Maintaining a Beginner’s Mind
You must continue to practice with intent on leaving the cycle of birth and death and with the enthusiasm you had when beginning practice. You cannot let worldly interests or activities cause your practice to degenerate. You must continue to learn Buddhism as you did in the very beginning to realize great accomplishment. You must be careful that after accumulation of much merit you cease to cultivate yourself and become a worldly being. You must continue to strive to make progress with your practice and not degenerate. This is especially important for vajra masters and those recognized as having great achievement. You should not view the accumulation of merit and accomplishments as means to develop worldly good fortune. You must not think that just because you have a small amount of accomplishment, you are therefore amazing, can therefore seek pleasure, and need not vigorously expend effort in your cultivation. This is the sage advice of Dorje Pa Mu.
Shunryu Suzuki: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.