
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
In this episode I'd like to explore the role of self reliance on the Buddhist path • the basic idea is that nobody can walk your path for you; even if we encounter the wisest teachers and most supportive community that ever existed, fundamentally, at some very deep level, each of us is on our own • we must confront our own mind, our own emotions, our own habits; each of us must discover what this journey of awakening is all about • the quality of self reliance is very much related to a sense of persistence—learning how to just stick with something when our inspiration wanes • we might look for shortcuts, for ways to beat the system, so to speak; but there's really no way around the fact that if we want any results, we need to persist • one way of looking at this is to compare an escalator and a staircase • with an escalator, you just hop on and it lifts you up to your destination • it seems so much better than trudging up a staircase • but when you reach the top of the escalator, you haven’t really changed • when you walk up a staircase, one step at a time, you're building strength; with each step, something is transforming • the person at the top is very different from the person who took that first step.
4.8
4646 ratings
In this episode I'd like to explore the role of self reliance on the Buddhist path • the basic idea is that nobody can walk your path for you; even if we encounter the wisest teachers and most supportive community that ever existed, fundamentally, at some very deep level, each of us is on our own • we must confront our own mind, our own emotions, our own habits; each of us must discover what this journey of awakening is all about • the quality of self reliance is very much related to a sense of persistence—learning how to just stick with something when our inspiration wanes • we might look for shortcuts, for ways to beat the system, so to speak; but there's really no way around the fact that if we want any results, we need to persist • one way of looking at this is to compare an escalator and a staircase • with an escalator, you just hop on and it lifts you up to your destination • it seems so much better than trudging up a staircase • but when you reach the top of the escalator, you haven’t really changed • when you walk up a staircase, one step at a time, you're building strength; with each step, something is transforming • the person at the top is very different from the person who took that first step.
261 Listeners
10,384 Listeners
1,833 Listeners
498 Listeners
343 Listeners
1,443 Listeners
684 Listeners
904 Listeners
321 Listeners
12,526 Listeners
943 Listeners
1,511 Listeners
3,759 Listeners
322 Listeners
1,232 Listeners