Why can we not rush the foundations and stages of spiritual practice?

Foundational training prepares the next step. We cannot skip it simply because it seems easy or we want speed. Practice has stages, meaning an order of learning. Standing firmly at the present step gives later learning a foundation.

The first time I climbed the stairs at Xianshan, I thought taking two at once was faster. The teacher reminded me to walk one step at a time, grounded in each. The point was to make every step firm. Rushing forward before stabilizing the step before us forgets the essential foundation.

Ballet, basketball, and cooking are similar. Imitating videos may make movements look convincing without providing the same underlying training. Basketball involves strength and dribbling; cooking has basic methods. Practice likewise begins with foundations and understanding why we do something before further learning.

Dao Xing compared it to the scooter-license test requiring seven seconds along a straight line: moving slowly can be harder than moving fast. Eagerness to do more and get results is easy at the beginning. The real training is patience, continuing meditation, spirit-induced movement, and scripture recitation while learning their principles.

I also once climbed the Xianshan stairs barefoot. Later, leading students, I think we did that only once. Times changed and arrangements changed too. The point is grounded learning at every step, not merely completing a copied action and calling it understanding. Unclear matters still need questions and exploration.

Miao Nian shared almost never missing group-practice classes unless something truly urgent required attention. Recitation, meditation, and movement are only parts of learning. Concepts and knowledge also allow still and moving practices to work together. Readiness for ritual implements depends on individual conditions and a suitable stage. Mentioning Miao Nian and Miao Yuan having studied eight or nine years described long accumulation, not identical progress for everyone reaching the same number of years.

Foundations also include bodily care. Reviewing practice with Dao Xing, we first mentioned sufficient sleep and rest, then meditation and recitation, with movement and further exercises when strength permits. Working at the center does not automatically complete personal practice. Dao Xing shared how service and administration often placed personal exercises last, only remembering unfinished practice after feeling depleted.

Familiarity can make practice feel dull. I remind people to periodically review recent learning and where discipline has loosened. Many years of practice do not remove the need to check foundations, nor must we wait for a problem to begin again.

Longstanding foundations also cannot become merely 'I know the movements.' Using a student wanting to learn thunder methods as an example, I emphasized first strengthening spiritual cultivation's basics. Later I specifically said that movement and perceptions do not necessarily mean unlimited powers. Physical and mental state, vows, wisdom, and understanding all need accumulation. One encouraging statement cannot establish readiness to take on everything.

Reaching a level does not allow all practice to stop. Athletes, for example, still train after strong performances to maintain them. But practice also returns to human life: work, relationships, and bodily care retain their duties. Knowing spirit-induced movement does not remove these needs.

A vow can motivate without making the body incapable of fatigue. Discussing services, I have also said that negative energy can affect us, requiring continuing foundational work. When truly exhausted, first sleep and rest properly. After some recovery, return to meditation, movement, and exercises. Encouragement supports action but cannot deny an actual need for rest.

Sometimes several forms of spirit-induced movement appear together, creating uncertainty over what to practice first. I have suggested returning to the original spirit's foundations, then adjusting to circumstances with a teacher's guidance. Examples of lessons accumulated at different ages explained why everything arriving at once can be difficult. They did not require everyone to receive identical work at a particular age. More kinds of movement are not proof of a higher rank.