Practice is not about highlighting all sorts of “good” qualities and getting rid of “bad” ones. No one is “good” or “bad.” The struggle to be good is not what practice is. That type of training is a subtle form of athleticism. We all hope to change, to get somewhere! That in itself is the basic fallacy. But just contemplating this desire begins to clarify it, and the practice basis of our life alters as we do so. We begin to comprehend that our frantic desire to get better, to get “somewhere,” is illusion itself, and the source of suffering.
Charlotte Joko Beck
Mindfulbalance 
Important to remember, and wonderful to be reminded.
cheers Roger
Reblogged this on simplersjoy and commented:
Linking in with my previous post, here are some wise words from Charlotte Joko Beck, of whom Geoff Dawson is a Dharma Successor (the quote is reblogged from Karl Duffy at mindfulbalance.org)
I agree. And I cannot help but thinking that the opposite is also true (?) Maybe it depends on what you are practising and what category definition of “good” or “bad” you are using. Sometimes we mean “correct” or “incorrect” in relation to a context. When I practise a dance figure it does start out bad and get better, it is not me that is “good” or “bad” (moral/person definition?) but the figure (aesthetic/action definition?). Possibly?
Reblogged this on onbeingmindful and commented:
So much of the time, I’m trying to improve or ‘get better’ or to ‘be somebody’. I’m already there and I already am.
95% of our struggles are mind made through thought.