Difficulty of the high standard of working for the Deathless

"When I first ordained, I found that the scariest part of being ordained was that so much more was demanded of me. When you live in normal society, people’s expectations, people’s standards, are not all that high. It’s not all that difficult to live up to them. But suddenly when there’s the possibility of working for the Deathless, it seems overwhelming. There’s part of the mind that wants to run back to the shelter of what seems easier to handle. But of course what’s easier to handle also brings on more suffering.

As the Buddha said, “Lay life is hard. Life as a renunciate is hard.” But at least life as a renunciate takes you someplace really worth going to. When you finally make up your mind that you’re really going to train yourself, it makes that goal less of an impossibility."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Impossible Things" (Meditations1)

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