A blind alley

Apprentice: Recently I’ve begun to struggle with anything other than shi-nè (which has also become more inconsistent). I’ve also been aware that the intense experiences mentioned above, have faded somewhat. My Zen training would tell me to sit with it, but I’m merely getting a sense of ‘returning to square one’. Would you advise that I alter any aspect of practice?

Khandro Déchen  It occurs to me that you may be somewhat starved of personal contact, both with us and perhaps with the rest of the sangha.   Over the years, on open retreats, we have met many sincere practitioners who come up against this same hurdle and ask us why they have run out of the energy to practise.   We all need re-inspiring from time to time.   The need for this varies from individual to individual, some need more than others.   This is how religion functions—it feeds us and our practice and this is why we recommend that people practise within the context of the religion that Buddhism actually is.   We have not seen you on a retreat for a long time and we are not really certain why this should be, but we would recommend that you attend the next apprentice retreat.   In the meantime it would be useful if you could possibly get together with an apprentice or two socially.   In addition, in your practice, it would be useful to let go of the intense experiences.   They are bound to fade as mind moments pass into other mind moments, and other things will arise as they always do, but it is good not to try to hang on to them. They are a blind alley.