In the first years of practice, you say, there’s often a movement from unhappiness to happiness. What’s happening?
The early years increase objectivity. The dominance of self-centered emotion (particularly “poor me”) is challenged; the body is more stable and strong. And at some point, under the pressure of practice and life’s inevitable disappointments, a turning point is reached. Resistance weakens, and we are more willing to investigate the ceaseless desires of the ego. You know the classic Zen vow: “Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them.” Well, you can’t want to put an end to desire - that would be just another ego project - but we can persistently practice: not with ambition “to get somewhere,” but with the one true desire that our practice benefit not just ourselves but all sentient beings"
