"MAKE HASTE SLOWLY"

Don’t be in too much of a hurry to solve all your doubts and problems. As the masters say; “Make haste slowly.” I always tell my students not to have unreasonable expectations, because it takes time for spiritual growth. It takes years to learn Japanese properly or to become a doctor. Can we really expect to have all the answers, let alone become enlightened, in a few weeks?

    The spiritual journey is one of continuous learning and purification. When you know this, you become humble. There is a famous Tibetan saying: "Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.” And Milarepa said: “Do not entertain hopes for realization, but practice all your life.” 

Apr. 22,

Glimpse After Glimpse

Sogyal Rinpoche

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I thought I would someday be Zapped into enlightenment if I ever got this business down pat. Then it dawned on me, it is the practice that changes my life in stages. As I go about the simple process of checking my motives, making amends, and going to any lengths to stay sober, my outlook on life improves. It improves in ways I never expected. However, I still get upset sometimes when I turn on the news… or the cop stops me for going five MPH over the limit… or when the old woman in front of me in line at the market pulls out a bag of coupons… or when I’m put on hold by the V.A. But what frequently happens that I didn’t expect is, more often than not, I pause and take a few breaths… maybe even smile: understanding that the news is just the news; the cop is just doing his/her job; the old woman is doing the best she can to keep her budget down; the V.A. rep on the other end of the line is flooded with a huge case load as vets return from the field. Mind you, it doesn’t happen all the time but it does happen more often than otherwise, and, as Martha Stewart says: “that is a good thing.”

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