Do not feel satisfied because you attain meditative absorption, nor because you can dwell in the bliss of solitude.
Only when you arrive at the complete eradication of all ignorance and conceit should you be content.
Dhammapada v. 271-72
Reading or hearing such profound teaching might give rise to a sense of urgency in practice - or it might cause us to give up because we feel we can’t do it. How we engage ideals determines whether we are strengthened or weakened by them. The ideals themselves are not responsible. It matters that our ideals accord with Truth, but it also matters that we don’t mistake an image of the goal for the goal itself. The Buddha wanted us to aim high; as high as can be and then further, but he didn’t want us to grasp the ideal and ignore our lowliness. The image of the goal offers direction, like a compass - and of course, we don’t spend all our time looking at the compass. So long as we are heading in the right direction, we practise with 'this', which is directly in front of us.
With Metta, Bhikkhu Munindo
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