No matter what you do, you should have inspiration. Inspiration and creativity are so important. Don’t be rigid and inflexible. What I’ve taught you is just a method, while the method needs you to flexibly learn through practice and then master it. If you truly master it, it becomes the right method. What I’ve taught is just a knowledge, which conveys the right process to you.
Usually, when you are engaging in the actual practice, I will also guide you: where to exert a bit more effort, when to pay attention to certain key points — these are tips. Only when you come to consult me after actual practice, will I share further experiences with you. Because if you haven’t even started the basic practice, it would be useless to share advanced tips with you. So, you need to engage in actual practice. If you consult me after actually starting your practice, I will know: “Oh, you’ve truly practiced, you’ve entered a certain state, and you’ve reached a certain point.” Then I will tell you what you should pay attention to in the next step, and how to carry out the practice. If you haven’t even started practicing (which is the case for many people), it would be useless to share advanced theories with you. That would be just repeating and won’t bring about much effect even if you listen. Therefore, you must engage in actual practice. You should practice meditation; otherwise, what I teach would be useless and become a kind of knowledge for you, rather than genuine understanding that can be applied into practice — it would be merely intellectual. Even if you know and remember it, it doesn’t mean you know how to use it or that you can apply it practically. Don’t just acquire knowledge without putting it into action. Meditation is an art. Art is characterized by creativity and inspiration. Here it says, “you should bring to it fertility of invention.” Become as resourceful in inspiring yourself to enter your own peace as you are at being neurotic and competitive in the world. You need to enter that state, inspire yourself, and find the most suitable state, as we are following the middle way. You need to adjust your balance at any time. A slight slip could make you lose your balance, so we should be highly alert, yet still aware of relaxing. Without relaxation, you won’t enter the right state. Being alert while remaining relaxed — this is the way of successful practitioners. When we first start, we are all alert, but we can’t relax because it’s hard to maintain the balance. When you are able to maintain the balance, you will naturally relax. So, all of this needs to be gradually cultivated in actual practice. There is no shortcut; it’s all about practicing consistently on your own.