What are the signs of progress in our practice? What can we expect? Should we wait for a signal from the guru — or an award? According to Karma Chagme Rinpoche, we will have no experiences, no special dreams, no pure visions. The “king of all signs,” also known as the “sign of no-sign,” which was highly prized by the Kagyupa masters of the past, is when renunciation mind, sadness and devotion blaze in your mind. The signs to be cherished most include an escalating appetite for dharma practice; noticing the futility of everything you do; ever-increasing conflicts as a result of old habits; and while you may still have the urge to party with your friends, to be plagued by the unwelcome sense that the whole thing is a useless waste of time. Therefore do not constantly aim to finish the practice. Instead, try to accept that your spiritual journey will never end. Your journey began with the wish that you, personally, bring all sentient beings to enlightenment, so until that wish is fulfilled, your activities as a bodhisattva will never cease.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

from the book Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices

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Further quotes from the book Not for Happiness:

• Dawn of wisdom
• Avoid being distracted
• Without the personal advice of Buddha
• Mara’s five arrows
• Filtered perception
• Wishing happiness for those who have hurt you
• Very little time left for practice
• Dealing with Emotions
• Remain alone and practise the dharma
• Opposite direction to dharma
• Sources of our inspiration
• Practise whichever method works for you
• Intention to benefit all sentient beings
• Sadness
• The decision to follow a spiritual path
• Absolutely nothing genuinely works
• The merit of maintaining mindfulness
• Right intention
• As they truly are
• Merely the product of your own perception