When the Practice of the Path Cannot Advance, Learn to Reflect

If one becomes lax in cultivation, one will lose oneself in the trivialities of daily life, so that one's progress on the Path cannot advance—and perhaps one may even inadvertently regress. If you can constantly keep a grip on yourself, look inward at yourself, examine yourself, and reflect on yourself, so that your mind has no cracks, afflictions cannot creep in, and the wisdom of meditative concentration (dhyāna) will gradually arise. If your practice on the Path has not moved forward, there is certainly a problem. The problem has been sitting there all along, yet you cannot discover it—what does that show? You discover the problem, yet do not want to solve it—what does that show? You want to solve it but cannot—what does that show? Worldly affairs are the easiest thing to sink people into, yet the hardest thing to break free from. When your mental strength is insufficient, what is it that you lack?