Both Gradual and Sudden

But just as it is important to have an adequate conception of the goal of our practice, it is also important to gain proper knowledge of the path leading to that goal…

In a discourse in the Udāna, the Buddha describes the path of practice by comparing it to the continental shelf off the coast of India. [Ud. 5.5]

This image gives a sense of the training required to reach the goal of Nibbāna: a gradually deepening practice culminating in a sudden penetration. The foundations of virtue, concentration and wisdom need to be gradually laid so that sudden penetration – which is a function of insight – can accomplish its work in truly freeing the mind.

{Regarding} this image of gradual training but sudden penetration… it is important to keep both sides of this perspective in mind so that, as seekers, we can avoid the problems that can come from focusing on one side to the exclusion of the other – for instance, believing that we can expect results only after long, long practice of many lifetimes, which can easily put us in the discouraging position of pursuing a goal that increasingly recedes into the distance.

Or we may believe that we are already perfectly enlightened, that effort entangles us needlessly, and that the thing to do is just be free – which leaves us doing nothing much at all and yet still mired in our entanglements. These are extreme positions, but they highlight the extent to which the path needs to be clearly understood in order to train most effectively.

The dual nature of the path – both sudden and gradual – is dictated by the nature of the goal. Nibbāna, like all of the Dhamma, is “directly visible, immediate… to be personally experienced by the wise.” [AN 3.55]

Thus our own direct experience is where we can recognize whether or not we are creating suffering by following lust, hatred and delusion. We can also experience the absence of suffering and the peace that ensues when we abandon those qualities.

This direct perception of the results that come from putting the teachings into practice is what has inspired the followers of the Buddha to continue to practice and train in accordance with his teachings.

This reflection by Luang Por Pasanno is from the book, The Island, (pdf) pp. 224-225.