【修持轨理 - 未修中间如何行者】- 密护根门 - 以何防护者 - 于正念起常委行

所以又有人形容它，说这是叫「赶羊上树」，这羊不能爬树的，猫才能爬树，但是呢他却偏偏做这种事情，就把做不到的事情做到了！
实际上何况是佛法，世法也是如此的。所以我前面曾经给大家说过，那个美国的几个什么大王，钢铁大王，汽车大王，他们怎么成功的？都是靠这个精神，别人觉得不行的，他就是绝对坚强的意志，咬紧牙关。现在我们事情还没有做啊，已经打了退堂鼓了，然后找种种借口，要保护自己：喔唷，这个地方不对，那个地方不对。找了很多这种小心儿的事情，脑筋还很聪明欸！他那个聪明都用糊涂，用错掉了。所以他就会想到种种理由啊，使得自己做漏网之鱼。 啊，以为觉得这地方摸鱼了！孰不知这个真正是害了自己，这是千真万确的事实，千真万确的事实！

来源 Source:

日常师父法语25A 26’22” 手抄稿第四册 P16LL5

25A 26’22” Vol 4 of Master Jih-Chang’s Discourse P16LL5
English Lamrim Vol 1 P101

【The Meditation Session - What to do in between meditation sessions】
【Restraining the sensory faculties – with which you restrain the sensory faculties… continuous persistence at mindfulness.】

So some people describe it as "chasing a goat up a tree", goats cannot climb trees, only cats can, but he actually did it, meaning he has done something impossible!

Actually, needless to say about Buddhism, worldly matters are as such too. Therefore I talked about this before, the great entrepreneurs of the U.S., “King” of the steel industry, “King” of the automobile industry, how did they succeed? All due to this spirit. When others feel it is not possible, he continued with great determination and gritted his teeth to do it. Now for us, we haven't even started, and we are already backing out, and finding all kinds of excuses, to protect ourselves: Ah-yo, this is not right, that is not right. We try to pick on these little things, and we feel that we are smart! This cleverness is used foolishly, in the wrong place. Hence, he would think of all kinds of reasons and let himself become the ‘fish that escaped through the net’ (translator note: an idiom). Ah, and you think you got away with things! But you do not know it is this which truly harms yourself. This is an absolute fact, an absolute fact!