Strange and unbelievable

Apprentice  Why does enthusiasm come and go?   It is not that I am not enthusiastic as an apprentice—it’s the best thing in my life—but the enthusiasm comes and goes. It never disappears and it’s there much more often than not—but sometimes it goes slip-sliding away and I have no idea why. It seems unknowable. I can’t track it down to one thing or even a collection of things. There just seem to be phases where the energy plummets—not badly, but, well, it just gets flat.  Is this question making any sense?   I am in a good frame of mind right now and practice is better than ever—but I have been reflecting on why that is not always so.  Do you have any thoughts on this?

Lamas This is quite normal—in fact it would be strange and unbelievable if this were not the case.    There is the enthusiasm for the non-dual state which is an innate enthusiasm—but there is also the enthusiasm for duality which is secondarily innate—or subsequently arising. These two enthusiasms will naturally alternate until the enthusiasm for the non-dual state ceases to be an enthusiasm and becomes the persuasive reality.  What you experience is simply the gestalt of being a practitioner.