Tortoise
Step
Dzongsar
Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
Practicing dharma is necessarily a
frustrating business. What practitioners, especially beginners,
often fail to realize is that frustrations are the signposts of our
success. An exasperating lack of concentration, devotion, or
inspiration might be just what you need to make the extra effort to
tune in to your practice fully. Alternatively, of course, it may
topple you in the other direction and stop you practicing
altogether—a temptation you must resist at all costs. Always
remember, though, that frustration with your spiritual path is
often an indication that you are becoming a genuine dharma
practitioner.
The
key is consistency. Often what happens is that in the heat of
inspiration practitioners overdose on practice, then feel deeply
frustrated when they fail to experience a good dream, or cannot
concentrate properly or control their temper. Having gorged
themselves on practice, they stop for a few months, and when they
eventually return to it they are right back at square one. At this
rate, progress is slow. A far better approach is that of the
tortoise. Each step may seem to take forever, but no matter how
uninspired you feel, continue to follow your practice schedule
precisely and consistently. This is how we can use our greatest
enemy, habit, against itself. Habit clings to us like a
bloodsucking leech, becoming more rigid and stubborn by the moment,
and even if we manage to flick it off, we are still left with an
itchy reminder of its existence. By becoming accustomed to regular
dharma practice, though, we use our enemy against itself by
countering our bad habits with the good habit of practice. And as
Shantideva pointed out, nothing is difficult once you get used to
it.