Needing Money for Retreat
Date Posted:
A nun in long-term retreat, who had no money, wrote to Rinpoche wondering whether she should work, and asked whether Milarepa had made a mistake by eating only nettles.
Milarepa did not do business or work for money. He did the complete opposite, and achieved enlightenment in a small number of years. If you want to do the opposite of this, that means you want to practice the obstacles to achieving enlightenment. That makes it very hard to achieve enlightenment. There will be no enlightenment, because of worldly concerns and attachment to comfort.
No one achieved enlightenment without renouncing worldly concern, or by following worldly concerns.