Spiritual practice does not follow a straight line to a fixed goal; it's almost always a mixture of struggle and integration, of confusion and clarity, of discouragement and aspiration, of feeling failure and going deeper. Seeing through our deeply held beliefs, dismantling the solid sense of self, facing our worst fears, opening into the unknown — how could we even imagine that this wouldn't be a gradual and halting process, with many ups and downs? Coming to understand this means seeing through idealized pictures of how we're supposed to be and developing compassion for ourselves as we walk the path of awakening.
— Ezra Bayda, At Home in the Muddy Water