STARTING OFF WITH THE RIGHT INTENTIONS WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THE SUCCESS IN CULTIVATION
Master Jun Hong Lu: The most difficult phase throughout your journey of learning the Dharma will actually be the very beginning. No doubt you will start off with the strongest determination, but this feeling will gradually fade away.
When you begin to make your great vows, all of your bad habits and weaknesses will be exposed; the worries and resentment that you hold deep within will be revealed naturally. You will be faced with great difficulties, this may cause you to feel like giving up.
This experience is similar to a marriage, where an unmarried person may long to get married and have a family, only to have his karmic obstacles reveal themselves shortly after marriage, causing him a great deal of afflictions and ultimately creating a rift in the marriage because of his selfishness.
Therefore, there is a Buddhist saying, “Starting off with the right intentions will ultimately lead to the success in cultivation.” We must understand that the initial aspiration in our journey into Buddhism is very important, because as long as our intentions are pure, our perseverance will ultimately guide us to the success in cultivation along the Buddhist path.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Episode 73
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