Power of
Conviction
Thanissaro
Bhikkhu tricycle
Thai forest monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu describes that which never
disappoints.
ACCORDING TO THE BUDDHA, there is one thing that
doesn't disappoint. When you pursue Awakening, it's not going to
lead to disappointment. Quite the contrary, it goes wildly beyond
your expectations, wildly beyond your hopes. Even just the first
taste of the Deathless, stream entry, is enough to produce a
seismic shift in your whole awareness, your whole understanding of
what you think you are and what's possible in life, and in the
importance of your own actions. Once you reach that state, your
conviction in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha is
unshakeable. Your standards for what counts as true happiness get
ratcheted up immeasurably.
But in the meantime, until you reach that state,
you're going to have shakable conviction. It's part of the game.
It's only to be expected because you haven't seen the results
really turn into something earthshaking yet. This is why you have
to work at your sense of conviction. Your drive for true
happiness—your belief that such a thing is possible—is what's going
to see you over the hurdles placed in your way.
Like someone lost in the forest, if you're not
really convinced that there's a way out, you give up very easily.
You run into a thicket here, a steep cliff there, and it just seems
way too much. But if you're convinced there's got to be a way out,
you've heard of other people who've made their way out, you think,
"It's got to be in here someplace." You keep looking, looking,
looking. And finally you see how the other people made their way
out: "Oh. That was the path they took."