Joy and Enthusiasm

An Excerpt from a teaching given by Drupon Rinpoche as part of a 10 day retreat in Samye Ling, Scotland.

Diligence doesn’t mean exerting oneself. In the context of Buddhist practice it means bringing joy and enthusiasm to what we are doing. This can be very difficult but it is essential if our practice is to be effective. When we do prostrations, for example, we get at annoyed at them and feel as though they are doing us harm. It is similar when we are doing meditation sessions, we often feel, “Well, I guess it’s that time. My knees are hurting but I suppose I’d better get started.” And in that way we force ourselves to practice. It is like this for us because we haven’t done enough study and contemplation, and therefore lack confidence in the benefits of the practice. If we were doing one hour of mediation a day and we advised by a lama to increase that to one and a half hours per day, we would complain and think that we couldn’t possibly find the time; whereas if we were earning £1000 a month and we were advised to work harder and longer so as to earn £1500 a month, we would think that we had received good advise and happily find the time. This comes from the fact that we believe in the benefits of money but we do not believe in the benefits of practice and meditation.