What do we do when we feel stuck in our practice?

[WoselTenzin]

There will be times when we feel that we are stuck in our practice or our progress is painfully slow.  Despite having studied and listened to  Dharma teachings, nothing seemed to have sunk in.  Even when we contemplate and meditate on a certain Dharma topic nothing seemed to click.  The "problems" we face in our daily life, real or imagined tend to overwhelm us. We may even feel a sense of desperation. Why is that happening? And what should we do?

In the Lamrim, when the great Tsongkapa asked Manjushri what methods he should use to develop quick realisation in his mindstream, Manjushri had said that he must concentrate on a combination of three things:-
1.  To regard his Guru as inseparable from his meditational deity and request for his blessings
2.  Accumulation merits
3.  Purifying his past negative karma

I am sure if the above advice given by Manjushri to Tsongkapa is enough for Tsongkapa, it is definitely good enough for us.  In any case before we even get stuck we should already be doing the above 3 things if we know it already. 

If we have not and we feel stuck, do we even remember to apply the above 3 methods or do we succumb to our negative thoughts eg thinking that we are not good enough, feeling like we want to give up etc.  How consistent are we and how much effort are we giving in applying those methods given in the Dharma/Lamrim for our own spiritual progress?  Or are we wishfully thinking that we can still progress without making the required effort? 

[triesa]

I think besides the 3 points you mentioned, regarding one's Guru as inseparable as the meditational deity, collecting mertis and purifying the negative karma that we have accumlated over eons of life times...........whenever we feel stuck in our practice, be it an external obstacle or self infliced obstacle, the key is never give up.

Recognise it and be aware of the shortfall, and continue your practice, knowing that this life is found but once and is extremely rare, so even as it may seem hard to practise, still do your best to create the causes for better conditions to arise.

[pgdharma]

I think besides the 3 points you mentioned, regarding one's Guru as inseparable as the meditational deity, collecting mertis and purifying the negative karma that we have accumlated over eons of life times...........whenever we feel stuck in our practice, be it an external obstacle or self infliced obstacle, the key is never give up.

Recognise it and be aware of the shortfall, and continue your practice, knowing that this life is found but once and is extremely rare, so even as it may seem hard to practise, still do your best to create the causes for better conditions to arise.

I agree with triesa, never give up. When we contemplate on how fortunate we  are to have met with the dharma or already have a Guru  who is guiding us in our spiritual path, we should not lose this opportunity which is hard to come by. Obstacles arise due to  our negative karma of not having enough merits to receive the dharma. Thus we should  put in more effort in our dharma practice to clear and purify  those negative karma.

[Tenzin K]

I agree too with triesa, never give up!

The journey of our practice may be a very long one. At some point we will get stuck, but we should always  also remember the reason for us to take dharma as the essence of our live.

We might have experience the kindness from our guru teaching that make us realize the greatness of practicing dharma and how we can share this to benefit others or we might see it happened to other people that inspire us to do the same.

What I'm trying to say is that always go back to the root reason why we want to practice dharma when ever we stuck (of course beside the 3 things earlier that had been mentioned).

What make a person consistent is their very own reason that they believe in or experience. In dharma, every single experience is genuine and truly everlasting.

[Big Uncle]

When we get stuck, it is also good to propitiate our Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden and visualize him as one with our Guru and 'dissolve' him into our mind stream. Remember his swiftness and remember that he is one with Manjushri so he would be very quick to clear inner obstacles as well. Therefore, he is excellent when we propitiate him in this manner on a daily basis.

Other forms of contemplations that would be quick to remind us of our mortality would be very good as well. It is always good to meditate on our death, to visualize and see that we are dying would be very good. The whole death process, the decaying of our body and so forth is visualize in graphic detail to remind us of the urgency and sense of how fortunate that we are alive and have the freedom to practice the Dharma. If these two are done daily with other practices, it is said to quicken our realisations and clear any self created obstacles that we may have.

[WoselTenzin]

When we get stuck, it is also good to propitiate our Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden and visualize him as one with our Guru and 'dissolve' him into our mind stream. Remember his swiftness and remember that he is one with Manjushri so he would be very quick to clear inner obstacles as well. Therefore, he is excellent when we propitiate him in this manner on a daily basis.

Big Uncle, I totally agree with what you have said about propitiating our Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden when we feel stuck. Understanding his qualities and functions as you have mentioned above, if we propitiate him consistently with strong faith and visualise him as one with our Guru, our obstacles simply melt away and we get out from feeling "stuck".

I have had this experience many times and it has really made my spiritual journey much smoother and easier. Having said that, it must not be done with the intention of getting a quick fix to our problems, but more importantly with a motivation to progress in our spiritual journey faster and with less obstacles.   

[pgdharma]

When we get stuck, it is also good to propitiate our Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden and visualize him as one with our Guru and 'dissolve' him into our mind stream. Remember his swiftness and remember that he is one with Manjushri so he would be very quick to clear inner obstacles as well. Therefore, he is excellent when we propitiate him in this manner on a daily basis.

Totally agree with you, Big Uncle. There were many times when I was stuck and felt lost and uncertain but by propitiating our Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden with strong faith, somehow the obstacles were cleared and it became easier and smoother to practice.

[Damian.D]

Take every obstacles as a sign we are on the right path i have been told is a good way to think. Past karmas purifying, making way for more Dharma practice.

As I have given in to the immense accumulation of negative karma to deal with from my millions of past lives, what other way do I have to think of the benefits I have yet to see, and even then maybe not even in this lifetime, than to think of my upcoming death. In a way its like graduation is to college, death is to buddhism.

When death comes how well we have trained will be how peaceful or not our death will be. Best to start thinking about it now while there is still time. Stuck in your practice? Can't even deal with your colleague next to you? Give up trying at the slightest bad result?

It will pass eventually. It always does.

[Positive Change]

Let me start by throwing a little spanner into the works.... Allow me the play on semantics for a moment.

I do not feel one ever gets "stuck" in our practice. Why do I say this? Well, simply put, time goes on, karma happens, the world is still revolving... So to say one is "stuck" I feel is inaccurate. Sure, it does "feel" that way but in actual fact when we feel this, we are actually either degenerating or actually improving depending on the direction our thought processes are going.

For example, when we come to an "obstacle" and we think, it is too difficult and I just want to quit, we are actually going on the negative and we are actually creating the causes for us to degenerate but should we think of the obstacle in question as something "positive" that will bring about spiritual growth, then it becomes an improvement... however both can be deemed as being "stuck" because while contemplating we do not think we are actually "moving" but we ARE.

My point being, we have to be mindful of our thoughts as much as our actions!

[Ngawang Drakpa]

No matter in spiritual practice or in our daily life, most of the time we do feel stuck on certain things. Just a sharing here, most of the times i will think it is just a test from protector to create some circumstances for me to think deeply or realize certain things and improve my practice. I believe the protector that i worship is not a normal protector, it is wisdom Dharma protector.

Whatever obstacle happened, just accept it and get away out from the dilemma. The key is not giving up easily and be consistently. Always think of our Guru kindness to our and others and always check our mind - what is our motivation in our first place.

[dsiluvu]

No matter in spiritual practice or in our daily life, most of the time we do feel stuck on certain things. Just a sharing here, most of the times i will think it is just a test from protector to create some circumstances for me to think deeply or realize certain things and improve my practice. I believe the protector that i worship is not a normal protector, it is wisdom Dharma protector.

Whatever obstacle happened, just accept it and get away out from the dilemma. The key is not giving up easily and be consistently. Always think of our Guru kindness to our and others and always check our mind - what is our motivation in our first place.

Yes it is most certain a test of our faith, guru devotion, and trust in the Guru if we are fortunate to have one. Never never never give up! It is better we go through all the hardships we face internally and externally now then in our next rebirth which could be far far more torturous and frightening. We cannot see our past, how much negative karma we have accumulated and since we are in a perfect human body now, it is best we collect as much merits and purify as much as we can. If we hang on stick through the hurricane, we might even be amazed at how much strength we have inside us.

Yes watch your mind, but when we are stuck, it is better to stop those things going on in our unwise heads and to get busy and do the action is much better for me.. Even if it is to wash and clean the Guru's house, car, yard whatever, just do it. It is said cleaning one's Guru's premise is the fastest way to purify one's body, speech and mind.

I would certainly Stop the thinking and just do something since our thinking is perhaps not so reliable at this point of time and there is a blur cloud over it - apply the practical purifying methods to wash that sticky stucky  negatives.

[diamond girl]

When we are stuck and we recognize we ARE stuck and not complain and justify why we are stuck, we focus on getting UN-stuck.

I have been stuck so many times. I have been guilty of justifying the WHYs I am stuck. I got so good at justifying my "stuckness" that I  mastered being stuck and was OK with being stuck because I deluded myself with my amazingly "profound" justifications. I became a failure in life.

Today, with my practice of Dorje Shugden, I have the perfect solution to being un-stuck. It is uncanny how when I am stuck and I say my prayers to Dorje Shugden my complex, deluded mind clears and I see solutions to my "stucked" situation. I find my solutions clearly. It is amazing and powerful. I have great faith and the success I have experienced gives me pleasure and self-confidence.

Unstuck yourselves = practise Dorje Shugden

[Roberto]

@diamond gurll ... correct, keeping practicing to become unstuck. Stuck is but a moment in time, but there is change even though we are not experiencing it immediately.

[dorjedakini]

Make more offering to our Lama (if we are near him), to Dorje Shugden, do Shugden Kawang daily to purify our karma and generate a lot of merits. (see what DharmaDefender posted http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1362.0 )

When we feel stuck mainly because we do not have enough merits, so we should not wait until we stuck then "do something", we should "do something" before we get into that situation.

Same like what Big Uncle had said, my Lama told us to visualize Guru, Yidam and Dorje Shugden as one, dissolve into our central channel at the heart level, into our mind stream, visualize that our whole body is fill with Golden light, and the light come out from all our pores and become like shape of an egg. This golden light shield protecting us from all negative thinking and energy, do it daily and constantly.

Try it and you will feel the different.

[DSFriend]

When we feel stuck, check our minds to see what we have been practicing.

The dharma doesn't make us get stuck as it works to free us. Thus, what is making us feel stuck? More than likely, we are caught up with the 8 worldly concerns. And because we are practicing the 8 worldly concerns, dharma has no room in our minds and we feel the "turmoil", "struggle" and feeling of being stuck.

Understanding and constantly checking our minds and doing our best to minimize and stop practicing the 8 world concerns is key to helping us start doing real dharma practice.