But How can We Tell?
September 22, 2008 Question: How can we know if we are practicing properly?
Response: We know if our behavior begins to improve even just a bit. How? We might find ourselves reacting more calmly. Instead of becoming frustrated with the person at work who always gives us a hard time, we might find ourselves wondering why he does so. And wondering if he’s unhappy about something. Or worried. Or afraid.
When something occurs that previously would have had us angrily voicing our frustration, we might find ourselves wondering if we could have contributed to the situation. Did we do something that frustrated the other person in the past? Perhaps instead of quietly pointing out something they had done wrong, we blurted it out and embarrassed them in front of other people.
It's not uncommon to feel that we may not be making any progress. But others notice a difference and comment on it. They may say that we're more patient and less irritable. That we seem more considerate, less hurried when we do things.
We know we are practicing properly if we just feel happy when chanting. We look at the Buddha or bodhisattva image and just feel good. We feel that this chanting is the most important thing to be doing, that this is one time we don't need to worry about doing anything else.
And we smile.
Reader Comments (1)
This is a timely post for me, I always wonder how can I know if I have progress as the standards of Buddha, Bodhisattvas are very high.
At times, I will get demoralise when I compare and feel ashamed of myself. I will then feel I am not making progress .. like moving one step ahead, 2 steps back. Also, my faith sometimes sway and does not hold constant.
Yes, if bad things happen to me .. I will ask if it was something that I had owe the person in the past and so will more glady accepeted.
One of my good friend in Japan from a Samurai family who was trained in martial arts during his early days (10yrs).. share with me this pharse "everything is relative". Overall, he is a very calm person and do not get too disturb by surrondings or happenings or viewpoints about him.
I like the pharse and had use it a couple of times with an additional pharse from myself "everything that is going to happen will happen with/without my effort". So I can see life in a more easy or comfortable way.
But I am poor with irritable people that pushes my buttons though I know I should treasure them more as they help us to improve better ... well I will continue to learn and progress.
And everyday, I am looking forward to reading your Blog .. and thanks for your time and effort in blogging, Ven Wuling.
Have a great day !!