'TRY' Is A Little Word, But Big Things

In an early Buddhist scripture [the Udanavarga], practise is described as follows: "To try is the state of immortality. To be lazy is the path of death. Those who try never die. Those who are lazy already dead."

The person who doesn't allow himself to be distracted by little things, but continues trying is already living in the dimension of eternity. The lazy person who is defeated by his own weakness and desires is already approaching spiritual death.

Nichijun Shonin, who was renowned as a great scholar, used to say, "If rest is what you're after, you'll have plenty of time for that in your grave."

The lazy person really is like someone who is sleeping his life away, one foot already in the grave.