Choosing the Course Carefully

Yutang Lin

Do not rely on self-assertion to act in expedience;
What if things change drastically all of a sudden?
Gradual progress on the right path would sustain trials,
While speedy advancement off road means deeply fallen.

Comment:

In order to save sentient beings Bodhisattvas use all kinds of expediency. For a common practitioner the course of practice and the manner in which Dharma is to be propagated should be carefully evaluated as to how they would sustain the trial of changes in circumstances. If expedience is carried out solely based on one's own self-assertion, then it is most likely that the outcome would not sustain long. A course that could sustain, even though the progress is slow, would not become a waste of efforts. A wrong path that could beguile some mass temporarily would drag people down deeper as they advance further. How could one not be careful with choosing the right course?

Written in Chinese on May 30, 2000
Translated on June 1, 2000
El Cerrito, California

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