(This entry is a follow-up to a comment on the September ninth entry. Richard's question is a good one and often comes up in discussions.)
Comment: Dear Venerable Wu Lin, Please could you comment how sui yuan [according with conditions] relates to practices such as goal setting and visualisation. It also seems to me that in Liao Fan's Four Lessons, Liao Fan makes a vow because he wants to attain specific goals.
Response: Yes, at first Liaofan made wishes and with his diligent practice of goodness, he received what he wished for. But he did not wish for a longer life than his predicted fifty-three years or for a second son. Yet he lived to write his book at seventy-four and had another son. We can see that even when Liaofan did not seek what would make him happy, he still gained happiness as a result of his good deeds.
We unawakened ones who are still working at letting go of old habits, like attachments, can still set goals. The trick is to accord as we're letting go and setting those goals.
For example, before I started this blog, I had never thought of writing one. Then one day, I realized I would not be able to leave the apartment as much because of my mother's condition. This meant fewer opportunities to teach. On the spur of the moment, the idea of a blog came to me. I could talk about Buddhism without leaving the apartment!
My ongoing goal, which led me to become a nun, has been to propagate Buddhism. The blog arose on its own—an idea that suddenly occurred to me. I needed to learn how to create a blog and will always be learning how to improve it so I have an additional goal of a better blog. But I’m not trying to force it to happen.
As with so much of the practice, there are many gray areas between the black and the white. According with conditions takes much searching for the right balance between forcing what we wish for to happen and being a couch potato.