood or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/if-you-seek-how-is-that-different-from-pursuing-sound-and-form-if-you/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [One instant is eternity; eternity is the now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the-now/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [You cannot describe it or draw it. You cannot praise it enough or perceive it. No place can be found in which to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/you-cannot-describe-it-or-draw-it-you-cannot-praise-it-enough-or/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [There are a thousand flowers blossoming in spring, The magical light of the full moon in autumn; There is a breeze in summer, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/there-are-a-thousand-flowers-blossoming-in-spring-the-magical-light/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, This is the best season of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/if-your-mind-isn-t-clouded-by-unnecessary-things-this-is-the-best/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) [Explore all 10 Wumen Huikai quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) ## More Eternity quotes > [“I believe in forever, and that’s what you and I are. We define eternity. This may sound cheesy, but you make me go there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-mchugh/i-believe-in-forever-and-that-s-what-you-and-i-are-we-define-eternity/) [Gail McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-mchugh/) > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [If I have a system it is limited to a recognition of what Kierkegaard called 'the infinite qualitative distinction' between time and eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/if-i-have-a-system-it-is-limited-to-a-recognition-of-what-kierkegaard/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/i-think-we-all-have-a-core-that-s-ecstatic-that-knows-and-that-looks/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Heaven? Floating about with everyone you ever knew for eternity? Me family does me 'ed in after one day at xmas, I'd rather be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/heaven-floating-about-with-everyone-you-ever-knew-for-eternity-me/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [What does the future, that half of time, matter to the man who is infatuated with eternity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/what-does-the-future-that-half-of-time-matter-to-the-man-who-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You've decided to love me for eternity, I'm still deciding who I want to be today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/you-ve-decided-to-love-me-for-eternity-i-m-still-deciding-who-i-want/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [You may have some friends that come and go, but having a friend like God will last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-tillmon/you-may-have-some-friends-that-come-and-go-but-having-a-friend-like/) [Alyssa Tillmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-tillmon/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Browse all 3,482 Eternity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One instant is eternity; / eternity is the now. / When you see through this one instant, / you see through the one who sees.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wumen Huikai" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the-now-when-you-see-through-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eternity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the-now-when-you-see-through-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/wumen-huikai-42554_eternity_one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the_361909.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/wumen-huikai-42554_eternity_one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the_361909.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0af/wumen-huikai-42554_eternity_one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the_361909.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One instant is eternity; / eternity is the now. / When you see through this one instant, / you see through…” — Wumen Huikai", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wumen Huikai", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One instant is eternity; / eternity...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the-now-when-you-see-through-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/one-instant-is-eternity-eternity-is-the-now-when-you-see-through-this/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```