Quitting

[ratanasutra]

quitting show we are give up and do not want to continue with whatever we are doing.

quitting can be good and bad depend of what is our objective ie quit smoke is good, quitting from the practice which we received from our teacher is bad as we break our promise.
we have to see why we are quit, just simply cant take it and just want to run away or we think we have other things which is better to do, many time we have wrong thought and wrong adjustment.

quitting in spiritual practice, When we have guru and guru assigned to do something and whatever reason we quit halfway, do not want to continue or just run way. We create a karma to be far away from the guru as we have broken a promise to our guru and we wont achieve in any practice if we wont change as if we can quit from spiritual path mean we will quit with other activities we doing as well as it come from our habitual.

people who always quit will never success or achieve in their gold/life as they easily to give up when come across with problem.

[Klein]

Quitting is something that we do all the time in many aspects of our life. Which is why there is a small percentage of the population who are successful  and the rest not. When we study the qualities of successful people in the secular world and spiritual world, there are many common traits. Commitment and perseverance are top of the list.

Of course there will be huge obstacles and do things out of our comfort zone. But if we want something bad enough, we'd go for it no matter what. In our spiritual path, transformation of our mind is tough and it takes a huge amount of effort. This is because we have a strong self cherishing mind.

So if we truly understand that benefits of our spiritual practice, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. There's really no room for quitting.

[Aurore]

My antidote is really simple.

I look at my life before dharma and after dharma. Spiritual path is tough, but honestly so is samsara!
Whenever I think about quitting, I look back at my life and remembering that makes me rethink my thoughts!
Leaving dharma creates the causes to not meeting the dharma again in the future. I also heard that leaving dharma is worst than killing 1000 arhats. Remembering, reflecting and cultivating gratefulness helps when situation as such arises.

[hope rainbow]

Seriously, would Dorje Shugden quit?

There must be a reason why we respect and practice him.
If we quit we contradict everything we have learned, everything, and we put down the Buddha's teachings lower than whatever it is we are going to.
Could a job, a holiday, a career, food, sex and I don't know what be more valuable than any spiritual teaching?

[shugdentruth]

I think in everything we do as a team of many people, we are bound to see one or more members quit. I think this is a very natural phenomena. The reason for the person quitting will only be known to the quitter himself. I think its best to let the person leave and if he looks back and feels he has missed out on something good, perhaps he may return as a better player in the team. Perhaps he may return to a position he is more suitable for.

In my opinion, when some one quits, its more important that the team focuses on how to fill up the space that has been left empty rather than on the quitter. The quitter has quit because of his karma and the team will have to adjust to the flow of that karma. Maybe when the team moves forward, the quitter might return. It is then that the team will be put to the test to receive him back. 

[Klein]

Whoever wishes to quit should read and focus on Shantideva's exposition on attaining bodhicitta (Bodhisattvachavatara). This is the greatest exposition within the Mahayana which gives powerful reasoning and logic as to why we need to fortify ourselves against ourselves.

After doing a thorough study of this, one should engage in the 8 Verses of Thought Growth daily combined with serious Om Mani Peme Hung recitation doing tonglen. This practice combined with working hard for others continuously should take care of the sneaky self-centred mind trying to take control and trying to win again.

Quittng is the answer to nothing. Quitting is the antidote to happiness. Quitting is self respect's biggest enemy. Quitting is the key word for those who find samsara a pleasure grove. Quitting only makes us the biggest winner in our own self pity.

Never quit, just find antidotes. And if you always think of quitting, then all the more you shouldn't quit.

TK

I fully agree with TK's comments. Quitting the dharma is really not the answer. I have entertained quitting many times when practising the dharma becomes very tough and paralysing. I realised that quitting will not solve the problem because the problem lies within myself. So wherever I run to, I will have to face similar problems again.

The only solution is continue practising the dharma because along the way, the solutions will be realised.

[bambi]

Thank you everyone for such wonderful explanations. In this life and in all lives to come, the one thing I will NEVER quit is Dharma!
All of us have problems before we met the Dharma! With Dharma, it is easier for us to understand why things happen the way they do. Therefore, we should be better than we were and realize the beauty of Dharma. Not RUN away from the truth! How can Dharma make us more miserable than we were! I feel very sad for those people I know that left Dharma for samsara. May they have the merits to have Dharma again!

[tsangpakarpo]

One chooses to quit because they lack understanding and knowledge.

I quote a phrase from a book:

Our lack of understanding is the root of our suffering and is responsible for our troubles. 

Nothing hard to understand from that phrase. It shows very clearly that from lack of understanding is where we suffer and create problems for ourselves. If we truly understand there's no use of pursuing worldly concerns, then automatically we will never wish to quit but instead renunciate and further develop bodhicitta with the wish to do more for others at the lowest level.

[jeremyg]

Following the dharma can either be hard or easy, it depends on the way you look at it. Also it depends on the way you apply it. If you believe that it is the way to be helped, to relieve your suffering, and help others, then it can be easier for you if you are motivated. On the other hand, it isn't called samsara for no reason. Samsara is like a pit with claws, once you are in, it is so so hard to come out. Sometimes it is the work that pushes people away, sometimes it is the people, but if you look deeper the only thing pushing you away is yourself.

[triesa]

Following the dharma can either be hard or easy, it depends on the way you look at it. Also it depends on the way you apply it. If you believe that it is the way to be helped, to relieve your suffering, and help others, then it can be easier for you if you are motivated. On the other hand, it isn't called samsara for no reason. Samsara is like a pit with claws, once you are in, it is so so hard to come out. Sometimes it is the work that pushes people away, sometimes it is the people, but if you look deeper the only thing pushing you away is yourself.

It is very true what you said here jeremyg.....lets understand the reasons why people quits in the first place and then see what "antiniodes we can apply.

People quits because :
1) They lack the knowledge of how to do the job.
2) They know how to do it but the job takes too much of a challenge, time and effort.
3) They dont like to work with some people.
4) They dont like the job.

It all boils down to laziness and attachment to our comfort zone.

The antidodes could be a shift in how we think. This could start off with a bit of an ego trip, but in time, it will help us to elimanate our attachement to comfort zone and  laziness. We dont quit and pursue the task even if we have to learn the skill and stay up late to accomplish it, we want to prove to the people who think we can't do it, wrong (yes, ego trip here)

When we succeed to do it, obviously we feel good and then we realise that actually we can basically do anything provided we dont "quit" in the first place. If what we accomplish is of a higher purpose, like helping or benefitting others, it will make us realise our individual potential is greater than what we think.

Humility should arise (lowering the ago)when we contemplate that if many of us do the same, then the potential and influence would be multiple.

In a spiritual context, we all know we should not quit, just bend and find other ways around the situation.

[Rihanna]

Thank you everyone for such wonderful explanations. In this life and in all lives to come, the one thing I will NEVER quit is Dharma!
All of us have problems before we met the Dharma! With Dharma, it is easier for us to understand why things happen the way they do. Therefore, we should be better than we were and realize the beauty of Dharma. Not RUN away from the truth! How can Dharma make us more miserable than we were! I feel very sad for those people I know that left Dharma for samsara. May they have the merits to have Dharma again!

Have you heard of this quote: Rolling stone gathers no moss. If we are always quitting when we are unhappy about something, cant get along with someone in the office or school, quitting a marriage, etc, we are actually running away from ourself because the problem is OURSELF, not the other party. At the end of the day, where else can we run to?? Because the problem is not them, but us. Worse still, quitting a practice that has been given by one's Lama! Has anyone heard of Dorje Shugden quitting on us??? Why do you think he has a curved wisdom sword??? He is constantly showing us the right path using skillful means going 'this way and that way'. He never quit on us. So never ever quit on him.

[rossoneri]

First we must pinpoint what are the real reason we gave to ourselves by letting this thought of quitting. What are we quitting exactly? Is it because of our ego and dare not to face the truth which lead us to quit? How many times can you escape if you want to become somebody useful? That's a saying "No pain, no gain". Perhaps we should contemplate and check ourselves on how many times already did we have this urge of doing so. What have we done and achieved so far is a very good report card reflecting us. Dharma and karma do exist no matter how we try not to acknowledge it. We must always have faith and trust the teachings of the Buddha, how can the Buddha be wrong? One cannot be always there and be stagnant by just be in our comfort zone which we are familiar with, eventually will lead us to became someone who is unhappy and dissatisfied always. Even Lord Buddha faces a lot of obstacles Himself before He became enlighten. So we must not let this negative behavior of us in controlled.

[Dolce Vita]

We are so used to quitting, when we do not like, we just quit and find something else that we think will give us happiness. How we perceive happiness is when we do not have difficulties or sufferings. This is the wrong views we have hold since we were born.

To practice spirituality is about confronting our bad habituations and qualities, to correct them and develop positive traits. The process of confronting our bad habituation is not an easy journey, we have to look into ourselves, our ugly self. To acknowledge we are not perfect and do something about it to change our behaviour. No one likes to go out from our comfort zone, cos we become uncomfortable. Since our wrong view says happiness is when we are comfortable, we will tend to give up. Therefore, it is very important to understand the ultimate reason why we want to engage in spiritual practice.

Spiritual practice completely blows my mind away, it is not just about being nice to people but being cruel to our personality flaws. Always remember why we engage in spiritual practice, this will help us to stay on the path. Don't let "quit" rules our lives anymore.

[sonamdhargey]

Quitting is the taking the easiest way out. I'm sure many of us have quit one way or another is whatever we were doing be it secular or spiritual. Most people quit not because they could not cope with what they do but because they cannot get along with the person they deal with directly or had a fall out with. That is why we must practice the dharma and by practicing the dharma right there and then instead of feeding oneself with negativity. Practice the 8 versus of mind transformation is the sure way of not quitting.

[Jessie Fong]

To quit is to give up, walk away, turn your back on a situation that you could not find a solution for.  It is so easy to quit, for it just takes a second to utter it and that is the end.

What happens to the people who were with you in the situation, who also could not find a solution to the matter/problem.  Do you just let it be, leave them high and dry? Where is your responsibility?  Do you not owe it to them and to yourself to see things through to the end?

I find quitting is the loser's answer to laziness as well, Dharma or no dharma.