In my own idiosyncratic way

To approach Buddhism in our own idiosyncratic way is generally what beginner’s Buddhism is about.  After this fails—and it may take some time—some of us then decide to find a suitable teacher who might be able to turn us into a Buddha in a fortnight or two.  Over time, this fails, too.  

What we eventually discover is that we’ve made no real progress at all except to learn a bunch of almost useless facts and rituals.  We also discover that we’ve only managed to preserve our ignorance if not many of our cultural prejudices, etc.

What we lack is a sufficient crisis that will put us between a rock and a hard place sufficient to make us give up trying to preserve our ignorance and the rest of the garbage we drag along behind us we call ‘experience’.  

It is only in such a crisis, if we handle it correctly, that we can take a peek over the prison wall of samsara and see the straight road to nirvana—then make a prison break.  Those who can get this far, ain’t beginners anymore.  They are Bodhisattvas or at least close to being Bodhisattvas. 

Comments

[MyoChi]

So true!!!! It indeed takes that. It is so easy to understand a little bit, let it get into your head and think that you know all. It is only when a situation happens that demands action comging from the understanding, we realize how little we understand.

[BuddhaFrog]

Every proper wolf has a sheep suit in the closet somewhere.