Please tell everyone to practice. Doesn't matter if it's long or short. Try. Really practice and pray from your heart. Sincerely! That 'sincere' is the most important!
[A student said: “Rinpoche, when I practice I try to be sincere but many times it feels like I am just pretending.”]
Of course pretending! Not only you, everybody. At the beginning time, we don't know anything, we can only pretend. Doesn't matter. Just do the practice! Pretend sincerely! Pretend, with faith!
Actually, your whole life is pretending, isn't it? Actually, do you know which is the real one?
Look at television. Even though we understand it's pretend, still happy movie makes us happy, sad movie makes us sad. That means we don't really know it's pretend. If we really understood it's just pretend, completely, then we wouldn't get happy or sad. One way we know, but one way our habit is very strong. Like you know the snake is actually a rope, but still you are a little bit afraid. That's habit! Then, slowly, as you check again and again, you get less and less afraid.
When you practice, same thing. Ordinary habit is very strong. Dharma habit, virtue habit, merit habit is very weak. Like a baby. You have to start slowly, slowly, then that baby habit becoming stronger. Nothing is push-button! How many billions of years have we been making our samsara? We think if we practice one or two days, one or two hours, the whole thing is finished?
Don't make a big deal. Practice! Pretend one or real one, doesn't matter, whatever you want. Doesn't matter to Buddha, if you think you are pretending or not!
Actually, “practice” means “pretend.” You pretended your whole samsara, now you have to pretend your whole liberation.
Okay? And dedicate your merit to all beings, with compassion! Don't forget! Try!
Tashi Delek!
Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche, March 14th, 2020
Motivating quote on practice
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Motivating quote on practice
Don't know if this has been posted on Dharma Wheel before, but if not it should be. If so, apologies.
"One should cultivate contemplation in one’s foibles. The foibles are like fish, and contemplation is like fishing hooks. If there are no fish, then the fishing hooks have no use. The bigger the fish is, the better the result we will get. As long as the fishing hooks keep at it, all foibles will eventually be contained and controlled at will." -Zhiyi
"Just be kind." -Atisha
"Just be kind." -Atisha