Be Patient

~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

Sometimes Dhamma practice feels like it is making life darker and heavier rather than brighter and lighter. If so, it can be a warning that you’ve lost your way. Your practise has become hijacked by the craving to get, to be, to become. It’s time for a change of attitude. Time to let the aspiration to let go of all that imprisons you wash away the self-centred striving.

But there is another darkness. It is the growing darkness surrounding those who are digging through a mountain of defilement. As they dig ever deeper into their mountain, the light they formerly lived by shrinks and fades. Doubts may arise. They don’t know how wide the mountain is, and how much of it remains.

The great teachers say, ‘Be patient. Keep digging. If you persevere, you will break through. The hole will become a tunnel. Everything will become illuminated. Be patient.’

- - ❖ - -

"Food for the Heart", a series of Dhamma teachings handwritten weekly is posted on the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives page with Ajahn's kind permission.

- - ❖ - -

For other teachings by Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro, please visit the Panyaprateep Foundation website.