A person unskilled at weeding will often begin by removing the stems and the leaves, that which lies above the soil. But seemingly overnight, the weeds start growing back.
And so the novice gardener learns a valuable lesson: removing just the visible parts of the plant won’t eliminate it. The roots need to located, uncovered, and dug out.
In a similar manner, we often try to shed bad habits just by curtailing visible behaviors. But this fails to remove underlying causes. Not surprisingly, as soon as we relax our guard, the bad habits return, as rampant as those weeds.
To permanently eradicate bad habits, we need to destroy their roots.
How?
First, we need to determine the habits’ underlying causes. Maybe selfishness? Maybe apathy or a lack of integrity?
By figuring out our bad habits’ causes, we can eliminate them. Forever.
- Our Daily Practice, Venerable Wuling
Watch & listen to this short talk on YouTube
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