From the Notebooks
The modern Russian mystic Nicholas Berdyaev taught that the "complete person" is creative in the "ecstasy of the moment," which, Berdyaev said, is outside time. At about the same time that Berdyaev wrote those words, a man of a different intellectual persuasion observed a similar thing. In his philosophical notebooks, Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote to himself, 'For life in the present there is no death. . . . If by eternity is understood not infinite temporal duration but non-temporality, then it can be said that a man lives eternally if he lives in the present,' and 'Whoever lives in the present lives without hope and fear.' Numerous Christian writers--C.S. Lewis, Tolstoy, Kallistos Ware--have made similar observations.
The Now is such a simple precept. If I could select one principle that would push a person onto the path of peace and holiness the quickest, I think I'd pick The Now.
Addendum
Actually, I think I'd break down the "things" that promote holiness into categories, and then select one disposition within each category, then pick an overarching practice that is the best. The overarching practice would have to be love.
After more thought, I came up with these categories and the number disposition within each category:
General Disposition: Love
Mental Disposition: The Now
Disposition During Active Life (i.e., while at work): Concentration (Focus)
Disposition When Interacting with Others: Gentleness (which would encompass Kindness and Meekness)
Disposition of Movement: Slowness (Calmness)
Disposition Toward Noise: Quietness (I prefer "quietness" to "silence" because quietness implies whisper and smallness and a voluntary cessation of noise, whereas silence carries with it a measure of mandate)
Disposition Toward Wealth: Detachment
