Only When the Causes and Conditions for Seeing the Path Are Complete Can One Awaken to the Path.

Wanting to attain enlightenment is a wish, and a wholesome wish at that; without such a thought, there would be no actual practice. The wish is the prerequisite, and action is the supporting condition; through various concrete actions one perfects the causes and conditions for enlightenment and fulfills all the necessary conditions for it, so that finally, when the causes and conditions ripen at the proper time, one awakens to the Way naturally and spontaneously. As long as the wish arises naturally, without harboring a mentality of luck-seeking or opportunistic scheming—when the thought of attaining enlightenment emerges after one has cultivated to a considerable degree—it is proper and worthy of encouragement.