To the advanced among us, I would be very interested in hearing the single greatest mistake that you made on the Path.

Metta,
Bob

There was a thread related to this topic called something like: "What I wish I had known..."
I tried to search for it, and didn't find it. Maybe another member can locate it for you.

Each mistake called for immediate correction and learning which enriched the journey.

Constance

Think I found it here

That's pretty close to what I was hoping to learn. Thanks Constance.

Every single moment I looked to the future to find my results and awakenings was shooting myself in the foot.

It is not that it wasn't true from a relative point of view, but from a practice and ultimate pointe of view was simply thousands upon thousands of errors, moment after moment.

Merging a goal-oriented practice augmented with good maps that predict and entice with the notion that these sensations are it, contain the truth, need complete attention and engagement, was really hard, even while high up in the middle stages of enlightenment.

I suspect you were looking for something more like, "I wish I hadn't canceled all my medical school interviews while suffering in the Dark Night," but those were actually small things in comparison with missing the Big Burrito that was right there in my face all along and just needed to be understood clearly. I am not saying that is easy to do, but the point remains.

No, the Burrito was exactly what I was looking for :-) And exactly what I struggle with. It's good to know that it's normal even for those who got past it - it is surmountable. Thank you.

In my case: Not bein disciplined enough concerning regular meditation practice.
Or call it lack of discipline.

Forgeting that life is not just about getting enlightened and getting it is not necessarily solving any other problems in my life.

Drugs

Thanks for this comment. I've been totally fascinated with this merge lately (as you may have noticed)... and have found the merge very hard indeed. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one.

Err, not practicing.

And, not knowing the difference between depression and dark-night-related suffering. The first responds very well to CBT, exercise, and sunlight. But if you listen to warnings against trying to use CBT techniques on dark night suffering, and in the process you end up not using the CBT techniques against actual depression, then a lot of time can be wasted feeling miserable in a way that doesn't lead to any insights whatsoever.

Biigest mistake I have made as a practitioner? great question!!

I'll summarize it with one word:
EXPECTATIONS!

Pursuing enlightenment with great diligence is a totally different thing. Creating and having expectations about the practice and about what enlightenment means they will ALWAYS become an obstacle to have to be overcome in order to make it to the "other" side! IMHO

Metta,

Jorge Freddy

Glad to see this thread get new life after many months. The new posts have been helpful to me, thanks everyone. Daniel's "Every single moment I looked to the future to find my results" is a wisdom nugget that I repeatedly forget and have to come back to.

Metta.

Macho sitting in pain - as in - if 1 hour without moving is good - 2 would be better - and 3 would be stupendous - led to permanent damage the groin and inability to sit cross-legged now for more than a few minutes. Belatedly, I now take care of the body as if it was someone else's fragile body in my charge
H

Ouch! I did likewise, but it was my right knee ("Pain in the kneees is the taste of Zen!") that paid the toll. I can just about sit on the floor for a couple of minutes at the begining and end of yoga class and nor more.

not starting the practice immediatly after i was born
reading to much, thinking to much, practicing to little
edited to mention that i am not an advanced practioner, but the changes have been great so far