The learning of discipline cannot be attained by relying on the help of others. No one can eat your food for you and no one can take your bitter medicine for you whenever you are sick. The way to result is practice which must be done with vigour and consistency. Each day is a chance to get to know yourself better, to improve yourself and to rely on your own self to do all the necessary things.
Laziness is the cause of all downfalls. It may not appear visibly so that you can recognise it. It often comes in a more subtle form such as auto suggestion and so on and then one relaxes and becomes affected by it. To get back into practice is never easy. It will need great energy to move the wheel once it has stopped. Those who forsake their practice will soon be deluded by wrong views that practice can be resumed later on and then postponement becomes a regular habit. How many have lost themselves through this fault? You have seen people come and go. Practice which brings about self-purification and mental development and spiritual advancement which promises great reward for oneself is abandoned.
But these people are not tired of happiness and rewarding existences yet when overcome by laziness even the best rewards will not be real to them. And they will only wake up from this slumber of ignorance when misfortune strikes them again. Then they will resort to practices which they hope will gain them merits that will bring forth blessings. Then they will expand efforts and do their best to be able to get rid of their sufferings. Sometimes they do succeed and then they are happy for a while but only to fall back as a victim of laziness again and they will firmly believe that whenever help is needed, there will be others who can be of help to them. You have also seen disciples of the path who once were so fully committed losing their directions. How sad for them to have found the treasure and yet being too lazy to go for it. Knowing full well what is good for them and what they could do to benefit others once they have succeeded in developing self-discipline.
Yet they choose to lose their goals and become ignorant beings once more. To know the path and prefer not to walk it out of laziness is a grave mistake. There will be lots of time for regrets in the future once their good karmas have been used up. Almost every living being enjoys being lazy and being dependent on others. Preferring to live in ignorance and fear; they will not make any effort to improve their future.
It will be a great act if you could do your best to give inspiration to others to learn to seek the truth, to be wary of dependency on others and to practise the way. This is a chance of a lifetime that you and the disciples have got, to practise benevolence and to practise the path that will lead to higher rebirths. Only few are chosen to have such an opportunity, see that none will waste it and become another useless being!
Wednesday, 3rd April 1985 (2nd Moon 14th Day)