Buddhism is like an immense mountain

with 84,000 paths leading to the peak.

Choose—and remain on—that path. 

To attain the summit of a mountain in the most effective manner, climbers choose one route. Depending on their abilities, some might prefer a more cautious approach, others a more challenging one. Having chosen the route, they don’t deviate. They do not keep sampling different ones, or they would end up touring the mountain instead of climbing it, thus wasting time and energy.

Our practice is the same. With the summit of enlightenment as our goal, we choose the path that best suits our conditions and abilities. Like the climbers, we too need to stick to our chosen route. Taking our eyes off our goal, we can become enthralled by another path. “It looks easier!” “It looks more challenging!” “I’ll try it!”

Enamored of sampling different options, we will end up circling the mountain having lost sight of our goal to reach enlightenment.