In Chinese there is an old saying: “When the eggs are not ready to hatch, do not crack the shell; when the rice is not fully cooked, do not lift the lid.” Trying to break open the eggs when they are not ready to hatch will bring an untimely death to these small creatures, and trying to lift the lid of the pot before the rice is fully cooked will make it hard for the rice to be cooked tender.

There is no free lunch in this world. If you want to get something you must give something. I would suggest that, when a person is young, he or she should fear neither hardship, nor being at a disadvantage. One should harden oneself with real experience with no expectation of compensation. One should increase one’s own knowledge and experience, no matter if that be through reading books, starting a major undertaking, or engaging in some sort of work. Do not be eager for success: success that comes too easily can lead to pride and disdain for others, and with such irresolute aspirations, one will quickly fail and be laid low. A lofty tower is built from the ground up: no real success in this world is achieved all at once. Success does not happen by mere chance, nor is it a product of instant results. Rather, it is solidly built one brick at a time. Great minds often develop gradually. Likewise, there is a saying in Taiwan that goes: “a big rooster takes its time crowing.”

Quick success is not really all that good. Take trees for example: those that mature in a year are only good for firewood, while those that mature in three to five years can be made into tables and chairs. Only trees that take decades and decades to mature can be made into pillars and beams. That is why we should “cultivate without attainment;’ and free ourselves of that win or lose mentality that leads to hasty work. We must gradually cultivate and refine ourselves, and wait until the conditions are right. As it is said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step; so never get ahead of yourself nor delude yourself with the idea that chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name for two days will give you a diamond-like mind capable of overcoming evil.

 

After Hongren, the Fifth Patriarch of the Chan School, gave the monastic robe and alms bowl to Huineng, signifying that he was now the Sixth Patriarch, he escorted Huineng to a riverbank and said to him:

Henceforth, you shall spread the Dharma far and wide. You should depart now and quickly travel south. Do not start teaching too quickly because it is difficult to spread the Dharma.

The Fifth Patriarch was telling Huineng not to be too eager to spread the Dharma publicly. It is important to wait for the right opportunity. This was why Huineng lived in seclusion among a band of hunters, eating some vegetables that he added to their pot of meat, as he bided his time. A favorable opportunity is when all the conditions are right. Any matter can easily succeed, if it happens at just the right moment when the causes and conditions are in place.

Source: Hsing Yun, Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra, Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.