Philosophical Sayings About Worldly Matter (IX)

When one is held up by obstacles on his way to a rendezvous, he should back down so that he may reach his destination sooner. It is like driving a car in reverse gear; one

does that because he will be able to drive forward faster later on.

(This is a translation of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu’s philosophical sayings about worldly matters originally written in Chinese.)

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Below is not an official translation, just for reference.

In daily life, when something is agreed upon with others, we must do it on time, perform according to the agreed terms, and strive to do it well. In fact, it is the same as what we achieve in our business. However, there are always many obstacles on our way forward. For example, we have to read, recognize characters, and write essays when we go to school. Some sentences are incorrectly constructed, some compositions are not well written, and some math cannot be done. But we must work hard to complete this homework, and do it well, perfectly, to finally achieve the goal and graduate successfully.

Another example is that when we encounter difficulties in our careers and they block us, we cannot move forward temporarily. At this time, we must understand the principle of retreat when encountering obstacles, that is, when we encounter obstacles on the way and cannot move forward, sometimes we have to move backward. Backing off, then, is this a bit more sluggish? No, the purpose of retreating temporarily is to accumulate strength and to look for the right time so that you can move forward faster and better. Just like a car with reverse gear, when the car can't go forward when it meets an obstacle. At this time, it needs to be reversed. The purpose of backing up is to allow us a wider road to drive forward and drive at a higher speed. In a nutshell, retrogressive action is a specific goal to move forward.