No Gain

[Samadhi]

When we begin anything, we are brought up to want results…quickly. That is the nature of our culture. I want it all, I want it now. When beginning practice, many students carry this same mindset. They practice for a while, then become frustrated because they do not any results.

In basketball, there is something called a shot clock. The team with the ball only has so many seconds to shoot the ball or else they are penalized. There is no such thing in our practice. No clock running, no deadline. As a result, things seem to be moving at a standstill at times. In order to have success, we must give it time, and time takes time.

Once a novice monk was studying with a great master. After about six months, the master (who was working in the garden) asked the novice how his practice was coming along. The student replied that he might leave because nothing had happened yet. The master took his rake and banged it against the shins of the novice. “Now, something has happened.”

So the point is not to be in a hurry to get where you want to go. Just let things unfold as natural as possible. If you were to die tomorrow, what difference would it make? All that angst and worry for nothing. So live without the angst and worry instead.

Practice with the idea of no gain. Every time we think we are gaining something, we are losing something. When we lose something, we gain something as well. The fact that we are even practicing is a gain in itself. Practicing with the idea of not gaining does not mean you do not gain. It means only that you are not expecting gain.

So do not expect results. Your practice is not a magic wand that will transform your suffering into instant happiness. It takes work, time, and discipline. It is better to forget about results and just practice. Perhaps you do not see changes at all, but the changes are subtle not dramatic. Think of it as water rushing over a stone. No dramatic change, but change occurs in a quiet manner.