Trying Too Hard Slows Progress

There’s a traditional story of a student who asked his teacher,
“If I try hard, how long will enlightenment take?”
“10 years.”
“What if I try even harder?”
“20 Years.”
And so on…

This is why: You’re already here. Whatever we are doing and whatever spiritual practice we are engaged upon, pure conscious awareness is already spontaneously present. If we think we have to do more and more complex practices, we may miss the point.

All practice is about remembering: once we remember, we recognise, understand, experience and realise. As Alan Watt said, “When you’ve got the message, put the phone down.”

You don’t have to keep holding on to the phone; just remember the message!