Unlearning Unskillful Behavior
April 14, 2011
When you read the autobiographies of the forest ajaans, it’s hard not to be struck about how many times they make vows in their practice. They stay up all night to accomplish something. They’re very much goal oriented, and goal directed—which can often be a sharp contrast to the way people are taught to practice here: “Simply be in the present moment, have no expectations, have no goals.” But if you’re going to take the practice on as a lifelong practice, you’ve got to have goals. You’ve got to have reasons. You’ve got to have hopes that it’s going to go to a good place. Once you’ve chosen a wise goal, you have to learn how to relate to it wisely as well. And a lot of that means not getting discouraged by setbacks.