We all live with a kind of illusion: believing that the faster we do things, the better. This illusion is fueled by the crazy belief that the faster we run, the more we do, the more time we have. Suddenly we realize that by running, running, and running, life has passed almost without us noticing: we have never managed to fully inhabit the time we so desire, nor have we enjoyed the people we love. Lama Michel Tulku Rinpoche, in his book Where Are You Going in Such a Hurry? (Bompiani, 2025, pp. 336), shows us how harmful, indeed deadly, the illusion of frenzy, of constant rushing, of constant acceleration is .
A Buddhist master and spiritual guide at several Buddhist centers around the world, Rinpoche starts from a simple observation: "The issue isn't whether or not we have time to do one thing or another. The issue is where we want to put our energy, how we want to use our inner space, our thoughts, and, consequently, our words and actions."
The big questions we are invited to start from are essentially: “What do we want to do with our lives?” and “Who do we want to be?”
Lama Rinpoche's invitation is both clear and simple: "Let us each sincerely try to look within ourselves, to have the courage to accept the challenge of loving ourselves well, to cultivate what is good for us, to abandon what is harmful, even where it seems impossible, even where it is difficult. Let us know how to value what is good for us more than what we like, to go beyond 'likes and dislikes,' and to be a little more mature. [...] Let us each sincerely try to have the courage to love others, to see the other, to go beyond how we want the other to be, behave, and love us; to have the courage to love without too many conditions."
To achieve these goals, however, we must learn to pause, to take the right amount of time and space. We must find balance and awareness. Ultimately, what matters most is not speed or quantity, but quality; it's more valuable to speak for a few minutes with someone who is attentive, caring, and affectionate, than to speak frequently, quickly, without looking each other in the eye. It's more valuable to take that moment to write a well-written letter to someone than to rush through a thousand messages.
The path to greater serenity and tranquility also involves these simple insights. These insights, Lama Michel Rinpoche draws from Buddhism, but, as he himself states in the book, are not exclusive to the Buddha's teachings. Lama Rinpoche, however, begins with his own personal experience and leads us on a journey to rediscover happiness, interweaving anecdotes and profound reflections on our daily lives. He thus leads us straight to the heart of Buddhist teachings, revealing with simplicity and wisdom how to find an inner peace that often seems distant. But his is not an abstract lesson or a teaching based on dogma. Lama Michel speaks to us with humility, starting from the doubts and difficulties each of us encounters every day. The invitation contained in the book is to look at life with new eyes, abandoning rigid patterns and fears, to rediscover the value of awareness and kindness. Because each of us, in our own small way, can be part of the solution rather than the problem: in the difficulties of every day as well as in the face of the great challenges of our time, from global crises to the indifference that distances us from others.
As Rinpoche concludes: “Let us remember the power of every small action, thought, and word that transforms our being, our reality, those around us, and the world. Therefore, let us accept this challenge and gradually move toward deeper well-being, which ultimately means inner peace. […] The beautiful thing we must remember is that when we, in our own small way, deep within ourselves, in the realm unseen by anyone, take a small, sincere and concrete step toward peace, toward a coherent, virtuous, healthy life, and so on, we are helping others do the same. Without having to say anything to anyone and without anyone having to see it, we are helping them. […] So, let us remember that the steps we take do not concern just ourselves, but everyone. We have the means in our hands; we can do so much.”