Sent by www.higherawareness.com:

The anxious student asked the Zen master how long to enlightenment. The Zen master answered a long time, at least 10 years. The student said, "Well I will work twice as hard." The Zen master said, "Then it will take 20 years." "No!" said the committed student, "I will work three times as hard." "Well then," said the Zen master, "it will take 30 years."

Do you need to work at being spiritual? No. You already are spiritual. Do you need to work at being human? No. That's just who you are.

The spiritual path doesn't require us to get anything. It's a process of opening to new dimensions of who we already are. It's a process of awakening to our own truth. It's a process of allowing ourselves to be authentic.

"It is not by your actions that you will be saved, but by your being."
-- Meister Eckhart

"People ask what must they become to be loving. The answer is - nothing. It is a process of letting go of what you thought you had become and allowing your true nature to float to the surface naturally."
-- Stephen Levine