It requires determination, self-discipline, and a continuous effort to be honest with ourselves, to recognize, accept and let go of habits and tendencies that do not, in the long run, serve us well. To emphasize merely the appearance of spiritual practice is to look for an easy answer to this challenge. To express our spiritual nature, we must practice giving up relying on appearances and be willing to look beyond the surface. But without understanding the meaning of spiritual practice, this kind of talk is foolish. Precepts against lying are wasted on a truthful man.
Spiritual practice goes beyond ideas about spiritual practice, beyond specific activities.
It is about expressing ourselves in the most natural way, not from a mental image or according to a map, but rather from something we cannot explain. We humans are fascinated with the idea of things being substantial. We surround ourselves we collect these things. The collecting makes us feel we are accomplishing something substantial, yet the activity itself turns out to have no substance. Because of his dark complexion, she thinks he is African-American.