Some people may have the wrong view of the Dharma right from the start. Some people think that practicing necessitates having some kind of experience. These people are not well grounded in Buddhadharma. As they get older, they might think, "This is for young people. I haven't had an experience yet, so it's ridiculous at my age to continue looking for one."

Remember, practice is not limited to this lifetime. It continues, life after life, until one attains Buddhahood. Even after Buddhahood, one is always working hard, to benefit one's own practice and to benefit other sentient beings. The Buddha continued after his enlightenment for another forty years, working hard, helping sentient beings.

STUDENT:

Isn't it also true that the proper attitude toward practice is not to be goal-oriented, not to view meditation as a means to experience something? But rather, to view practice as a process? It is meditation itself that is worthwhile. In other words, the goal of meditation is meditation.

SHIH-FU:

That is correct. We see this in the great practitioners of the past, none of whom had the attitude of practicing with the desire to experience something. They just practiced. One never knows when karmic obstructions will fall away. One person can practice for decades and not experience the dropping of karmic obstructions. Others, like Subadhra, only need to hear a few words for obstructions to disappear. You cannot predict such things, so you should just practice.

STUDENT:

What attitude, then, should an older person have toward Buddhism and the practice?

SHIH-FU: