Diligent Practice, Begun Anew Each Day

When you try something for a little while and see no visible change, it is easy to conclude something is wrong — that this simply isn't the right thing for you, or that you are simply not capable of it. But the fact that results are not yet visible is no reason to conclude that your effort so far has been wasted.

Planting a seed does not mean fruit appears the very next day. While it grows, you have to keep watering it, feeding it, and tending to it. Practice is the same. You cannot casually assume that habits of greed, anger, and ignorance built up over a long time will all disappear through a moment's effort. It may not be that it isn't working, but that it simply hasn't had time enough to ripen yet.

That does not mean simply doing anything for a long time is enough, either. You first need to check whether the direction is right. If you strive in a direction that harms yourself or others, you can hardly expect a good result. Diligent practice is choosing the right study and practice, and steadily making effort on that path without giving up.

Steadiness is also different from a mind that takes pride in what it did yesterday. Rather than leaning on the thought that you have been doing this for a long time, bring forth the mind that begins again each day. There is a great difference between knowing something and actually continuing to do it. When you carry out, without fail, the small practice you can do today, the teaching you have learned becomes your life.

Today, rather than rushing to measure results, look at the direction of your effort. And begin anew with one right practice you can do right now. Just as you tend a seed, tend and cultivate your own mind steadily.