The cardinal sin of spiritual practice is constantly switching your object of focus back and forth

Let me tell you a story about a goat for you all to reflect on. There was a goat that woke up one morning wanting to go to the field to eat some bok choy. When it arrived at the field and was just about to take a bite, huh, the morning sun slanted across its body, making its shadow look especially tall. It thought to itself: “I’m a goat, but my body is so huge! I shouldn’t be eating bok choy — I should be eating fruit from the trees instead.” It ran off toward the forest. By the time it got there and was ready to eat some fruit, the sun was already high overhead at midday, casting a shadow that looked particularly small. It huffed: “Oh, I’m so tiny! How could I possibly deserve to eat fruit from trees? I might as well just stick to my bok choy.” It ran back to the field. When it arrived, dusk had fallen, and the setting sun slanted across the landscape again, making its shadow look large once more. It thought: I should go eat fruit in the forest after all. In the end, it ran back and forth all day long and didn’t eat a single thing. What this means is: whether you are engaging in repentance practice or any other spiritual discipline, once you set an object of focus for your practice, you must commit to it fully. If you are reciting the Shurangama Mantra, focus wholeheartedly on reciting the Shurangama Mantra; if you are practicing Buddha-recitation samadhi, focus wholeheartedly on reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha. The greatest taboo in spiritual practice is constantly switching your object of focus back and forth: one day you recite Amitabha Buddha’s name, the next you recite the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva, the day after that you recite the name of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. If you practice this way, you will never be able to achieve samadhi, nor will you be able to truly deepen into the merits of any given Dharma practice. That is why anyone who is committed to repentance practice must focus wholeheartedly and single-mindedly on deepening their cultivation of a single Dharma path.