Repetition and Daily Practice: From Mindlessness to Mindfulness
by Andrew Holecek

(con’t)

I have had selfish thoughts millions of times, bragged about myself, criticized others, gossiped, cheated, lied, and practiced self-centered actions millions upon millions of times. I have been mindless billions of times. I have forgotten the truth countless times. The numbers are astronomical, and so is the sphere of their influence.

Now when my teacher tells me I have to recite one million mantras that cultivate compassion, I know why. He is not torturing me, even though it sometimes feels that way. He is simply using the universal laws of reality, the same ones that I have unconsciously used to get me so stuck, to now consciously get me unstuck. When I visit my teacher Khenpo Rinpoche, he listens patiently as I relate my litany of problems. Then he might compose a spontaneous verse and tell me to recite it one thousand times or to read an entire book ten times. He is legendary in his use of repetition, and he uses it because he understands the laws of cause and effect.

On the spiritual path we replace unconscious habits of confusion with conscious habits of wisdom. Instead of my unconscious practice of sloth, impatience, greed, anger, or any of the selfish habits that come so easily to me, I consciously practice discipline, patience, kindness, love, and any of the selfless habits that are still foreign to me. I am working to become familiar with good habits.

Read full article in the Autumn 2010 issue of Light of Consciousness

© 2009 by Andrew Holecek, a long-time practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. He is a seminar leader, an adjunct faculty member at Naropa Institute and co-founder of the Himalayan Dental Relief Project. This article is excerpted from his book, The Power and the Pain, Transforming Spiritual Hardship Into Joy, published by Snow Lion Publications in 2009, 800-950-0313, www.snowlionpub.com.