A Venerable's View: I would rather learn less, but learn happily 寧願少學一點 但能快樂學習

This is 如性法师’s sharing:

寧願少學一點 但能快樂學習

I would rather learn less, but learn happily

What is the tactic I extracted from here - to realise the importance (and benefits) of the practice and thus the happiness when doing it is easier to generate.

Master Ri-Chang mentioned something along this line in his Lamrim Commentary Track 25A:

让那个修行做你的朋友,不要让修行做你的冤家。我们现在就是这样,让修行做我们的冤家

My translation: Let the practice be your friend rather than your enemy. When is happening now is that we often view our practice as something we need to fight.

I found the wisdom in it comforting and at the same time motivating! :muscle:

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Timely reminder.
Due to our limitless lives’ habitual practice, we often find it hard to develop that attitude to ‘joyous learning’. On that note, this mental attitude should extend throughout our daily ‘micro-moments’ of interactions with others. 广结善缘。

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I feel for this totally! What’s the point of learning so much if I find the process a chore? Even if I learn only one thing at a time, but I can see the benefits of applying that one skill, then learning will be a joy. In fact, this will spur me to learn further.

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Another useful viewpoint expressed here:

When you practice, it has to be in line with your own strength. Here you have a single cart and your ox is the size of your fist, and yet you want the cart to carry as much as a ten-wheeled truck. You see ten-wheeled trucks passing you on the road and you want to be like them. But you’re not a ten-wheeled truck. You’re just a cart. It’s sure to break down. You’re what’s called a fruit that’s ripe even before it’s half-ripe, food that’s burned even before it’s cooked.

Reference:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/9eweg2/ajahn_chah_explains_how_poeple_give_up_on/

I think this is aligned with Master Ri-Chang’s constant reminder to examine the 质 (quality),量 (effort),次第 (stages) when we do our practice.